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MEETING THE TURNAROUND CHALLENGEPartnership Zone Presentation PPT

Partnership Zones:A research-based strategy to scale up school turnaround – and establish a model for district reform

William Guenther

Achieve/ADP Panel

Washington, D.C.

September 10, 2009

Within five years, turnaround schools should match the average achievement levelsof non-poverty schools within their state

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5

Non-Poverty Districts

Partnership Zone Districts

Ach

ieve

men

t

Turnaround: a dramatic and comprehensive intervention

in a low-performing school that

a) produces significant gains in achievementwithin two years; and

b) readies the school for the longer process of transformation into a high-performance organization

2©2009 Mass Insight Education & Research Institute Achieve/ADP Panel 9/10/09

What makes it possible: Some schools dramatically beat the odds

2004 data

Achieve/ADP Panel 9/10/09©2009 Mass Insight Education & Research Institute 3

How high-performing, high-poverty schools do it:They foster students’ readiness to learn; focus staff’s readiness to teach; and expand their readiness to act


How do we take the How do we take the DNA of high-performing, DNA of high-performing, high-poverty schools, high-poverty schools, and embed it within the and embed it within the systems that serve systems that serve struggling high-poverty struggling high-poverty schools?schools?

The key interventionquestion:


Achieving the goal at scale: Three Cs shape zones, partnerships, and school clusters


Partnership Zones: Model conditions, capacity through partners, scale through clusters

School Cluster

Supporting Partners

Lead Partner

State District

Partnership Zones with flexible operating conditions Supported by state policy (targeted funding, compliance streamlining) and state turnaround office

Flexibility to make mission-driven decisions and establish model systems for people, time, money, school programs

Partnership Zones with flexible operating conditions Supported by state policy (targeted funding, compliance streamlining) and state turnaround office

Flexibility to make mission-driven decisions and establish model systems for people, time, money, school programs

Lead Turnaround Partners working with districts to support clusters of 3-5 schools New-model partner with accountability for student achievement and responsibility to support school staffing on behalf of the district or state

Lead partner aligns the work of all outside programs and partners, builds capacity for the district and schools

Lead Turnaround Partners working with districts to support clusters of 3-5 schools New-model partner with accountability for student achievement and responsibility to support school staffing on behalf of the district or state

Lead partner aligns the work of all outside programs and partners, builds capacity for the district and schools


Conditions Change: Outside-the-system approaches, applied inside the system


Lead Turnaround Partners increase capacityand create coherent support

Currently“project-itis” results in a plethora of partners, who can get in the way of schools channeling energy into coherent, radical transformation. Lead Turnaround Partners coordinate

the work of all partners so overstretched principals don’t have to.

Currently“project-itis” results in a plethora of partners, who can get in the way of schools channeling energy into coherent, radical transformation. Lead Turnaround Partners coordinate

the work of all partners so overstretched principals don’t have to.

“Old World” Intervention Capacity & Roles:Fragmented, Competing Improvement Projects

State Consultants

District Mandates

One School

Many Providers & Partners

Partnership Zone

SchoolCluster

Lead Partner

State District

Supporting Partners

Partnership Zones:High-capacity Lead Partners to align programs


Lead Partners align authority with accountability for school clusters

•Signs a three-to-five year performance contract for student achievement with the district or state. The agreement assigns the Lead Partner responsibility for a small ‘intentional” cluster of schools in which systems and programs will be aligned, and holds the Lead Partner accountable for improving student performance.

• Assumes authority for decision-making on school staffing (as well as time, money, and program). In particular, the Lead Partner:

• Hires a new principal or approves the current one

• Supports the principal in hiring and replacing teachers, and has responsibility for bringing in a meaningful cohort of new instructional staff

•Provides core academic and student support services directly or aligns the services of other program and support partners, who are on sub-contracts with the Lead Partner. The Lead Partner also works to build internal capacity within the schools and, by extension, the district.

• Has an embedded, consistent, and intense relationship with each school during the turnaround period (5 days per week)

Lead Partners are non-profit organizations or central offices units on contract with the district or state for the management of small clusters of 3-5 schools.

