Can State Intervention Spur Academic Turnaround?

By: Joan McRobbie

While a wave of states are resorting to academic takeovers of failing schools, others choose to intervene at the first signs of failure. This report examines what “machinery” needs to be in place to enable and support state intervention with low-performing schools, what an intervention entails, and the key elements of success in a school turnaround. It concludes that just as states and districts should expect schools to serve students well, so, too, should schools expect sufficient resources to do the job.