We describe the levels, trends, and patterns of school closure and restructuring in the United States from 1991 to 2019 across all sectors using a near census of K-12 schools. Focusing on the years with the best available data, 2014-18, we find that the annual closure rate of charter, private, and traditional public schools (TPSs) were 5.1, 2.9,…

This study provides the first analysis of closure and restructuring trends for essentially all schools nationwide over the past 30 years. We analyze the annual closure and restructuring rates of all schools across the United States, how these rates changed over time, and what factors predict closure and restructuring. [For the Technical Report,…

This paper investigates and compares the policy trajectories of two halted privatisation reforms -- autonomous private high schools in South Korea (2002-2019) and converted schools in China (1992-2008). The two reforms, ambitiously announced, were put under scrutiny and ultimately halted, when the public discontent about education inequalities was…

The Learning 2025: National Commission on Student-Centered, Equity-Focused Education--a collective of thought leaders in education, business, community, and philanthropy as convened by AASA, The School Superintendents Association--calls for holistic redesign of the public school system by 2025. The COVID-19 pandemic has served as a forcing…

We describe the levels, trends, and patterns of school closure and restructuring in the United States from 1991 to 2019 across all sectors using a near census of K-12 schools. Focusing on the years with the best available data, 2014-2018, we find that the annual closure rate of charter, private, and traditional public schools (TPS) were 5.1, 2.9,…

Demographic projections from the California Department of Finance (DOF) suggest that California's public K-12 school system is entering a long period of declining enrollment. Districts with declining enrollment face fiscal pressures, as state funding is tied to the number of students they serve. Declining enrollment also has important implications…

To contribute to the debate about the reorganization of public-school supply, we analyze a reform introduced in Colombia in 2001 that merged independent schools into a single institution. Specifically, we estimate differences in achievement, dropout rates, teacher characteristics, and technological infrastructure between sites belonging to…

The aim of this brief is to describe a key contributor to the persistent disparities found in student learning outcomes in Chicago Public Schools (CPS) and to show how this knowledge can help identify specific sources of inequities in CPS, particularly for schools with predominantly Black student enrollments. The authors present a data-based…

The fact that all children must attend school has characterised South Africa over the past two decades. While many schools are struggling to address this challenge, others have made strides and progress in closing the gap between groups. This article recounts how these secondary schools have been able to narrow the achievement gap and sustain…

The UIC Center for Urban Education Leadership (CUEL) brief is an analysis that examines schools that have historically struggled to improve within the context of the Chicago Public Schools SQRP Accountability System. In this research brief, CUEL researchers advance the term 'high churn" to describe a school type that has proven particularly…

The purpose of this study is to identify different types of school leadership as perceived by teachers and to test the extent that these types predict teacher retention. School leadership varies by perception, context, and may influence a teacher's decision to leave their current school or the profession. Four statistically different types of…

Since No Child Left Behind (NCLB) became law, educators have faced challenges trying to protect the common good of a public education while, at the same time, developing and/or reviewing proposals to provide for the school choice option of NCLB. In the debate over market-driven education versus traditional public education, many times, the…

Five years ago, Baltimore City Public Schools seemed on the brink of a breakthrough. The district had been freed from mayoral control after more than a century, and a high-energy superintendent was leading bold moves to de-emphasize central administration, give schools greater autonomy, and engage families in a revitalized portfolio of educational…

During the period of 1981 to 2015, the total population of Black students in CPS plummeted from close to 240,000, 60% of all CPS students, to 156,000 or 39% of CPS. This paper documents how despite their decreasing numbers and percentage in the system, the vast majority of Black students remained isolated in predominantly low-income Black schools…

A group of New York City public school teachers, angry about the depiction of public schools in 'Waiting for Superman," decide to make their own film about the realities of the current education reform movement. They persevered even though they had no budget when they started and lacked a background in filmmaking. "The Inconvenient Truth…