The Perils and Promise of School Turnaround: A Multicase Study in Six Jefferson County Public Schools High Schools

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 3
  In Roundtable Session: Organizational Factors and Improvement

Abstract

School turnaround has been the policy solution of choice for addressing the problem of low-performing schools, however, there is sparse evidence of its efficacy. This study offers findings from a mixed-methods, multi-case study focusing on school turnaround efforts in six urban high schools in Jefferson County, Kentucky. It examines what worked, what failed, and why. Too often policies are rashly judged as successes or failures, with too little attention paid to implementation, the conditions and antecedents that lead to success or failure, and the particulars of strategy and context. We seek to address these issues and suggest means of refining policy for improving low-performing schools.

Authors

• TJ D'Agostino, University of Notre Dame

• John Marshall, New Jersey Department of Education

• Victoria Caroline Hollis, Birmingham Education Foundation