More and Better Choices in School Improvement
Photo from jasonthebaldguy.com
As my colleague Anne wrote in herearlier blog post on ESEA reauthorization, the Harkin-Enzi ESEA bill would require states to identify 5% of high schools and 5% of all other schools as Persistently Low-Achieving (PLA) Schools. This 5-year designation would target schools with low academic achievement or growth and low graduation rates. After conducting a needs analysis of each PLA school, the district would choose one of six school improvement strategies outlined in the Harkin-Enzi ESEA bill:
1. Transformation— Similar to the School Improvement Grant (SIG) model of the same name, the Transformation model requires the district to replace the principal if the principal has served in the role at the school for more than two years. However, the 2011 Transformation model has several new features. In theory, this model gives the principal complete hiring authority by requiring the current staff to