Beyond turnaround: a synthesis of relevant frameworks for leaders of sustained improvement in previously low-performing schools

Abstract

ABSTRACTWe understand very little about what is special that leaders do to facilitate improvement that is both transformational and lasting in previously persistently failing schools in the United States. Relatively little is understood about change not just during the initial turnaround stage, but that endures on the larger journey as the school becomes a healthy organisation for adults and students. This lack of understanding is likely due to the lack of data sources because schools struggle to attain turnaround, let alone maintain the improvement and continue to grow. We conducted a literature review of frameworks implicated in leading a sustained school turnaround. This study synthesises existing frameworks relevant to implicated constructs of (1) school turnaround, (2) effective educational leadership, (3) turnaround external to education, and (4) sustained improvement external to education through developing a cohesive set of practices to inform the work of researchers and practitioners. We end by suggesting that this framework be tested and refined through examination of principal data so that it more robustly represents the work that leaders of sustained improvement undertake.