“This is the Big Leagues”: Charter-Led Turnaround in a Non-Charter World

Abstract

With mounting evidence of promising results in charter schools serving disadvantaged students, charter networks have been urged to expand their reach to turn around the most chronically low-achieving schools. This article addresses those questions using evidence from a three-year study of charters in the Tennessee Achievement School District. We discuss how operators were pressed to substantially revise their core assumptions and strategies in response to this new environment, despite the many charter-like affordances they received.

Suggested Citation

Massell, D. & Glazer, J.L. (2016). “This is the big leagues”: Charter-led turnaround in a non-charter world. (Tennessee Education Research Alliance Working Paper).