When school districts fail their responsibilities to educate students, state departments of education have to step up and be the responsible party. But do the state agencies have the knowledge and capacity to do what the districts have not done? This CTAC report shows that the most critical lessons from years of state-to-district interventions are in the effective use of three levers for change. State interventions at the district level have educational, organizational, and political dimensions, but these interventions are largely approached from just a one dimensional perspective—educational. Unless the organizational and political dimensions are addressed concurrently with the educational dimension, successful state-to-district interventions will continue to be elusive for the states. This report was commissioned by the Center for American Progress.
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Publications and Reports
CTAC’s reports focus on cutting edge issues in education and community development. Our research and evaluation studies inform practice and guide policy decision-making at local, state and national levels.
Levers for Change: Pathways for State-to-District Assistance in Underperforming School Districts
It’s More Than Money: Making Performance-Based Compensation Work
The lesson of performance-based compensation is one of institutional change. Gaps between the goals of compensation policy and practice on the one hand, and organizational results on the other, have characteristically come from under-conceptualizing what is involved in performance-based compensation. The impact of performance-based compensation comes from anticipating the consequences of the reform for the entire district. As this CTAC report shows, performance-based compensation involves more than recognizing excellence in teaching; it should expand the system’s overall capacity to support classrooms and improve teaching quality. An effective and sustainable strategy for recruiting, retaining, and rewarding excellence in teaching will provide a fertile ground where teaching thrives as a profession and is nurtured at a greater level of excellence and scale. This report was commissioned by the Center for American Progress.
New Directions in Christina: Accomplishments for Children, Challenges Ahead
This CTAC report shows that it is possible to increase student achievement for all student sub-groups, while also bridging the achievement gap. The Christina School District undertook system-wide reforms to address a persistent pattern of underachievement. The report reveals an unusually high level of education progress and highlights the successes gained by the district after a two-year intensive effort to improve education in their public schools. These efforts resulted in increased student achievement for all student sub-groups as measured on three major independent assessments. Moreover, African American and Hispanic students showed the greatest growth—for the first time ever in the district.