Building upon the prior development of a model of turnaround principal competencies, we investigated the extent to which the identified principal competencies correlate with student achievement. Participants met rigorous selection criteria for having effectively turned around their schools during their first 2 years as principal. We conducted…

Background: Literature in the field of school leadership substantiates principals' influence on student achievement. There is less clarity about principals' influence on school turnaround or the competencies needed for principals to effectively turn around schools. Research Design: A two-phase, mixed-methods study design analyzed 41 behavioral…

Research suggests that high-quality school improvement planning reflective of the school's needs and objectives is central to a principal's success in leading a school. Some American scholars contend that successfully planned and executed "quick wins" are critically important to launching high-level organizational change processes…

This document provides state education agencies (SEAs) and districts with guidance about how to assess a district's readiness to support school turnaround initiatives. First published in 2013, the guide has been updated in this edition to highlight how its approach to assessing district readiness embeds and reflects key components of "Four…

We understand very little about what is special that leaders do to facilitate improvement that is both transformational and lasting in previously persistently failing schools in the United States. Relatively little is understood about change not just during the initial turnaround stage, but that "endures" on the larger journey as the…

This paper presents states and districts with guidelines and recommendations for improving systems that support instructional practices. Because the quality of teaching is the most important school-based factor for student learning, a focus on instruction is essential for turning around struggling schools and districts and cultivating conditions…

Literature in the field of school leadership substantiates principals' influence on student achievement. Less clarity is available concerning principals' influence on school turnaround or the competencies needed for principals to effectively engage in and sustain the turnaround of low-performing schools. This study seeks to illuminate principal…

Identifying and maintaining talent is important in any organization, but in a low-performing school, it is perhaps "the" most important component to achieving turnaround. Given the importance of teachers and leaders for students and schools, districts and states are wise to hone their efforts related to identifying, attracting,…

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…

Over the last eight years, the University of Virginia Partnership for Leaders in Education (UVA/PLE) has partnered with over 50 districts and state education agencies across the country to embark on high-level change at the state, district, and school levels through the use of leader competencies. This guide calls upon practice-based experience,…