Evaluating Education Governance

Does State Takeover of School Districts Affect Student Achievement

Bibliographic Data

ID11680396
AuthorsBeth E Schueler (0000-0002-6267-0793, corresponding author), Joshua Bleiberg (0000-0003-0291-3244), Joshua F Bleiberg
Year2021
Volume41
Issue1
Pages162-192
Publication date2021-10-04
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Policy Analysis and Management (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0276-8739 • E-ISSN: 1520-6688
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/pam.22338
OpenAlexW3165346671
LanguageEN
Citations received21
References cited21

Local school boards have primary authority for running educational systems in the U.S., but little is known empirically about the merits of this arrangement. State takeovers of struggling districts represent a rare alternative form of educational governance and have become an increasingly common response to low performance. However, limited research explores whether this effectively improves student outcomes. We track all takeovers nationwide from the late 1980s, when the first takeovers occurred, through 2016 and describe takeover districts. While these districts are low performing, we find academic performance plays less of a role in predicting takeover for districts serving larger concentrations of African American students. We then use a new data source allowing for cross‐state comparisons of student outcomes to estimate the effect of takeovers that occurred between 2011 and 2016. On average, we find no evidence that takeover generates academic benefits. Takeover appears to be disruptive in the early years of takeover, particularly to English Language Arts achievement, although the longer‐term effects are less clear. We also observe considerable heterogeneity of effects across districts. Takeovers were least effective in districts with higher baseline achievement and least harmful in majority‐Hispanic communities. Leaders should be cautious about using state takeover without considering local context and a better understanding of why some takeovers are more effective than others

Academic achievement · Affect (linguistics · Business · Corporate governance · Pedagogy · Political science · Public relations · State (computer science · Student achievement · Educational Assessment and Improvement · Psychology · School Leadership and Teacher Performance · Finance