Monday, October 19, 2009

Editorial: A turnaround school inspires - Sacramento Opinion - Sacramento Editorial | Sacramento Bee


Editorial: A turnaround school inspires - Sacramento Opinion - Sacramento Editorial Sacramento Bee:

"What should school districts do when a school fails to meet academic performance targets year after year after year?

Here's one dramatic option: Close the school and reopen it with a new principal, new staff and new curriculum.

That's what San Juan Unified did with its lowest performing school, Jonas Salk Middle School. This was, and remains, a school with 90 percent of the students in poverty. Over the years, the school would launch improvement plans only to be thwarted by high staff turnover (as many as 15 of 34 teachers were new at any given time)."