Leading School Turnaround

THE AUTHORS KENNETH LEITHWOOD is professor of Educational Leadership and Policy at Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto. His recent books include Distributed Leadership According to the Evidence and Leading With Teachers' Emotions In Mind. His most recent research was a Wallace Foundation supported study, with colleagues, aimed at determining how state, district, and school-level leadership influences student learning. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. ALMA HARRIS first trained as a secondary school teacher and taught in a number of challenging schools. She is the director of the London Centre for Leadership in Learning at the Institute of Education, London. Her research work focuses on organizational change and development. She is internationally known for her work on school improvement, particularly on improving schools in challenging circumstances. TIIU STRAUSS is a project director working with Kenneth Leithwood in the Department of Theory and Policy Studies at Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto. She has published in the areas of leadership problem solving, distributed leadership, and leadership in turnaround schools.

• Figures and Tables vThe Authors ixIntroduction: Understanding School Turnaround Leadership 1Part One: The Dynamic Context in Which Turnaround Leaders Work 231. Reasons for School Failure 252. The Three Stages of School Turnaround 433. The Stages Illustrated: A Case Study 67Part Two: What Turnaround Leaders Do, and How They Do It 834. How Turnaround Leaders Create a Shared Sense of Direction in Their Schools 855. How Turnaround Leaders Foster Capacity Development Among Their Teachers 1116. How Turnaround Leaders Redesign Their Schools 1297. How Turnaround Leaders Improve Their School’s Instructional Program 1558. Turnaround Leadership Up Close and Personal 181Part Three: Outstanding Challenges 2139 How Schools Move from Turnaround to “Stay Around” 21510 How to Reach High Performance 235Conclusion 257Appendix: Methods Used for the Studies 259Notes 267References 271Index 283

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