Setting the Bar for School Turnaround: How Ambitious, Public Goals Can Drive School Turnaround

A state education agency (SEA) can pull a powerful lever for school turnaround by setting goals publicly and releasing reports on progress toward those goals at turnaround schools to build public support for turnaround efforts. SEAs can gather information for reporting from data they already have available. This report clarifies indicators and metrics that can be most helpful for tracking progress toward goals and knowing where to find the data to inform those measures. The templates in this packet provided guidelines that will be useful to SEAs for setting bold and achievable goals and reporting publicly on metrics for low-performing schools. Keeping sight of these goals will redefine student success and provide impetus for public support around bold decisions required for school turnaround.