The Lead Partner:


Lead Partners add a hybrid option to the portfolio, combining district efficiencies & charter autonomies

Districts

• Economies of scale over key infrastructure (e.g. facilities, transportation)

•Mobility of students and teachers is facilitated by having common elements across the district

• Credibility with the community

Charter Management Organizations

• Autonomy over the core elements of a school:

People

Time

Money

Program

• School level accountability for student results

The Lead Turnaround Partner model offers the potential of rapid scale and efficiency, while allowing for the freedoms needed for

school turnaround.


How Partnership Zones can improve whole districts

Address remainder of district in sequence

Add Clusters 3 and 4

Partnership Zone – Stage 1

Add Cluster 2

Zone – Stage 2

Zone – Stage 3

Extension of Zone Model to District

Redesign

Cluster 1

Clusters should be manageable in size, not typically to exceed three to five schools per cluster

Managing turnaround clusters requires new skills– such as project management and monitoring of implementation metrics — for which lead partner expertise can augment central office experience.

Clusters could be based on: • Feeder Patterns (Mix of elementary, middle, & high schools)

• Need-Based (high ESL/recent immigrant population)

• Support/Mentoring models (50/50high and low capacity schools, to allowfor mentoring)


District operational reforms parallel Partnership Zone work

For the Partnership Zone work to be effective, and to maximize whole district transformation, core district operations will need to be reformed in parallel with the Zone efforts. Districts should be assisted in this work by Strategic Partners -- regional or statewide non-profits providing leadership for the state, district, and partners on fundraising, coalition-building, advocacy, alignment of public and private resources, and operational improvement. District operations central to reform include:

•Human Resources

• Budgeting

•Governance and Reporting Structures

•Data and Assessment

• Information Technology Systems

• Business Practices and Procurement

©2009 Mass Insight Education & Research Institute Achieve/ADP Panel 9/10/09 13

The School Turnaround Strategy GroupMass Insight Education & Research Institute, Inc.

18 Tremont Street, Suite 930Boston, MA 02108

617-778-1500

http://www.massinsight.org

[email protected]

This presentation is based on over four years of research and development on scaling up school turnaround, including: analysis of higher-performing high-poverty school; research on best practice in turnaround initiatives at the state, district and school levels; the development a framework for scaling up turnaround. Partners in this work include Education Counsel, Holland + Knight, and The Parthenon Group.

For more on the topics included in this presentation, please visit our Turnaround Resource Center http://www.massinsight.org/turnaround/reports.aspx to see a variety of resources, including:

The Turnaround Challenge: Why America’s best opportunity to dramatically improve student achievement lies in our worst performing schools

Partnership Zones: Using school turnaround as the entry point for real reform – and reinventing the district model in the process

A New Partnership Paradigm: Developing strong partnerships to tackle turnaround – and increase capacity in public education

A series of case studies, tools and other resources to help operationalize the Partnership Zone framework.

The research & development and resulting reports were generously funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. A Partnership Zone Initiative pilot is currently underway with initial funding from the Carnegie Foundation.

This presentation is based on over four years of research and development on scaling up school turnaround, including: analysis of higher-performing high-poverty school; research on best practice in turnaround initiatives at the state, district and school levels; the development a framework for scaling up turnaround. Partners in this work include Education Counsel, Holland + Knight, and The Parthenon Group.

For more on the topics included in this presentation, please visit our Turnaround Resource Center http://www.massinsight.org/turnaround/reports.aspx to see a variety of resources, including:

The Turnaround Challenge: Why America’s best opportunity to dramatically improve student achievement lies in our worst performing schools

Partnership Zones: Using school turnaround as the entry point for real reform – and reinventing the district model in the process

A New Partnership Paradigm: Developing strong partnerships to tackle turnaround – and increase capacity in public education

A series of case studies, tools and other resources to help operationalize the Partnership Zone framework.

The research & development and resulting reports were generously funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. A Partnership Zone Initiative pilot is currently underway with initial funding from the Carnegie Foundation.


http://www.massinsight.org/

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.massinsight.org/turnaround/reports.aspx

http://www.massinsight.org/turnaround/reports.aspx

gbioo meeting the turnaround challenge partnership zone presentation ppt partnership zones: a...

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