How to Reform a School without Firing the Faculty
By Claus von Zastrow
3/16/10
Editor's note: Anne O'Brien is our guest blogger today. She is a project director at the Learning First Alliance, a Teach for America alumna, and a former public school teacher in the greater New Orleans area.
The Obama administration has made turning around America's lowest performing schools a cornerstone of its education agenda. And with good reason -- all children should have access to an excellent education. Schools that are not providing their students with such an education need to change.
The Findings
Recently one particular turnaround strategy has received some high-level support: the wholesale replacement of teachers -- interesting choice, given what researchers say about this approach. Turnaround experts Emily and Bryan Hassel wrote in Education Next, "Successful turnaround leaders typically do not replace all or most of the staff at the start, but they often replace some key leaders who help organize and drive change." And the 2009 Department of Education IES practice guide concluded, "The school turnaround case studies and the business turnaround research do not support the wholesale replacement of staff."
We at the Learning First Alliance have collected a number of successful school turnaround stories. In some cases the replacement of some staff started the process, such as at George Hall Elementary in Mobile, Alabama, where it was accompanied by a focus on innovative technology, rich vocabulary, and content knowledge.