As districts across the country search for ways to turn around their lowest-performing schools, a growing number are partnering with external providers--often charter operators--to implement "restarts." These providers receive operational autonomy and bring their own approach to schooling, positioning them to implement deep and…

In 2007, civic and philanthropic leaders founded the nonprofit Partnership for Los Angeles Schools to transform some of the city's highest-need, lowest-performing schools. Eleven years later, schools in the Partnership network have made notable improvements, with much more substantial gains in student performance relative to other schools in the…

Like many large districts in urban U.S. cities, L.A. Unified struggles to produce strong results for all students. On 2015-16 end-of-year state tests, 60 percent of students did not meet state standards in English language arts (ELA). Students fared even worse in math: 70 percent performed below grade level. High-need students are struggling the…

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…

Leading Charlotte foundations formed a funding collaborative to support a five-year district turnaround initiative to dramatically improve educational outcomes for students in the West Charlotte High School corridor, one of the city's lowest-performing feeder zones. The "Project L.I.F.T." initiative involves four areas of education…

Tonya Kales came to Ashley Park PreK-8 as its principal (2009-2013), and confronted a school at the end of its rope. Ashley Park was a beautiful facility, but there was no learning going on in the building, it was a chaotic environment for both kids and adults. It was a hostile environment--had adults that were totally incompetent in their…

As schools, their teachers, and outside facilitators redesign jobs and incorporate technology to extend the reach of excellent teachers to more students and develop an Opportunity Culture for all, choosing the right school models is just one part of the task. The human experience--and experience in education--says that even perfect design will not…

One of the biggest challenges in education today is identifying talented candidates to successfully lead turnarounds of persistently low-achieving schools. Evidence suggests that the traditional principal pool is already stretched to capacity and cannot supply enough leaders to fix failing schools. But potentially thousands of leaders capable of…

This paper aims first to shed light on one element of leadership: the characteristics--or "competencies"--of turnaround leaders who succeed in driving rapid, dramatic change. Second, it recounts the elements of support that districts must provide these leaders to enable and sustain a portfolio of successful school turnarounds.…

Recently national policymakers have placed new emphasis on school turnarounds as a strategy for rapid, dramatic improvement in chronically failing schools, calling on education leaders to turn around performance in the 5,000 lowest-achieving schools nationwide. This goal may seem daunting, given the low success rates of school improvement efforts…

Colorado and the nation increased their focus on the needs of students in struggling schools. Congress and the federal Department of Education have developed initiatives that alter the options available under federal law for state, district, and school leaders to intervene in persistently struggling schools. In addition, Colorado has recently…

In recent years, national policymakers have placed new emphasis on "school turnarounds" as a strategy for rapid, dramatic improvement in chronically failing schools, calling on education leaders to turn around performance in the 5,000 lowest-achieving schools nationwide. This goal may seem daunting, given the dismal success rates of…

This toolkit includes the following separate sections: (1) Selection Preparation Guide; (2) Day-of-Interview Tools; (3) Candidate Rating Tools; and (4) Candidate Comparison and Decision Tools. Each of the sections is designed to be used at different stages of the selection process. The first section provides a list of competencies that would…

Individual teachers have the largest single school effect on student performance. Documented experience also indicates that individual teachers in high-poverty schools can effect rapid, dramatic student learning improvements within their own classrooms. Organization-wide change of a similar magnitude takes a broader effort with daring leadership…

Evidence collected over the last 30 years suggests that effective school leaders significantly influence student learning and other aspects of school performance. Documented experience also indicates that individual leaders in failing organizations in various sectors, including education, can effect rapid, dramatic improvements. School turnaround…