Insights

How Districts and States Can Support Instructional Transformation in the Turnaround Context
Dallas Hambrick Hitt & Coby V. Meyers, University of Virginia Darden/Curry, Partnership for Leaders in Education

To help schools in their efforts to usher in new approaches to improve instruction and inspire effective teaching that allows students to achieve their full potential, this paper presents guidelines and recommendations for states and districts as they seek to improve systems that support instructional practice. View Resource.

Domain
Instructional Transformation

Topic
Planning & Management; Policy & Legislation; Schools & Classrooms; Teachers & Leaders

Originally published by the Center on School Turnaround, 2019

Examples of Actions Taken by Principals Trying to Lead Turnaround
Coby Meyers, Dallas Hambrick Hitt, and David Kutas University of Virginia Darden/Curry Partnership for Leaders in Education Jeanette Cornier, Grayson Cooper, Stephanie Dean, Nita Losoponkul, & Cassie Lutterloh Public Impact

This report describes actions that school principals have taken in trying to lead school improvement efforts drawing on research and observations from Public Impact and the University of Virginia Darden/Curry Partnership for Leaders in Education. The examples of actions are organized into categories familiar to many principals in both typical schools and in turnaround schools, namely: vision, goals, data, change leadership, teachers and leaders, instruction, and strategic partnerships and tied to domains and practices of the Four Domains for Rapid School Improvement: A Systems Framework. View Resource.

Domain
Culture Shift; Instructional Transformation; Talent Development; Turnaround Leadership

Topic
Teachers & Leaders

Originally published by the Center on School Turnaround, 2018

“What it Takes” For a Turnaround: Principal Competencies that Matter for Student Achievement – A Guide to Thoughtfully Identifying and Supporting Turnaround Leaders
Dallas Hambrick Hitt

In this guide, experts call upon practice-based experience, expertise, and insight to provide both technical assistance and thought leadership to districts and systems involved in “school turnaround.”

Specifically, discussion includes behavioral event interview (BEI) and turnaround leader competencies, and explanation of 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. View resource.

Domain
Talent Development; Turnaround Leadership

Topic
Teachers & Leaders

Originally published by the Center on School Turnaround, 2016

Ann Arbor, Michigan: Focusing on Achievement Gaps
Julie Corbett

This report provides an example of how one district in Ann Arbor, MI determined how to implement the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and best support improvement in their schools— by strengthening leadership, providing better student support, and implementing effective instructional and data practices to decrease achievement gaps among students. The brief describes the district’s improvement process and concludes with an analysis of the district’s impact and a discussion on how to sustain the results. View Resource.

Domain
Culture Shift; Instructional Transformation

Topic
Accountability & Assessment

Originally published by the Center on School Turnaround, 2017

School Boards Driving Turnaround
Julie Corbett and Lauren Morando Rhim

Our goal in developing these case studies was to present information-rich cases that can inform state and district efforts to optimize the board’s role in school turnaround. These case studies may be used independently, but they are designed to be part of a year-long training program for local school boards.