Chris Barbic, Nelson Smith, Landry Clarke & Gene Gene the Dancing Machine

yes Andy Smarick / April 25, 2013

Tennessee’s Achievement Schools District is the latest character to enter the stage in the most important and interesting act of contemporary education reform: structural-institutional changes in the running and governing of public schools.

For eons, the plot was the same: a district owns and operates all of the public schools in a geographic area. The subplot, if you were in urban America, was that the district-run schools serving most of your community’s kids did so quite badly.

Chartering, entering stage right in 1991, subtly but revolutionarily, showed that other entities could run public schools. A few years later, Michigan and Massachusetts, adding dimension to the character, showed that non-district entities could also authorize (approve, monitor, renew, close) public schools.

The district’s proprietary grip on public education was broken.

Over the course of the 1990s, chartered schools slowly got more and more stage time, growing to capture larger market shares in America’s cities: 10, 15, 20, 30% in some areas.

The plot developed with a new strand: more and more state departments of education were empowered to take over individual schools and entire districts. 

In hindsight, this was the play’s most unfortunate interlude—the jump-the-shark scene, the add-a-precocious-child-to-the-cast strategy, the second season of Friday Night Lights.  SEAs, like a dog who chased and caught a car, didn’t know

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Chris Barbic, Nelson Smith, Landry Clarke & Gene Gene the Dancing Machine

The Achievement School District

Emily Carter / April 24, 2013

Over the past few years, Tennessee has taken important steps to improve public education. With a focus on higher standards, great teaching, turning around low-performing schools, and using data in new and important ways, Tennessee has made significant progress. Even with student achievement improving, there is still a lot of work left to do before every student graduates high school prepared for college and the workforce.

One important way Tennessee has worked to raise student achievement is through initiatives aimed at turning around low-performing schools. Redefining the School District in Tennessee helps to illuminate this work by examining the development, implementation, and ongoing efforts of the Achievement School District (ASD). The ASD is a special statewide district that acts as both as school operator and charter authorizer that steps in to take over and support the lowest performing 5 percent of schools in the state.

Author Nelson Smith highlights key aspects of Tennessee’s turnaround work that other states can learn from, including the importance of community support and buy-in. As Smith notes, “People hate for their schools to be closed and taken over,” and states should consider options that allow communities to participate in and contribute to the decision-making process. It’s important for the ASD to understand local community needs so that they can

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The Achievement School District

Redefining the School District in Tennessee

yes Michelle Gininger / April 23, 2013

As the challenges of education governance loom ever larger and the dysfunction and incapacity of the traditional K–12 system reveal themselves as major roadblocks to urgently needed reforms across that system, many have asked, “What’s the alternative?”

Part of the answer is the “recovery school district,” a new state-created entity that has the potential to turn around schools that have—often for decades—produced dreadful results under district control.

Nelson Smith investigates the Volunteer State’s Achievement School District (ASD) by analyzing the ASD’s history, politics, and moving parts in the new policy report Redefining the School District in Tennessee.

Smith offers concrete advice to other states thinking of creating similar “recovery school districts.”

• Due Diligence: Because there aren’t enough high-quality national charter and turnaround networks to fill the demand created by large-scale reform efforts, states need to look for homegrown solutions.

• Destination: States must consider how to make schools slated for turnaround attractive places to work for high-quality teachers, administrators, and leaders.

• Expectations: What is an acceptable level of success, and at what point should legislators get the information they need to make further decisions? States must consider how to define “good enough” in turnaround measures.

• Buy-In: States should follow the ASD’s lead in separating the identification of turnaround schools from the selection of potential operators—people hate for their schools to

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  Category: Governance

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  Redefining the School District in Tennessee

First Bell 4-23-13

yes Pamela Tatz / April 23, 2013

A first look at today's most important education news:

A Pew survey finds that American teens aren’t doing as badly on international science tests as the public believes. (Associated Press)

Under new legislation signed by Florida Governor Rick Scott yesterday, Algebra 2 will become an optional course for the state’s high schoolers. (Curriculum Matters)

Pearson, the educational publishing colossus, has been buying ed-tech startups and concepts; yesterday, they acquired Learning Catalytics. (Tech Crunch)

Jeff Charbonneau, a high school science teacher recently named the 2013 National Teacher of the Year, opposes linking teacher evaluation to standardized test scores. (Answer Sheet)

A new study finds that the type of school students attend may influence whether or not they befriend kids of their same race. (Huffington Post)

In an odd twist, Alaska—which eschewed the Common Core standards—has joined the Smarter Balanced assessment consortium. (Education Week)

A teachers’ strike in Strongsville, Ohio, is in its eighth week. (Teacher Beat)

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First Bell 4-23-13