Public-Sector Leadership and Venture Philanthropy: The Case of Broad Superintendents - CEPA Working Paper No. 20-06

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Angel

Major philanthropic initiatives that use venture-capital practices have gained prominence in K-12 public education. This working paper provides empirical evidence on the reach, character, and impact of the Broad Superintendents Academy, using a dataset covering all Broad trainees and linked panel data for large school districts over 20 years. Findings show extensive reach but no clear effects on several district outcomes, while suggesting an increased trend toward charter schools.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages55

Reading Time2 h 19 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Introduction

CEPA Working Paper No. 20-06 Public-Sector Leadership and Venture Philanthropy: The Case of Broad Superintendents AUTHORS Thomas S. Dee Stanford University Susanna Loeb Brown University Ying Shi Syracuse University ABSTRACT Major philanthropic initiatives that incorporate features of venture-capital practices have become increasingly prominent, particularly in K-12 public education. In this study, we provide empirical evidence on the reach, character, and impact of the Broad Superintendents Academy, a prominent and controversial venture-philanthropic initiative designed to transform leadership in the nation’s largest school districts. Using a novel dataset on all Broad trainees and a linked panel data set of all large school districts over 20 years, we ﬁnd that Broad superintendents have had extensive reach (e. g. , serving nearly 3 million students at their peak) . We also show that, within districts that hired Broad trainees, Broad superintendents were 40 percent more likely to be Black than their non-Broad peers, but also had tenures that were 18 percent shorter. Panel-based estimates provide evidence that Broad-trained leaders had no clear eﬀects on several district outcomes such as enrollment, school closures, per-pupil instructional and support-service spending, and student completion rates. However, Broad-trained leaders initiate a trend towards an increased number of charter schools and higher charterschool enrollment. VERSION July 2020 Suggested citation: Dee, T.S. , Loeb, S. , & Shi, Y. (2020) . Public-Sector Leadership and Venture Philanthropy: The Case of Broad Superintendents. (CEPA Working Paper No.20-06) . Retrieved from Stanford Center for Education Policy Analysis: [http://cepa.stanford.edu/wp20-06](http://cepa.stanford.edu/wp20-06) Public-Sector Leadership and Venture Philanthropy: The Case of Broad Superintendents Thomas S. Dee􀀃 Stanford University Susanna Loeby Brown University Annenberg Institute Ying Shiz Syracuse University July 10, 2020 Abstract Major philanthropic initiatives that incorporate features of venture-capital practices have become increasingly prominent, particularly in K-12 public education. In this study, we provide empirical evidence on the reach, character, and impact of the Broad Superintendents Academy, a prominent and controversial venture-philanthropic initiative designed to transform leadership in the nation's largest school districts. Using a novel dataset on all Broad trainees and a linked panel data set of all large school districts over 20 years, we ﬁnd that Broad superintendents have had extensive reach (e.g., serving nearly 3 million students at their peak) . We also show that, within districts that hired Broad trainees, Broad superintendents were 40 percent more likely to be Black than their non-Broad peers, but also had tenures that were 18 percent shorter. Panel-based estimates provide evidence that Broad-trained leaders had no clear effects on several district outcomes such as enrollment, school closures, per-pupil instructional and support-service spending, and student completion rates. However, Broad-trained leaders initiate a trend towards an increased number of charter schools and higher charterschool enrollment. 􀀃 Dee: Stanford Graduate School of Education, Center for Education Policy Analysis, 520 Galvez Mall, Stanford, CA 93405-3084; Email: [tdee@stanford.edu](tdee@stanford.edu) y Loeb: Annenberg Institute at Brown University, 164 Angell Street, Providence RI 02912; Email: [loeb@brown.edu](loeb@brown.edu) [z](z Shi: Department of Public Administration and International Affairs)[ Shi: Department of Public Administration and International Affairs](z Shi: Department of Public Administration and International Affairs), [426 Eggers Hall](426 Eggers Hall), [Syracuse](Syracuse), [NY 13244-1020](NY 13244-1020); [Email: yshi78@syr.edu](Email: yshi78@syr.edu) 1 Introduction Philanthropy has long played a prominent role

FAQs

What initiative does the paper study?

The paper examines the Broad Superintendents Academy, a venture-philanthropic effort intended to transform leadership in the nation’s largest school districts.

How was the study conducted?

It uses a novel dataset covering all Broad trainees and linked panel data for all large school districts over 20 years.

What impacts does the paper find on district outcomes?

Panel-based estimates show no clear effects on outcomes such as enrollment, school closures, per-pupil spending, and student completion rates, while Broad-trained leaders are associated with more charter schools and higher charter enrollment.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Angel