School turnarounds can bring dramatic and sustainable change to low-performing schools.
Schools where many students start behind must help those students achieve high growth year after year to close gaps. Public Impact’s approach to turnarounds focuses on empowering, training, and extending the reach of principals and teachers with the will, skill, and accountability to achieve strong student growth. Educators must “try, try again” to achieve outcomes in a fast cycle of effort to help students succeed.
We bring unparalleled research, knowledge, and practical experience in collaborating with state, district and school leaders, including teachers, to achieve better student outcomes—fast—using a variety of approaches. We work with districts and district-charter partnerships, such as in-district restarts by charter operators, to meet each local area’s needs.
The pages linked below include implementation tools and research on each type of turnaround:
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turnarounds within schools—tools and support for educators, districts and states;
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restarts by charter operators—for serving the same students under new management; and
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innovation zones—for groups of schools with special autonomy to pursue turnarounds.
With the right policies, design, and implementation to achieve instructional improvements and school culture change, teachers and principals can help students achieve unprecedented success.
We continually generate new ideas based on data and field observation to further close achievement gaps and elevate prospects for all children, and elevate the education profession so everyone can experience excellent instruction, support, and career opportunities.
See a summary of our turnaround services here. Download a PDF of this page here.
Contact us to discuss how we can help you achieve your goals: info@publicimpact.com
Public Impact’s Thought Leadership
Public Impact’s Turnarounds with New Leaders and New Staff was the first cross-sector research to show how turnarounds could be used effectively in K–12 education. For over a decade, Public Impact has been a field leader with its cutting-edge turnaround research, new solutions, and practical tools.
- We published the first complete set of school turnaround principal and teacher competencies for selection and development, as well as research-based actions of successful turnaround leaders.
- We launched the idea of restarts—within-district chartering that avoids displacement of students—and we have written numerous leading reports about state recovery school districts and innovation zones.
- We forged the concept of extending the reach of excellent teachers and principals to more students, and forming teams of accountable multi-classroom leaders and multi-school leaders to help educators achieve school turnaround success. Schools we’ve helped have been among the highest-growth schools in their districts and states.
Our Services
We collaborate with partners, funders, educators, and clients to provide:
Strategic Planning and Design
- Strategic planning and goal-setting for turnaround schools, restarts, and innovation zones
- System design for school districts implementing new talent management (job and organization redesign, hiring, pay, career paths, and more), finance, and data systems
- System design for authorizers implementing school restarts
- Virtual and in-person convenings of educators and policy leaders to share ideas and craft solutions
Implementation Support and Evaluation
- Implementation support for schools, districts, and charter organizations attempting turnarounds
- Progress monitoring, data dashboards, and evaluation of school turnaround initiatives
- Recruiting and selecting teachers and principals
- Training, coaching, and feedback for individuals/cohorts of teachers, teacher-leaders, and principals
Research and Policy Advising
- Case studies, video-documentation, research, and new-solution development
- Policy advising and crafting to fit the legal and political landscape of turnaround initiatives
Select School Turnaround Clients
| • Barksdale Reading Institute • Center on School Turnaround • Denver Public Schools • Michael & Susan Dell Foundation | • New Schools for New Orleans • Partnership for Los Angeles Schools • Philadelphia School Partnership • Project L.I.F.T., Charlotte, N.C. | • Syracuse City School District • Tennessee Department of Education • Texas Education Service Centers • Washington Roundtable |
