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The Next Generation of State Reforms to Improve their Lowest Performing Schools: An Evaluation of North Carolina’s School Transformation Intervention

Abstract In contrast to prior federally mandated school reforms, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) allows states more discretion in reforming their lowest performing schools, removes requirements to disrupt the status quo, and does not allocate substantial additional funds. Using a regression discontinuity design, we evaluate a state turnaround initiative aligned with ESSA requirements. We find the effect on student achievement was not significant in year one and −0.13 in year two. Also, in year two, we find that teachers in turnaround schools were 22.5 percentage points more likely to turn over. While the increased teacher turnover in NCT schools in 2017 opens the possibility that reform schools were intentionally replacing less effective teachers with more effective ones, our analysis does not support that strategic staffing occurred. The negative effects on student achievement appear related to variable timing of implementation of one of the few required components for serving low-performing schools under ESSA—a comprehensive needs assessment which leads to comprehensive school improvement plans. These findings may serve as a cautionary tale for states planning low-performing school reforms under ESSA.