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Abstract

This article examines education reform in Detroit, employing data from over 75 semi structured elite interviews. The research explores the apparent collapse of a local education reform effort in Detroit despite broad dissatisfaction with the current education system. Both collaborative and competitive approaches to reform are investigated through a regime framework Reformers who implemented change were removed from office and yet a business school compact, neighborhood-based empowerment schools, and schools of choice remain as a legacy. This indicates that although short-term political support for change in Detroit did collapse, some long-term institutional impact of the reform remains.

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Making Educational Reform

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