SEAs play a critical role in helping districts and schools navigate federal grant rules and spend funds effectively. To support SEAs in fulfilling this role, this handbook presents the following information: Four strategies SEAs can use to create the conditions for maximizing ED formula grants for turnaround activities and an overview of how districts and schools can use Title I, Part A;3 Title II, Part A;4 and IDEA, Part B5 funds to support turnaround efforts.
Talent Development
“What it Takes” For a Turnaround: Principal Competencies that Matter for Student Achievement – A Guide to Thoughtfully Identifying and Supporting Turnaround Leaders
Over the last eight years, CST partner the University of Virginia Partnership for Leaders in Education (UVA/PLE) has worked 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. In this guide, we call upon our practice-based experience, expertise, and insight to provide both technical assistance and thought leadership to districts and systems involved in “school turnaround.”
Specifically, we discuss the behavioral event interview (BEI) and turnaround leader competencies, and we explain how each of these can support the turnaround endeavor. A BEI is a particular type of interview that allows candidates’ suitability for a position to emerge by measuring their competencies, which are ways of behaving, acting, and feeling that support a person’s performance in a particular role. This guide provides a rationale for using BEIs and competencies, and it takes an in-depth look at how they might be used in practice. It also explores how several districts and states use these research-based processes to improve selection as well as other human resource functions, such as school assignment and professional development.
Using Needs Assessments for School and District Improvement
This document is a tactical guide that describes the core components for developing and administering needs assessments for improvement. The guide includes information on ESSA requirements, planning a needs assessment, designing a needs assessment, how a needs assessment is part of the improvement process, and key decision points.
Worksheets are included to aid users in designing and developing needs assessments for schools and/or districts. A companion document includes the worksheets in a format that can be completed.
Thought Leadership Forum Brief: Multiple-Measures Accountability: California’s Progress and Lessons Learned
The Center on School Turnaround (CST) at WestEd is hosting a series of online Thought Leadership Forums for state education agency (SEA) officials who are members of the Leadership Council of the Network of State Turnaround and Improvement Leaders. The forums are intended to highlight the major considerations of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) for students in chronically low-performing schools and explore how turnaround plans impact SEAs’ broader improvement efforts and ESSA implementation efforts.
The initial forum, held on December 19, 2016, focused on the definition and application of evidence-based criteria within the context of ESSA. The forum featured presentations from Sylvie Hale, Director of Program Development and Strategic Planning for WestEd’s Innovation Studies program, and Rebecca Herman, Senior Policy Researcher and Distinguished Chair in Education Policy at the RAND Corporation (RAND).
This brief summarizes the key ideas from the April 10 forum regarding multiple-measures accountability for schools and local education agencies (LEAs) in California.
Thought Leadership Forum Brief: Evidence-Based Improvement Under ESSA
The Center on School Turnaround (CST) at WestEd is hosting a series of online Thought Leadership Forums for state education agency (SEA) officials who are members of the Leadership Council of the Network of State Turnaround and Improvement Leaders. The forums are intended to highlight the major considerations of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) for students in chronically low-performing schools and explore how turnaround plans impact SEAs’ broader improvement efforts and ESSA implementation efforts.
The initial forum, held on December 19, 2016, focused on the definition and application of evidence-based criteria within the context of ESSA. The forum featured presentations from Sylvie Hale, Director of Program Development and Strategic Planning for WestEd’s Innovation Studies program, and Rebecca Herman, Senior Policy Researcher and Distinguished Chair in Education Policy at the RAND Corporation (RAND).
This brief describes the resources shared during the December 19 forum, summarizes key ideas, and concludes with recommendations to help inform the ongoing work of SEA officials on identifying evidence-based strategies and interventions in compliance with ESSA evidence requirements.
Thought Leadership Forum Brief: Braiding Federal Funds Under ESSA
The Center on School Turnaround (CST) at WestEd is hosting a series of online Thought Leadership Forums for state education agency (SEA) officials who are members of the Leadership Council of the Network of State Turnaround and Improvement Leaders. The forums are intended to highlight the major considerations of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) for students in chronically low-performing schools and explore how turnaround plans impact SEAs’ broader improvement efforts and ESSA implementation efforts.
The initial forum, held on December 19, 2016, focused on the definition and application of evidence-based criteria within the context of ESSA. The forum featured presentations from Sylvie Hale, Director of Program Development and Strategic Planning for WestEd’s Innovation Studies program, and Rebecca Herman, Senior Policy Researcher and Distinguished Chair in Education Policy at the RAND Corporation (RAND).
This brief summarizes the key ideas from the February 13 forum, offers recommendations to help SEA officials maximize the potential of federal funding, and lists the key resources shared.