Minnesota’s system of open enrollment, which policymakers established to allow the education system to self-regulate, has created a dynamic in which schools and districts must compete for students. Nicola Alexander, associate professor in the Department of Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development, has researched how competing for students influences the dueling pressures of finances and measures of student achievement for 55 Twin Cities metro school districts.

Discover more about her findings regarding the financial stability of local districts, as well as their competitiveness, in “Colloquium: Open enrollment’s losers.” It’s available in the Winter/Spring 2010 Connect.