The Lay of the Land - State Practices and Needs for Supporting School Turnaround - February 2013

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Jake

Report examining state practices and needs for supporting school turnaround under federal shift toward intensive interventions for low-achieving schools. Education Northwest, as external evaluator for the Center on School Turnaround, collected survey responses from state education agencies in January–February 2013. The report presents initial frequencies on implementation levels of turnaround principles, types of state support, and priority assistance areas, including principal leadership, teacher effectiveness, and sustainability considerations.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages11

Reading Time28 min

AccessFree to download

The Lay of the Land

Background and purpose of the CST survey

Survey methods and respondent coverage

Initial findings framework: implementation, support types, assistance needs

How fully are states implementing turnaround principles?

Principal leadership: under half reporting full implementation

THE LAY OF THE LAND State Practices and Needs for Supporting School Turnaround February 2013 Caitlin Scott, PhD. Nora Lasley Founded as a nonprofit corporation in 1966, Education Northwest builds capacity in schools, families, and communities through applied research and development. Education Northwest has submitted this report as part of the ongoing formative evaluation of the Center on School Turnaround. Contact Education Northwest 101 SW Main Street, Suite 500 Portland, OR 97204 [educationnorthwest.org](educationnorthwest.org) [503.275.9500](503.275.9500) Authors Caitlin Scott, PhD., Senior Evaluation Advisor Nora Lasley, Associate 101 S.W. Main Street, Suite 500 Portland, Oregon 97204 [www.educationnorthwest.org](www.educationnorthwest.org) The Lay of the Land State Practices and Needs for Supporting School Turnaround The nation is experiencing a seismic change in assistance for low-achieving schools. In the past, many education policies focused on incremental school-improvement efforts for lots of schools. Now, leaders are shifting to a concentrated, intensive school turnaround for targeted schools. Several federal policies reflect this change, as seen in new federal guidance on school turnaround efforts to states receiving waivers to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), and in federal guidance for Race to the Top grantees. To help states make the shift successfully, the federal government created the new Center on School Turnaround (CST), as part of the national network of comprehensive centers. The goal of the CST is to provide technical assistance on research-based practices and emerging promising practices that will increase the capacity of states to support their districts in turning around the lowest-performing schools. When the CST opened its doors in October 2012, it began its work by asking the question: In what areas of school turnaround do states need assistance? To help CST answer this question, Education Northwest, the CST’s external evaluator, administered an online survey to state education agencies (SEAs) in January and February 2013 as part of ongoing formative evaluation of the CST. The survey questions asked about state practices for school turnaround, as well as about state needs for assistance. Survey respondents included SEA staff members with responsibilities for school turnaround efforts. Ultimately, the survey included at least one respondent from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, American Samoa Department of Education, the Bureau of Indian Education, and the U.S. Virgin Islands; 100 percent of states are represented in the results of this report.1 In this report, we provide initial frequencies for survey items related to three issues: 1) Levels of implementation of various aspects of school turnaround principles 2) Types of state support currently provided 3) Areas of state need for assistance with turnaround efforts Unless otherwise noted, in cases where there was more than one respondent from a state, we calculated the mean and rounded up at 0.5 and above. In December 2013, we will provide a full CST evaluation report with more complete analysis of this survey data, as well as additional data about the CST. 1 CST provided a list of participants. During the process, 10 contacts were removed from the list, while 11 were added, making a total of 176 possible participants. Of these 176, 85 responded, yielding a response rate of 48 percent. State Practices and Needs for Supporting School Turnaround 3 How Fully are States Implementing Turnaround Principles? The U.S. Department of Education (ED) has defined several school “turnaround principles.” ESEA waivers require districts, in states with waivers, to implement these principles in low-performing schools, and states assist districts with these efforts. School districts receiving federal School Improvement Grants also address these principles. To report the differing le

FAQs

What is the Center on School Turnaround (CST) focused on in this report?

The CST aims to provide technical assistance on research-based and promising practices that increase states’ capacity to help districts turn around their lowest-performing schools.

How was the survey conducted and which agencies responded?

Education Northwest administered an online survey to state education agencies in January and February 2013. Results include at least one respondent from all 50 states, plus the District of Columbia and U.S. territories listed in the report.

What topics does the report use to present initial survey results?

The report provides initial frequencies on (1) implementation levels of turnaround principle components, (2) types of state support provided, and (3) areas of state need for assistance.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Jake