Lessons Learned: A Case of Teachers Working to Turn Around Schools in Chicago

• In Event: School Turnaround in Urban Contexts

Abstract

The current era of accountability led several policy leaders to explicitly connect the “achievement gap” and “failing schools” concepts. In turn, school districts were pressured to turn struggling schools around without giving much thought to why their schools were failing. The purpose of this qualitative case study is to better understand how public high school teachers make sense of the school turnaround phenomenon within Chicago. Interviews with teachers and administrators as well as researcher observations of case study teachers in instructional leadership team meetings, in staff meetings and in their classrooms serve as the primary sources of data. Analysis reveals lessons learned about the role and responsibilities of teachers learning, leading and teaching within turnaround schools.

Author

• Heather L. Horsley, University of Illinois at Chicago