Bringing School Turnaround to Scale: The Imperative Role of Districts

• In Event: Bolstering Educational Quality: The District’s Role in School Reform

Abstract

School turnaround has grown exponentially since the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act. Now turnaround has grown to a $4.5+ billion investment through the School Improvement Grants (SIG) implemented in 2009. While some schools are making reasonable improvements, it is questionable that a prescriptive school-by-school approach, particularly with such a short time-line, will yield far-reaching sustainable results. This study examined the role of districts in scaling effective turnaround work through the study of five districts employing turnaround from the district-level with varying degrees of success. In addition to high yield practices in areas of instruction, talent management, interventions, and performance management, the paper discusses the impact of external turnaround partners, and practitioners’ perspective on the SIG program.

Author

• Heather Zavadsky, The University of Texas