Five Chicago school turnaround reform models mapped to four federal intervention models¶

Theory · All theories
Evidence · 7 claims (4 for, 2 mixed, 1 against) · 4 studies (2 associational, 1 causal, 1 design), q2–q3 · 0 of 4 report an effect size · 6 claims rest on one study

Description¶

The report organizes Chicago's 1997-2010 district-mandated interventions into five models—Reconstitution, School Closure and Restart, the School Turnaround Specialist Program, Academy for Urban School Leadership, and the Office of School Improvement—classified by three levers of change: staff replacement, leadership replacement, and governance replacement, plus changes in attendance rules. It maps these onto the four federal models, noting that "The AUSL model, the OSI model, and the earlier Reconstitution efforts, contain the elements of the federal turnaround model," STSP corresponds to the transformational model, and Closure and Restart is "analogous to the federal restart model."

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Schools identified by the district as chronically low performing
• District authority to replace leadership, staff, or governance

Constraints¶

• Chicago reforms predate the 2009 federal definitions and "do not fit the federal definitions perfectly"
• Schools were not randomly selected for reform, limiting generalizability

Target Learners¶

• Students in chronically low-performing K-12 public schools

Target Learning Objectives¶

• Rapid improvement of student achievement, attendance, and graduation outcomes in chronically low-performing schools

Claims¶

• Reformed elementary schools made significant test-score improvements versus matched comparison schools, with gains growing gradually over four years [+M]
• High schools that underwent reform showed no significant improvement in absence rates or ninth-grade on-track rates compared with matched schools [-M]
• Elementary schools strong on at least three of five essential organizational elements were 10 times more likely to improve and 30 times less likely to stagnate [+W]
• Six of seven recently reformed high schools showed first-year on-track improvements above comparison schools, though evidence is limited [+W]
• School turnaround is a gradual process rather than an immediate event triggered by replacing staff or leadership [+W]
• Turnaround schools generally served the same students after reform, except Closure and Restart schools, which shifted toward more advantaged, higher-achieving students [~M]
• Closure and Restart, AUSL, and OSI models rehired fewer than 10 percent of prior teachers, and post-reform workforces were younger, less experienced, more likely white, and more likely provisionally certified [~M]

Related Theories¶

• Informal social learning networks as the coordinating mechanism of systemwide improvement
• Chicago's three-pronged theory of change: classroom instruction, schools as the unit of change, and differentiated district support
• Three eras of Chicago school reform: Decentralization, Accountability, Diversification
• Turnaround schools as a distinct category of school improvement

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• de la Torre, M., Allensworth, E., Jagesic, S., Sebastian, J., & Salmonowicz, M.; with Meyers, C., & Gerdeman, R. D. (2013). Turning Around Low-Performing Schools in Chicago. University of Chicago Consortium on Chicago School Research. https://consortium.uchicago.edu/publications/turning-around-low-performing-schools-chicago-full-report