Congratulations to Alan Jorge Tenreiro who on Thursday, April 9, 2026, successfully defended his final dissertation.
The title of Alan’s study is: "THE STATE TAKEOVER OF A STRUGGLING URBAN DISTRICT: EXAMINING TEACHER MOTIVATION AND JOB SATISFACTION."
Overview of Problem: State takeovers are frequently used as a strategy to address persistent challenges in underperforming urban school districts. While these reforms aim to improve systems and outcomes, they often disrupt the daily work of teachers. Despite teachers’ central role in implementing reform, limited research has examined how state takeover shapes their motivation and job satisfaction.
Research Purpose: This study aimed to understand and describe how teachers in a large urban school district experience state takeover, specifically examining their motivation and job satisfaction through the lens of Self-Determination Theory (SDT), with attention to autonomy, competence, and relatedness.
Research Design: An exploratory descriptive qualitative (EDQ) design was used to capture participants' experiences in the context of a state takeover.
Sample: The sample included 12 secondary teachers (Grades 6–12) in English, math, and science who were employed in the district before and during the state takeover and had at least three years of district teaching experience prior to the takeover.
Data Collection and Analysis: Data was collected through semi-structured, audio-only interviews. Transcripts were analyzed using Braun and Clarke’s (2006) six-step thematic analysis to identify patterns across participant experiences.
Findings/Results: Teachers described state takeover as a shift in the conditions of their daily work, characterized by layered initiatives, expanding demands, and increased compliance expectations. In response, teachers developed classroom-level adaptations and workarounds to meet both system requirements and student needs. Motivation remained strongly rooted in relationships with students, while autonomy was constrained, competence was internally sustained but unevenly supported, and relatedness was strongest within schools but weaker at the system level.
Conclusions/Implications: Teacher motivation under state takeover is best understood not as an individual trait, but as a response to the professional working conditions created by the takeover. Findings suggest that the success of takeover reform depends not only on policy design or governance structures, but on the extent to which implementation creates conditions that support autonomy, competence, and relatedness. State and district leaders should intentionally design and implement takeover environments that sustain teacher motivation.
Dissertation Committee Chair(s):
Dr. Martin Fitzgerald
Dissertation Committee Member(s):
Dr. Peter Troiano
Dr. Jack Warner
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