The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) co-sponsored a conference with Mass Insight on Tuesday, March 11, 2008 in Washington, D.C. Approximately 250 policymakers, practitioners, school providers, and education reform leaders joined us for the daylong discussion on the need for school turnaround, how it's different from past interventions, how it can be implemented and how policy can help or hinder this targeted form of intervention. The agenda, links to the white papers, audio and video feed, and other handouts from the event can be found at the bottom of this page.
With the nation’s worst schools languishing, there is much talk about the need to turn schools around. But what does a school turnaround actually look like? What obstacles does it face in terms of implementation and policy? What aggressive restructuring efforts have been tried so far, and what impact have they had?
When a school fails to improve test scores for five straight years, it enters the last-ditch “restructuring” phase of the No Child Left Behind Act. With more than two thousand schools (and counting) planning or implementing school restructuring, the market for turnarounds is ripe. Recognizing that conventional efforts to restructure schools typically fall short, there has been increasing interest in reconfiguring people, institutions, and support systems to radically improve America’s worst schools.
9:30 Introduction: Frederick M. Hess, AEI
9:40 Panel I. Turnaround of Failing Schools: An Overview
Presenter: Andrew Calkins, Mass Insight Education & Research Institute
Discussants: Steven Adamowski, Hartford (Connecticut) Public Schools
Kevin Johnson, St. Hope Public Schools
Kirk Kramer, Bridgespan Group
Moderator: Frederick M. Hess, AEI
11:05 Panel II. A Paradigm for School Turnaround
Presenters: William Guenther, Mass Insight Education & Research Institute
Seth Reynolds, Parthenon Group
Discussants: Michele Cahill, Carnegie Corporation of New York
Michelle Pierre-Farid, Friendship Public Charter Schools (DC)
Andy Rotherham, Education Sector
Moderator: Frederick M. Hess, AEI
1:20 Panel III. The Challenge of Turnaround Implementation
Presenter: Douglas Sears, Boston University
Discussants: Anthony Cavanna, American Institutes for Research
Garth Harries, New York City Department of Education
Jim Peyser, NewSchools Venture Fund
Moderator: William Guenther, Mass Insight Education & Research Institute
2:45 Panel IV. Turnarounds and NCLB
Presenter: Nancy Grasmick, Maryland State Superintendent of Schools
Discussants: Lindsay Hunsicker, U.S. Senate HELP Committee (minority)
Carmel Martin, U.S. Senate HELP Committee (majority)
Doug Mesecar, U.S. Department of Education
Moderator: Frederick M. Hess, AEI
4:00 Adjournment and Reception
White Papers (Compilation from all four panels)
PANEL I: School Turnaround: What It Is and Why We Need It
Andrew Calkins, Mass Insight Education & Research Institute
PANEL II: A. Effective Turnaround at Scale: A Framework
William Guenther, Mass Insight Education & Research Institute
B. Turnaround Strategies and Attempts So Far
Seth Reynolds, The Parthenon Group
PANEL III: Making Turnaround a Reality: Obstacles and Challenges
Douglas Sears, Boston University
PANEL IV: NCLB’s Impact on Turnarounds: A Policymaker’s Perspective
Nancy Grasmick, Maryland State Superintendent of SchoolsPowerpoint
Powepoint Presentations
INTRODUCTION: Frederick Hess
PANEL I: Andrew Calkins
PANEL II: William Guenther & Seth Reynolds
Additional Hand-outs
Transformation High Schools: Lessons from Sacramento High School, St. HOPE Public Schools
Hartford Public Schools Reform Strategy
Panelist Biographies
Please see AEI's website for audio and video feed from the conference.
Click here for a conference summary.