The Map Is Not the Territory: Considering the Role of School Improvement Plans in Turnaround Schools

School improvement plans (SIPs) are increasingly used to structure the process of setting and monitoring goals. As SIPs are designed to identify and address local problems of practice, there is the possibility that these tools help school leaders initiate and carry out ambitious school improvement. Yet, practical challenges abound in the development and initiation of a SIP. This teaching case describes the process by which one school leader developed the SIP in a turnaround school, how the plan was initially received, and the consequences when she unilaterally initiated change. The potential benefits of school improvement planning, such as goal-setting and progress monitoring, are contrasted with practical constraints associated with plan development.

Turnaround Reform Efforts in a Rural Context: How Community and Culture Impart Change

This article furthers research on the necessary components of what supports successful school turnaround, and also explores how and why two rural schools taking part in a Midwest State Turnaround School Project were successful in implementing school turnaround policy. Perceptions of building principals, district administrators, and regional support staff implementing turnaround policy were considered. Data were collected from 13 participants and analyses focused on the culture created and leadership provided by two rural school districts during the State Turnaround Schools Project implementation. Previous research has detailed district communication, district support of the turnaround principal, and shared leadership as important factors. However this article explores how and why the two participating rural school districts were successful implementing school turnaround and identifies the cultural and community conditions that support school turnaround in a rural setting.

“The Click-Clack of Her Heels and the Jingle of Her Keys”: Exploring the Tensions in the Leadership of a Successful Turnaround Principal

This qualitative case study explores the practices and tensions of being an effective principal in a turnaround school through an in-depth analysis of one principal who has been successful in several turnaround settings. Although principals have long been cited as foundational to a school's success, being the principal of a turnaround school is a significantly different enterprise than being a principal of a non-turnaround school. Newly appointed turnaround principals are expected not only to generate significant improvement in achievement in schools that have been low-achieving for many years, but to do so in a short period of time. To gain insight into the leadership practices of a principal who was successful in accomplishing school turnaround, we conducted interviews with 21 of the principal's current and past colleagues, observed her in practice, analyzed documents related to her leadership, and interviewed her three times. In this report, we describe her leadership practice and conclude that it was characterized by four dynamic tensions that resulted in the turnaround of the schools she led: • The tension between focusing on mission and focusing on personal connection; • The tension between high expectations and high trust and respect; • The tension between strong principal presence and strong staff presence; and • The tension between disrupting complacency and continuity. We conclude by arguing that a key to effective practice for turnaround principals lies in their creating ongoing dynamic tensions in their schools.

Discount Stores, Discount(ed) Community? Parent and Family Engagement, Community Outreach, and an Urban Turnaround School

What roles do parent and family engagement and community outreach play in educator efforts to improve low-performing urban schools? To address this question, we considered findings from our 3-year case study of Brookdale Elementary (a pseudonym), which was undergoing a state-mandated, district-directed turnaround reform effort from 2011 to 2014. Specifically, we investigated how and why school personnel engaged with and reacted to parents and families, community-based organizations, and the surrounding locale. In the end, the school’s educators encountered complicated obstacles yet generated some tangible victories in their pursuit of productive school, parent/family, and community connections. We conclude by considering implications of our findings.

Lesson Study in a Turnaround School: Local Knowledge as a Pressure-Balanced Valve for Improved Instruction

Background Federal and state accountability policies attempt to improve educational outcomes but have been blamed for a breadth of ills, including minimizing local knowledge and reducing teachers’ ability to respond to contextual needs. Teachers in high-needs schools, especially, feel the effects of constrained curricula and increased testing, resulting in increased workload and anxiety. Purpose This article explores the impact of professional development on teachers and students in a time of high-stakes accountability. Specifically, we ask: Does Lesson Study impact teachers’ instruction and students’ achievement in writing? And how do pressures imposed by policy impact efficacy and collaboration in a high-needs school? Research Design This study uses data from 20 Lesson Study meetings at a high-needs, “Turnaround” school and considers changes in students’ writing achievement. The mixed-method approach and high-stakes context offer a unique contribution to Lesson Study research. Conclusions Findings indicate that instruction changed and students’ writing significantly improved, with the mean growth percentile increasing from the 30th to the 46th percentile on state assessments. Further, we found that during the Lesson Study process, teachers moved through six Stages of Transformation in response to a high-pressure context, moving from feelings of anger and blame-shifting to eventual feelings of empowerment.

