The National Implementation Research Network (NIRN) and the National Center for School Turnaround (2018) published the "Four Domains for Rapid School Improvement: An Implementation Framework" as a companion to the Center for School Turnaround's (2017) recent publication of "The Four Domains for Rapid School Improvement: A Systems…

In fall 2016, more than 50% of teachers in Kokomo, Indiana, were leaving the profession within their first three years. Within the district, low-performing schools in particular struggled to retain teachers. The costs of teacher attrition are high for districts. According to a report from the Learning Policy Institute, each teacher who leaves the…

The Texas Education Agency offers grants for districts to implement school turnaround strategies at low-performing schools. Districts that receive these grants can implement a school turnaround strategy (referred to as a district-managed restart strategy) that includes replacing principals and teachers at schools that the district identifies as…

This brief is one in a series highlighting state policies, regulations, practices, laws, or other tools intended to create the necessary conditions for school and/or district turnaround. Each brief includes an overview of the relevant turnaround tool, its development process, its impact, and lessons learned that could assist other education…

This article focuses on the enactment of No Child Left Behind (NCLB), the USA's broad sweeping federal education policy, in a persistently low-achieving school in which the majority of students are refugees and immigrants. Drawing on a 26-month ethnography, I reveal the ways in which a NCLB-guided school turnaround plan is enacted variably,…

In 2011, some of Charlotte's leading private and corporate foundations formed a partnership with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools to implement innovative school turnaround interventions affecting use of talent, time, and technology, and engaging parents and communities at West Charlotte High School and its feeder elementary and middle schools. In…

The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (ESE) and the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education are deeply committed to ensuring that every student in the state has access to a high-quality education, and they have combined this commitment with an openness to innovation. After just one year of School…

In recent years, rapid school improvement--known most commonly as school turnaround--has emerged as the chief focus of dramatic and systemic efforts aimed at giving students better schools. To assist states, districts, and schools in leading or managing these efforts, in 2017 the Center on School Turnaround at WestEd developed "Four Domains…

The Center on School Turnaround at WestEd has developed a framework to assist states, districts, and schools in leading and managing rapid improvement efforts. The framework shares, in practical language, the critical practices of successful school turnaround in four domains, or areas of focus, that research and experience suggest are central to…

Persistently low-performing schools have been repeatedly targeted for comprehensive reform for more than two decades, usually with poor results. These efforts have suffered, however, because they were often poorly implemented or insufficiently grounded in rigorous research. The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), enacted in 2015, provides a…

As they prepare for initial implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), many state and local education agencies across the country have been taking the opportunity to redefine how best to support improvement in their lowest-performing schools. ESSA requires districts to play a larger role in the improvement process, with SEAs…

The pivot point for educational change is now firmly placed with the district, rebalancing the position of the state and the school relative to the local education agency (LEA). The state education agency (SEA) has been shifting its emphasis for decades, from a compliance-focused authority to a change agent equipped with systems, processes,…

Moving schools up the performance slope takes energy, leverage, and the right research-based approaches. In 2010, the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction launched an initiative to "Turn Around the Lowest Achieving Schools" (TALAS). The Southeast Comprehensive Center (SECC) partnered with the state education agency (SEA) to…

This brief is one in a series highlighting state policies, regulations, practices, laws, or other tools intended to create the necessary conditions for school and/or district turnaround. Each brief includes an overview of the relevant turnaround tool, its development process, its impact, and lessons learned that could assist other education…

With support from a federal Investing in Innovation (i3) grant, the FAST (Families and Schools Together) program has been implemented in thirty Philadelphia schools to improve family engagement and, by extension, advance school turnaround. The project team includes the nonprofit Families and Schools Together, Inc.; the Early Childhood Education…