Windows of National Opportunity - An Excerpt from the Center on School Turnaround’s Report on State Supports for Turnaround - June 2014 - Executive summary

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Jake

Windows of National Opportunity presents an excerpt from Education Northwest’s annual external-evaluation report for the Center on School Turnaround (CST), prepared for the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of School Turnaround. Drawing on CST’s 2014 February/March survey of leaders in State Education Agencies and national technical assistance Comprehensive Centers, the document explains why states still need stronger supports and highlights specific needs revealed through aggregated survey responses.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages19

Reading Time48 min

AccessFree to download

Background and Purpose of this Document

Survey Administration and Analysis

School Turnaround Needs Remain High Across the Nation

Key priority areas for assistance

Additional needs raised in open-ended responses

Table 1: Percentages of SEAs and CCs Reporting State Needs

C Windows of National Opportunity: An Excerpt from the Center on School Turnaround’s Report on State Supports for Turnaround June 2014 Windows of National Opportunity: An Excerpt from the Center on School Turnaround’s Report on State Supports for Turnaround Caitlin Scott, Ph. D. Nora Lasley June 2014 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 [www.educationnorthwest.org](www.educationnorthwest.org) [503.275.9500](503.275.9500) Authors Caitlin Scott, PhD., Senior Evaluation Advisor Nora Lasley, Associate Suggested Citation: Scott, C. & Lasley, N. (2014). Windows of national opportunity: An Excerpt from the Center of School Turnaround’s report on state supports for school turnaround. Portland, OR: Education Northwest. 101 S.W. Main Street, Suite 500 Portland, Oregon 97204 [www.educationnorthwest.org](www.educationnorthwest.org) In 2014, state and national leaders found many aspects of turning around America’s lowperforming schools even more daunting than in the previous year. These views were revealed in the Center on School Turnaround’s (CST’s) 2014 February/March survey of school turnaround leaders in State Education Agencies (SEA) and directors of the nation’s technical assistance Comprehensive Centers (CCs). The federal government has defined several principles for supporting school turnaround; but several years into implementation, the survey still showed that states needed to increase their supports. While some state services are in place, leaders reported that influencing districts and schools can be challenging. The key for SEAs is recognizing the windows of opportunity to influence each of the areas [important to school turnaround]. Keeping districts engaged and accountable for the schools is a key. (CC director) Just as SEAs must find “windows of opportunity” to assist with school turnaround, national agencies must identify windows of opportunities to guide and enhance these state efforts. Background and Purpose of this Document This document is an excerpt of an annual CST report by their external evaluator, Education Northwest, a nonprofit research, evaluation, and technical assistance organization. The CST isone of seven national content centers funded by the U.S. Department of Education (ED) . Launched in October 2012, the CST’s assists SEAs and CCs with school turnaround. Education Northwest has prepared this excerpt for ED’s Office of School Turnaround (OST) . It focuses on state needs for assistance with federal turnaround principles that OST supports. Survey Administration and Analysis To conduct the survey, the CST provided Education Northwest with a list of SEA contacts and CC contacts. Ultimately, the sample included responses from at least one contact in all 50 states plus the District of Columbia, American Samoa, the Virgin Islands, and at least one contact in each CC, although not all SEA and CC leaders contacted actually responded. Therefore, 100 percent of states and 100 percent of CC are represented. For items about school turnaround needs, practices, and policies, we limited the analysis to a single representative (i.e. average) response for each SEA and each CC, so that the survey would provide a national view with each state and region represented equally, regardless of the number of participants who responded to the survey. Windows of National Opportunity: An Excerpt from the CST Report on State Supports for School Turnaround 1 School Turnaround Needs Remain High Across the Nation The CST focuses on 14 areas of school turnaround that CST leaders identified through research reviews and practical experience as important to suc

FAQs

What is the purpose of this document?

It is an excerpt from an annual CST report prepared by Education Northwest for ED’s Office of School Turnaround, focusing on state needs for assistance tied to federal school-turnaround principles.

How was the 2014 survey administered and analyzed?

CST supplied Education Northwest with SEA and CC contact lists, and responses were used to represent all 50 states plus the District of Columbia and other territories. For needs/policies items, analysis used a single representative response per SEA and CC to provide an even national view.

Which school-turnaround support areas were most in need across the nation?

The highest need related to building capacity at all levels of the turnaround effort, with 80% or more of SEAs and CCs reporting assistance was needed in most of these areas.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Jake