Turning Around Chronically Low-Performing Schools

Practice Guide Details

Released:	May 2008
Topic:	School Organization and Governance
Education Level:	Elementary, Middle Grades, High School
Audience:	Administrator, Policymaker, Researcher
Visit DWW:	For more on this practice guide visit Doing What Works

Authors

Rebecca Herman (Chair)
American Institutes for Research

Priscilla Dawson
Trenton Public Schools

Thomas Dee
Swarthmore College

Jay Greene
University of Arkansas

Rebecca Maynard
University of Pennsylvania

Sam Redding
National Center on Innovation and Improvement

Marlene Darwin
American Institutes for Research

Handy Definitions

The amount of evidence associated with a practice guide recommendation.

No causal evidence for the recommendation exists. However, the recommendation is still considered as important as recommendations with strong and moderate levels of evidence (this rating was formerly low evidence).

Evidence exists for the recommended strategy, but the evidence may not be generalizable to a wide student population or show a clear causal relationship.

Consistent evidence exists that the recommended strategy improves student outcomes for a wide population of students.

Download Practice Guide (1320 KB)

Summary

This guide identifies practices that can improve the performance of chronically low-performing schools—a process commonly referred to as creating "turnaround schools." The four recommendations in this guide work together to help failing schools make adequate yearly progress.

Recommendations

	Recommendation	Level of Evidence
1.	Signal the need for dramatic change with strong leadership. Schools should make a clear commitment to dramatic changes from the status quo, and the leader should signal the magnitude and urgency of that change. A low-performing school that fails to make adequate yearly progress must improve student achievement within a short timeframe—it does not have the luxury of years to implement incremental reforms. Source – 1320 KB	Minimal
2.	Maintain a consistent focus on improving instruction. Chronically low-performing schools need to maintain a sharp focus on improving instruction at every step of the reform process. To improve instruction, schools should use data to set goals for instructional improvement, make changes to immediately and directly affect instruction, and continually reassess student learning and instructional practices to refocus the goals. Source – 1320 KB	Minimal
3.	Make visible improvements early in the school turnaround process (quick wins). These can rally staff around the effort and overcome resistance and inertia. Source – 1320 KB	Minimal
4.	Build a committed staff. The school leader must build a staff that is committed to the school’s improvement goals and qualified to carry out school improvement. This goal may require changes in staff, such as releasing, replacing, or redeploying staff who are not fully committed to turning around student performance and bringing in new staff who are committed. Source – 1320 KB	Minimal

What Works Clearinghouse

Turning Around Chronically Low-Performing Schools

Summary

Recommendations