San Francisco, CA – October 13, 2015 – A partnership of four education organizations studying issues surrounding school turnaround —The Center on School Turnaround at WestEd, the Center on Great Teachers and Leaders, Public Impact, and the University of Virginia Darden/Curry Partnership — today announced availability of materials that can assist state and local education agencies in recruiting, selecting, developing, and retaining school turnaround leaders.

To date, the range of efforts to turn around the nation’s low-performing schools have shown mixed results. A significant part of the challenge has been the lack of turnaround leaders available to lead these schools.

To help school districts find candidates with the competencies necessary for the job of school turnaround leader, the four-agency partnership is producing and distributing a professional learning module on these three topics:

  1. Understanding Turnaround Leader Competencies
  2. Recruiting and Selecting Turnaround Leaders
  3. Developing and Retaining Turnaround Leaders

Parts 1 and 2 are available today on the Center for School Turnaround website and Part 3 is expected to be available in coming months.

The materials may be used and adapted to fit the needs of any given state or local context.

“Research has shown that turnaround success relies heavily on the right turnaround leader,” says Carlas McCauley. “The materials we’re announcing today will aid state and local agencies in understanding the competencies required in a turnaround leader, how to recruit such people, and finally, how to develop, support, and retain them.”

The four organizations releasing today’s materials recommend a comprehensive and systemic approach to addressing the leadership challenge.