Snapshots of School Turnaround: How Three Schools Used School Improvement Grants to Improve Student Learning Outcomes
Scott Vince & Lenay Dunn
The CST developed profiles of three schools that received Cohort 1 SIG funding in the 2009–10 school year. Each of these schools increased student outcomes by the end of the third year of its SIG funding. This document highlights findings from these successful turnaround cases to provide examples to state, district, and school-level educators working to strengthen struggling schools.
In addition to highlighting turnaround strategies, this report documents the extremely important role that the district and state played in each turnaround. Although no silver bullet strategy exists, we found many similarities among the schools in terms of district and state support. For example, all three states helped develop each school’s initial SIG turnaround plan and provided effective monitoring throughout the grant period.