Do School District Takeovers Work? Assessing the Effectiveness of City and State Takeovers as a School Reform Strategy - This article summarizes a major study on city and state takeovers of school districts. It examines the emergence of takeovers, summarizes the existing research base on takeovers and presents the study's findings in three major areas concerning takeovers - teacher and student performance, financial and administrative management and accountability. (Kenneth K. Wong and Francis X. Shen, National Association of State Boards of Education, 2002)...

Report on the Final Evaluation of the City-State Partnership - This evaluation focuses on Maryland's intervention in the Baltimore City Public School System in 1997. It offers a number of insights into the results of the takeover up to this point. Perhaps most importantly, the evaluation finds that student achievement has improved in the elementary grades since the takeover, although the rate of progress will have to be accelerated if the district is to reach state performance goals. (Westat, 2001)...

Myths and Realities: The Impact of the State Takeover on Students and School in Newark - This study examines the impact of the takeover of the Newark Public Schools by the State of New Jersey. It describes areas of improvement, indicates factors that have contributed to that improvement, identifies barriers to school and district success, outlines next steps for Newark and New Jersey, and presents the criteria and strategies that states should adopt if they are contemplating school district takeovers. (Community Training and Assistance Center, May 2000)...