Preparing turnaround leaders for high needs urban schools

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to describe the program structure and design considerations of a 25-day, full-time apprenticeship in a university-based principal preparation program. Design/methodology/approach The study used a qualitative case study design that drew upon interviews and focus groups with program participants as well as program-related documents. Qualitative data analysis was completed using ATLAS.ti. Findings The analysis suggests that the apprenticeship had three specific design features that were intended to support the apprentice’s development for turnaround leadership. These included locating the apprenticeship experience in a turnaround school setting; focusing the apprenticeship on district structures and procedures; and situating the apprentice’s work within the district’s approved improvement process. Research limitations/implications The study was limited in that recurring, on-site observations of apprenticeship activities were not possible. The study has implications for principal preparation programs related to the design of fieldwork experiences, as well as for educational scholars seeking to study the impact of fieldwork on principal efficacy. Originality/value The study contributes to the broader discussion of effective fieldwork experiences for aspiring school leaders, particularly when specific conceptions of leadership are infused within program designs.

From Corporation to Community: Culturally Relevant Pedagogy in an Urban Laboratory for School Reform

Background/Context Memphis has, in many ways, become “ground zero” for neoliberal—or corporate—reform efforts, including a statewide turnaround school district, proliferation of charter schools, and value-added teacher evaluation measures. Along with these reforms come models of schooling that undermine the concept of the “community school,” leading to different conceptions of schools, teachers, and students. In this reform context, it is challenging to implement culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP) in a way that is true to its three pillars: academic achievement, cultural competence, and sociopolitical consciousness. The challenges that those who desire to implement CRP face can be categorized as either conceptual—representing a lack of understanding of CRP's conceptual underpinnings—or systemic—representing institutional barriers that impede the integration of CRP. Purpose/Objective The purpose of this analytic essay is to outline particular challenges to CRP in a hyper-reform context and to propose a framework describing changes that must take place in the process of implementing CRP. Setting The authors use Memphis as a model of hyper-reform and the backdrop for discussions of how CRP can be implemented in such a setting. Research Design This paper is an analytic essay. Conclusions/Recommendations We propose that effectively implementing CRP in a reform context is a process that requires a shift from a methodology of individualism to a methodology of collectivism. We align corporate reform with an individualist approach, while CRP, we argue, takes a more collectivist stance. The shift from individualism to collectivism also signals a shift in our conceptions of students, from trainees to successful citizens; teachers, from engineers to artists and activists; and schools, from corporations to community. A quick tour of the school reveals nothing out of the ordinary: classrooms, desks, cafeteria tables, bulletin boards, posters with announcements, etc. But a closer look exposes several clues to the influence of local and national trends in educational reform. First, it is a charter school, a fact attested to by the student uniforms ¾ plaid skirts and button-down shirts for girls, and khaki pants with shirt and tie for boys. Also, an observer would notice that each teacher's door is decorated with the name and paraphernalia of her or his college alma mater. The local public university is heavily represented on these doors, along with a small number of other local or regional universities. However, sprinkled throughout the school are decorations reflecting the universities of the Teach for America corps members who are part of the school's faculty: Syracuse, Valparaiso, Florida, Washington University, etc. In addition, a quick look inside each classroom reveals “data walls,” places to track student achievement over the course of the semester and school year. Similarly, an announcement on the television screen in the cafeteria announces the school's distinction as a “reward school,” meaning that the school's gains on the standardized achievement tests were among the highest in the state. In the same cafeteria is a bulletin board featuring examples of “nonverbal classroom cues,” “snapping,” and “tracking with your eyes.” The title of the bulletin board is, “What's the word on culture?”

Design and Implementation of High School Reform: Perspectives from Research and Practice

There has been a proliferation of high school reform models and interventions over the past few decades aimed at improving the nation's high schools, including increasing graduation requirements, introducing technology to classrooms, grouping ninth-grade students into their own “academies,” reorienting the curriculum toward particular career themes, and implementing radical turnaround school models. But there have been few systematic efforts to map the high school reform landscape. The goal of this volume is to do just that—map the reform landscape in high schools. The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of the entire volume. After describing the challenges facing recent high school reform, we outline the four sections of this volume: Section 1: Context for understanding high school reform; Section 2: Understanding programs and interventions in high school improvement efforts; Section 3: The processes and conditions that support or inhibit effective implementation in high schools; and Section 4: What do we know about organizations that drive new initiatives in high school improvement?