In this portrait, Simone A. Fried investigates the first six months of a state education department’s takeover of a public school district. Using interviews, observations, and artifact analysis, the article explores how school district employees experience the significant reorganization of governance structures and policies that accompanies receivership, illustrating the challenges of managing the “human side” of reform, particularly during the chaotic initial period of a new initiative. The portrait highlights a tension inherent to takeover policy: the state’s dual role in providing both support and sanction generates fear and uncertainty in the very communities where they must also build trust, vision, and motivation for change.
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Simone A. Fried (
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5540-4895) is a doctoral candidate at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Her research focuses on educational policy, governance, and multiorganizational reform, and she is currently working on a dissertation that explores the role, capacity, and strategies of state education agencies during takeovers of low-performing school districts. Fried has worked in a variety of education research-focused organizations both during and prior to her doctoral studies.