Secretary of Education Arne Duncan last week announced the administration’s "race to the top" education program, which provides the largest discretionary pot of funding for K-12 education reform in the history of the United States. One of the four major areas identified for the release of funds is for states and districts to turnaround low-performing schools.
With the national spotlight on school turnarounds, the University of Virginia’s Darden/Curry Partnership for Leaders in Education last week for the sixth consecutive summer launched its two-year School Turnaround Specialist Program for a cohort of over 100 participants, the largest ever to enter the program. The cohort was comprised of turnaround principals (including charter school leaders) and district, regional and state support teams from across the state of Missouri (Kansas City, St. Louis, and rural districts from SE Missouri) as well as Louisiana, and Cincinnati and Cleveland, Ohio.
The U. Va. School Turnaround Specialist program is one of the most comprehensive and well-established turnaround programs in the country. It is the only national program that engages school, district and state-level leaders to implement school turnaround initiatives in a coordinated and systemic manner in order to address student needs and produce rapid and sustainable increases in achievement. The program works with leaders to identify issues and take actions focused on producing meaningful and effective change. Specific emphasis is placed on the imperative for dramatic changes in school culture as well as methods for utilizing data to monitor student achievement and to identify effective practices.
LeAnn Buntrock, Executive Director of the U. Va. partnership, says this is one of the most exciting times in the history of our country to be involved in education reform. "Our results have demonstrated that transformational change in our schools is possible," she says. "Based on our experience, we believe that this moment presents unprecedented opportunities for success."
U. Va.’s turnaround program sessions are led by faculty from the Darden School of Business and the Curry School of Education as well as practitioners who have led successful school turnarounds. Last week’s program was highlighted by the presence of nationally prominent experts in the field such as Lauren Morando-Rhim, Senior Consultant for Public Impact, Bill Guenther, CEO for Mass Insight, and Andy Rotherham, Co-Founder and Publisher of Ed Sector and former education adviser to President Clinton and former state board of education member.
"The Darden/Curry Partnership is at the leading edge of national efforts to get serious about school turnarounds," says Rotherham. "By combining the expertise of U.Va.’s education school with its business school, the partnership has unique purchase on the problem and brings a wide range of stakeholders together to help solve it."
The Darden/Curry Partnership was initiated in Virginia in 2004 by former Governor Mark Warner. Since then, the program has included participants from Virginia, Florida, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Delaware, Ohio, and Indian schools in North and South Dakota.
Founded in 1955, the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business improves society by developing principled leaders in the world of practical affairs.
For additional information, contact communication@darden.virginia.edu.