Springfield, the second-largest school district in Massachusetts, adopted this approach in 2015 after four schools fell into one of the state’s lowest-performing categories, just shy of triggering a state takeover. Springfield is one of the school districts identified by Rhode Island Education Commissioner Angélica Infante-Green as offering some intriguing ideas on school turnarounds.
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Faced with chronic teacher shortages, the [Springfield Empowerment Zone] partnership recruited teachers from Teach Western Mass, a program similar to Teach for America, which fast tracks young adults and provides them with intensive training. Charter schools have traditionally relied on this cadre of eager young professionals to teach in tough-to-staff urban schools.