Testifying before congress in June 2009, Education Secretary Arne Duncan reported that the number of schools nationwide failing to show adequate improvement continues to increase at a significant rate. More than one-third of these schools have reached the final accountability stage which, in Duncan's words, "…demands fundamental changes in instruction and school governance to break the cycle of educational failure." Secretary Duncan has called for radically different turnaround solutions capable of producing significant and lasting changes in our lowest performing schools. WestEd's Tipping Point turnaround strategy represents the kind of dramatic turnaround strategy that Secretary Duncan has called for.

WestEd's Tipping Point turnaround strategy represents the kind of dramatic turnaround strategy that Secretary Duncan has called for. The Tipping Point strategy is showing promising signs of a successful turnaround in a large comprehensive high school in Los Angeles The Tipping Point Strategy at Manual Arts High School in Los Angeles (PDF).

The mission of WestEd's Tipping Point School Turnaround Center is to provide knowledge and technical support to policy makers, districts, schools, and school management organizations on teacher retention and school turnaround strategies.

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