Incentivizing improvement or imposition? An examination of the response to gubernatorial school takeover and statewide turnaround districts

Abstract

Although state-run school districts and gubernatorial school takeover have become popular turnaround strategies among some states, little is known about how district and school leaders perceive and respond to these changes in educational governance. Using Georgia as a case study, this paper employs sensemaking and exit, voice, and loyalty as frameworks to examine how district and school leaders interpret and respond to the threat of state takeover. Similar to prior studies, results indicate that urban schools and districts largely populated by low-income students and students of color are most likely to be affected by state takeover. Several themes emerge from district and school leaders’ interpretation of state takeover policy, including: (a) principals and teachers are to blame, (b) too many changes, too little time to reflect, (c) lack of trust between school districts and the state, and (d) market-based reforms and the illusion of choice. Although a non-trivial number of teachers and principals have expressed their intent to leave for charter schools or leave the teaching profession in response to the threat of state takeover, voice was the more common response, particularly among teachers in takeover-eligible schools who were more experienced and had students performing well on state tests. There are also noteworthy differences in the response of district and school leaders based on the eligibility for state takeover.

Narrative Building in State Education Intervention: Framing the Takeover Attempt of Houston Independent School District

“…State takeover literature traditionally focuses on district performance (Burns, 2010) and the role of academic performance and social factors that contribute to them (Morel, 2018; Welsh, 2018). Contemporary research is starting to analyze the role of republican governors and the response to these takeovers by teachers, staff, and students (Schueler, 2019; Welsh & Williams, 2018; Welsh et al, 2019). Gubernatorial influence plays a large role in takeovers of schools and districts, especially in conservative states with Republican leadership (Welsh et al, 2019).…”

“…Parents, community, organizations, and educators (Welsh & Williams, 2018) oppose these opinions. Educators oppose state takeovers, viewing them as invasive and power grabs, especially by those in the education system.…”

Why the Opportunity School District Failed? An Examination of Coalitions and the Politics of School Improvement

“…Race shapes the interpretation of school improvement policy (Schueler & West, 2019), and how coalitions in education navigate race is important yet relatively overlooked (Ansell et al, 2009; Glazer & Egan, 2018). Like other states, most schools eligible for state takeover in Georgia were concentrated in large, urban districts and consisted of mostly low-income and African American students (Welsh, 2019; Welsh et al, 2019b; Welsh & Williams, 2018). Black voters voted against the OSD by more than a 2 to 1 margin (Tagami, 2016a, 2016b).…”

“…Michigan’s Education Achievement Authority was dissolved in 2017 after 6 years of operation, whereas Newark and New Orleans have recently completed the return to local control process (Danley & Rubin, 2020; Glazer & Egan, 2018). Large urban districts and schools primarily attended by low-income and Black students are more likely to be taken over (Morel, 2018; Welsh, 2019; Welsh & Williams, 2018). Scholars have also highlighted that state takeover undermines local control, disrupts the influence of African American leadership in urban education, and hinders the political engagement of African American stakeholders (Buras, 2011; Dixson et al, 2015; Garda, 2011; Morel, 2018; Oluwole & Green, 2009).…”

When they go low, we go high: Scholars of color, activism, and educational research in a post-truth era

“…Furthermore, these scholars are also investigating how students and communities of color are resisting narrow narratives that are emerging out of the post-truth era. These emerging and transcending research agendas are proposing abolitionist approaches to dismantling educational inequality (Love, 2019), understanding the ways that racialized students experience and navigate higher education (Garcia, 2017), rethinking culturally relevant pedagogy through Hip-Hop-based education (Emdin, 2010;Love, 2015;Travis, 2013Travis, , 2015, exploring the intersection of race and dis/ability (Annamma, 2017), understanding how education policies can hurt or harm students of color (Grooms, 2016;Sampson, 2018;Welsh & Williams, 2018), and other approaches to addressing and improving educational outcomes for students of color. This wave of scholarship has centered race as an important determinant for understanding today's educational system and underscores the importance for academic research that includes the voices of the community and advocates for a reframing of education policy that pushes against the noise in the current post-truth era (Dumas & Anderson, 2014).…”