Turnaround schools and the leadership they require

In this study of school turnaround efforts in Ontario, the point is made that the turnaround concept itself prompts schools to confront failure and to accept responsibility for “making things right.” The study focuses on the critical role of school leadership in begin- ning school improvement initiatives which can ultimately, and ideally, lead to a significant increase in student performance. [...] This was the case for the following results: the ratings of value attached to each of the four categories of leadership practices; the ranking of importance attached to the four categories; and the specific leadership practices rated as being of greatest value to the schools’ improvement efforts. [...] From the Declining Performance stage to the Crisis Stabilization stage, the management functions carried out by leaders shifted in their purpose, from providing routine mainte- nance of ongoing work in the school to aligning the standard operating procedures of the school with the overall goal of significantly improving student literacy performance. [...] Much of what leaders do in the early stages of their work entails restruc- turing to improve the quality of communication throughout the organization, and to set the stage for the more distributed forms of leadership required to achieve and sustain high levels of performance (Foster & St. [...] The first type included six elementary and three secondary schools located in the four districts where the first phase of the study was conducted, and they conformed to the definition of turnaround schools described above.