NEPC Review: Measures of Last Resort: Assessing Strategies for State-Initiated Turnarounds

The stated goal of this report is to strengthen the evidence base on state-initiated turnarounds and to provide guidance to help states use turnaround strategies more effectively. The report draws on multiple sources of information to develop a conceptual framework and profile of state-initiated turnaround strategies, to array the evidence on the effectiveness of turnaround initiatives, and to identify key elements of a successful turnaround strategy. However, given multiple methodological limitations, the report fails to elevate either the research base or the policy discourse. Specifically, the methods used to carry out the original research (e.g., analysis of state policies, interviews with stakeholders, and illustrative cases) are neither explained nor justified. Likewise, the methods employed in the eight evaluations selected to assess the effectiveness of turnaround approaches are not described, and the evidence base produced by these evaluations is not sufficient to support the sweeping claims made in the report. Equally important, the report neglects to consider relevant research on the specific mechanisms (e.g., school reconstitution, intensive professional development, private management systems) that states use when they employ the broad turnaround strategies discussed in the report. As a result of these problems, the report does not enhance the evidence base or provide the substantive guidance state policymakers require to make informed decisions about the use of various school turnaround strategies.</p

Malen, Betty, and Michael Knapp, Rethinking the Multiple Perspectives Approach to Educational Policy Analysis: Implications for Policy-Practice Connections, Journal of Educational Policy, 12(October, 1997), 419-445.*

Sets forth a general framework of eight common dimensions of policy and shows how these can be analyzed from five perspectives (rational, organizational, political, symbolic, normative)

Fuhrman, Susan H., and Betty Malen, eds., The Politics of Curriculum and Testing . Philadelphia: Falmer, 1991.

Provides thirteen studies of the politics of curriculum and testing at the state and local levels

Ogawa, Rodney T., and Betty Malen, Towards Rigor in Reviews of Multivocal Literatures: Applying the Exploratory Case Study Method, Review of Educational Research , 61 (Fall, 1991), 265-286.*

Describes a method of reviewing literature that bridges inquiry and commentaries or summaries where methodological adequacy is in question; four critiques follow