Inspiration, Perspiration, and Time

Operations and Achievement in Edison Schools

Brian Gill, Laura S. Hamilton, J. R. Lockwood, Julie A. Marsh, Ron Zimmer, Deanna Hill, Shana Pribesh

ResearchPublished Sep 29, 2005

New forms of governing and managing public schools have proliferated in recent years, spawning the establishment and growth of companies contracted to operate public schools. Among these education management organizations (EMOs), the largest and most visible is Edison Schools. In 2000, Edison asked RAND to analyze its achievement outcomes and design implementation. RAND designed an evaluation to address the following research questions:

  • What are Edison’s strategies for promoting student achievement in the schools it manages?
  • How are Edison’s strategies implemented in those schools?
  • How does Edison’s management of schools affect student achievement?
  • What factors explain differences in achievement trends among Edison schools?

The resources and accountability systems that constitute Edison’s design represent a coherent, comprehensive, and ambitious strategy to address key elements relevant to providing high-quality education. The best-functioning Edison schools demonstrate the promise inherent in Edison’s model, but this monograph reports considerable variation in the extent to which the schools realize the Edison ideal.

Average rates of student proficiency in Edison schools improve over time. On average, gains of Edison schools during the first three years of Edison operation do not exceed the gains of matched conventional public schools, but Edison results improve in years four and five. Edison’s average long-term gains are comparable to or better than those of matched conventional public schools.

Analysis of a number of case-study Edison schools suggests that schools that effectively implement the wide-ranging Edison curriculum, establish Edison’s professional environment, and operate with strong instructional leaders under limited constraints have positive achievement results. Given that Edison’s results have not been uniformly positive, this monograph suggests some actions that Edison and its current and future clients can take to promote greater consistency of results, in terms of both implementation and student achievement.

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Gill, Brian, Laura S. Hamilton, J. R. Lockwood, Julie A. Marsh, Ron Zimmer, Deanna Hill, and Shana Pribesh, Inspiration, Perspiration, and Time: Operations and Achievement in Edison Schools. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2005. https://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG351.html.
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The research described in this report was conducted by RAND Education for Edison Schools, Inc.

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