Who Leads Turnaround Schools? Characteristics of Principals in Tennessee’s Achievement School District and Innovation Zones

Oct 15, 2026

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Study investigates who leads school turnaround models by examining personal demographics, experience, education, prior school performance, salaries, and turnover of principals in Tennessee’s lowest-performing schools. Analysis uses longitudinal administrative data from 2006–2007 to 2017–2018 comparing state-run Achievement School District (ASD) versus local Innovation Zones (iZones) and similar comparison schools. Findings show ASD had higher turnover and leadership losses tied to higher-performing schools, while iZones retained principals and used more experienced and better-credentialed leaders.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages42

Reading Time1 h 46 min

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Abstract

Purpose and methods

Results and implications

Keywords

Introduction

Who Leads Turnaround Schools? Characteristics of Principals in Tennessee’s Achievement School District and Innovation Zones LaTanya L. Dixon 1 , Lam D. Pham2 , Gary T. Henry3, Sean P. Corcoran 1, and Ron Zimmer 1 Educational Administration Quarterly 2022, Vol. 58(2) 258–299 © The Author(s) 2021 Article reuse guidelines: [sagepub.com/journals-permissions](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)[ ](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)DOI: 10.1177/0013161X211055702 [journals.sagepub.com/home/eaq](journals.sagepub.com/home/eaq) Abstract Purpose: While previous research has examined the impact of school turnaround models, less is known about the principals who lead these turnaround schools. This study examines the personal demographics, experience, educational background, prior school performance, salaries, and turnover of principals who led two turnaround models in Tennessee's lowest performing schools: a state-run Achievement School District (ASD) that has not yielded positive nor negative effects and local Innovation Zones (iZones) that averaged positive effects on student achievement over six years. Methods: We analyze 1 Vanderbilt University Peabody College of Education and Human Development, Nashville, TN, USA 2North Carolina State University College of Education, Raleigh, NC, USA 3University of Delaware College of Education and Human Development, Newark, DE, USA 4University of Kentucky Martin School of Public Policy and Administration, Lexington, KY, USA Corresponding Author: LaTanya L. Dixon, Department of Leadership, Policy, and Organizations, Vanderbilt University Peabody College of Education and Human Development, Nashville, TN, USA. Email: [latanya.dixon@vanderbilt.edu](latanya.dixon@vanderbilt.edu) longitudinal, administrative data from the Tennessee Department of Education from 2006–2007 to 2017–2018 to compare pre-and post-reform means and trends in principal characteristics between ASD, iZone, and similarly low-performing comparison schools. Results: ASD schools had higher principal turnover rates and lost principals whose schools performed higher while iZone schools retained more principals and lost principals whose schools performed lower. Moreover, iZone schools employed more experienced principals, more Black principals, and principals with higher graduate degree attainment and paid their principals more than ASD schools. Salary differences between ASD and iZone schools were not explained by principals’ characteristics, such as years of experience. Implications: Our ﬁndings reveal differences in leadership characteristics between iZone and ASD schools that were consistent with differences in the effectiveness of the two turnaround approaches. Keywords school improvement, school turnaround, leadership, principal turnover, talent management, whole-school reform Introduction School turnaround has become a prevalent whole-school reform approach to improve low-performing schools (Dragoset et al., 2016, 2017; Kutash et al., 2010) . The theory of change behind this model is a disruption of the status quo, often including a restructuring of school governance and management, a renewed focus on talent management, and improvements to school climate (Redding & Nguyen, 2020; Zimmer et al., 2017) . Speciﬁc turnaround strategies have included strengthening teacher effectiveness, curriculum changes, expanded learning time, and ﬂexibility and support for school operators (Kutash et al., 2010; Schueler et al., 2020) . Another common turnaround strategy is for the state or local education agency to replace the current school principal (Hurlburt et al., 2012; Kutash et al., 2010; Zimmer et al., 2017) . While this staff replacement practice is common, little is known about how different turnaround models recruit and retain principals, the characteristics of principals who are hired to lead turnaround schools (e.g., race, gender, age, educational attainment, experience, and effectiveness), and the role of the

FAQs

What does the study aim to understand about turnaround models?

It examines the principal characteristics—demographics, education, experience, prior school performance, salaries, and turnover—associated with two turnaround models in Tennessee’s lowest-performing schools.

How do principals’ turnover patterns differ between ASD and iZone schools?

ASD schools show higher principal turnover and lose principals whose schools performed better, while iZone schools retain more principals and lose those whose schools performed worse.

What principal attributes and compensation differences does the study report?

iZone schools employ more experienced principals, more Black principals, and principals with higher graduate degree attainment, and they pay principals more than ASD schools. Salary differences are not explained by principals’ characteristics such as years of experience.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by acoobca