Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Targeted but Dramatic School Turnaround Can Successfully Increase Student Achievement, New CAP Brief Shows

  • 03/31/15

Washington, D.C. — Dramatic school improvement efforts are key to turning around underperforming schools and successfully increasing student achievement, according to the available body of research, and powerful examples from schools in Maryland, Kentucky, Kansas, and California demonstrate that school turnaround is most effective when districts take aggressive steps to rescue failing schools, a new brief from the Center for American Progress shows.

“The reality today is that hundreds of schools are chronically underperforming by virtually any standard and are in dire need of significant intervention,” said Tiffany D. Miller, Director for Education Policy at CAP. “The good news is that the research shows that school turnaround is possible when there is a combination of dramatic action and targeted resources.”

CAP’s brief summarizes the existing research on school turnaround and then profiles schools in Baltimore, Maryland; Hyden, Kentucky; Kansas City, Kansas; and Soledad, California. The analysis finds that school turnaround is not only possible, but also is most successful and meaningful when districts take aggressive steps to transform underperforming schools. Aggressive action on the part of school districts, resources and requirements, governance and staffing changes, data-driven decision making, and a focus on school culture and nonacademic supports for disadvantaged students are all part of an evidence-based set of best practices that are key to successful school turnaround.

With the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act currently underway in Congress, CAP recommends that federal policy prioritize strong requirements and targeted support that identifies chronically failing schools while empowering states and districts to take bold and significant steps to turn those schools around.

“A new Elementary and Secondary Education Act should require states to identify--at least--their lowest-performing 5 percent of schools and use evidence-based interventions to turn them around,” added Catherine Brown, Vice President of Education Policy at CAP.

Featured

  • University of Kentucky Reopens Scovell Hall

    The University of Kentucky recently reopened Scovell Hall, part of the Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment (CAFE), following comprehensive renovations to the 120-year-old facility in Lexington, Ky., according to a news release.

  • Tomball ISD Opens New Tomball West High School

    Tomball Independent School District in Tomball, Texas, recently celebrated the official opening of Tomball West High School, the district's third comprehensive high school, with a community ribbon-cutting ceremony, according to a district news release.

  • Hawaii Elementary School Reopens Following $25M Campus Modernization

    Haʻaheo Elementary School in Hilo, Hawaii, has reopened to students following a three-year, $25-million campus modernization and expansion project that significantly increases the school's instructional space while preserving one of the island's oldest educational institutions, according to local news.

  • URI Cuts Underwater Ribbon on New Ocean Robotics Laboratory

    The University of Rhode Island recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new Ocean Robotics Laboratory at its Narragansett Bay Campus, according to a news release. Two students used a remotely operated vehicle to cut an underwater ribbon in a 30-by-20-foot test tank.