School Turnarounds, School Improvement, and School Quality Reviews for the New ESEA: Focusing on What Works
March 14, 2012

 A Public Discussion for Key Education Reformers and Congressional Staff Members

While Congress may not reauthorize ESEA this year, lawmakers continue to discuss education.  There is still time, and it is essential to discuss, how to reframe ESEA so it will most effectively help improve schools.

Helping improve Title I-funded schools, including turning around the lowest-achieving, is critical to accomplishing ESEA’s purposes.  This briefing will address how the ESEA reauthorization can best advance these goals by emphasizing what works, including the valuable roles school quality reviews could perform.  Questions we will address include: 

• What are the common elements of successful school turnarounds for low-achieving schools and is a regular process available for conducting them?
• How could the common elements of success be incorporated in ESEA for the approximately 95% of Title I-funded schools that may not be required to implement “turnaround models”?
• To what extent do pending Senate and House bills do what’s needed to adopt what works?
• What does it take to lead and sustain a turnaround in “real life”?
• What are school quality reviews, how can they be a valuable part of school improvement strategy, and how could they be used most effectively in the U.S.?

Featured Speakers

Peter McWalters, Consultant; Rhode Island Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education (1992-2009); former Council of Chief State School Officers leadership team member.

Kevin Lowndes, Principal, Wheaton High School, Silver Spring, Md.;  Winner, “Breakthrough Schools” Award, 2008, National Association of Secondary School Principals.

Heather Carias, Academy Coordinator and NEA member, Wheaton High School, Silver Spring, Md.

Gary M. Ratner, Chair, Forum on Educational Accountability Committee on School Improvement/Capacity-building; Executive Director, Citizens for Effective Schools.

Moderator: Reggie Felton, