Turning Schools Around

What we are learning about the process, and those who do it.

By Daniel L. Duke

One person may not be able to turn a low-performing school around singlehandedly, but my colleagues and I are finding that one person with the right talents, temperament, and training can mobilize the energies of many people to accomplish the task.

Such are the “school turnaround specialists” participating in a pioneering program at the University of Virginia. Inspired by former Gov. Mark Warner, who believed that the business model of turnaround specialists could be adapted to public education, the School Turnaround Specialist Program is part of a collaboration between the university’s schools of education and business administration. Launched in the summer of 2004, the program originally focused on preparing turnaround specialists for Virginia schools. In 2006, it was expanded to include principals from across the country.

My colleagues and I have been able, with funding from the Microsoft Corp., to study these school turnaround specialists and what they are doing to reverse the process of school decline. What we are learning confirms in some cases, and challenges in others, the conventional wisdom on what it takes to effect radical school improvement....