Teachers' Guide to School Turnarounds

Daniel L. Duke is a leading authority on the school turnaround process. In addition to conducting extensive research into the most effective strategies for improving low-performing schools, Duke has worked with more than 150 school systems and state agencies on the development of school improvement plans and turnaround leaders. He is Professor of Educational Leadership at the University of Virginia.Pamela D. Tucker is a former special education teacher and school administrator who now is Professor of Educational Leadership and Program Director of the Educational Leadership Program at the University of Virginia. Tucker has written extensively on teacher evaluation and the school turnaround process.Michael J. Salmonowicz has spent a decade studying school turnaround at the University of Virginia and the University of Chicago. A former public school teacher and administrator, he taught in Chicago’s first turnaround high school.

School improvement is hard work, particularly in challenging contexts, and there are no silver-bullets or shortcuts. Written especially for teachers engaged in this vital work, and based on their extensive on-the-ground work in such schools, the authors provide a framework and lessons that are powerful, practical, and process-focused that can help guide you through the unique challenges of turning around your school. Anyone with a genuine interest in bringing about substantial improvement in their school should devour the clear and highly accessible insights offered in this book.

• PrefaceChapter 1: It Takes a Faculty to Turn around a SchoolChapter 2: School Turnaround Is Not a MythChapter 3: Why Are Some Schools Less Successful Than Other Schools?Chapter 4: Inquiring into the Health of Your SchoolChapter 5: Taking Stock: The First Step in the Planning ProcessChapter 6: Thinking Strategically about Turnaround StrategiesChapter 7: The First Year of the School Turnaround ProcessChapter 8: Turning around a School with a New FacultyChapter 9: Keys to Sustaining a Successful School TurnaroundChapter 10: Those Who Can, Teach; Those Who Can Teach, ChangeChapter 11: Turnaround ResourcesAppendix A: Need for Change AssessmentAppendix B: Conditions Associated with Low Performance in SchoolsAppendix C: Student Assessment of Learning Environment (SALE) Grades 3–12Appendix D: First Steps: A Diagnostic Tool for School Turnaround SpecialistsAppendix E: What Works and What Doesn’t Work with School Turnarounds?Appendix F: Turnaround Tips Organized by ChapterAppendix G: Turnaround Traps Organized by ChapterAbout the Authors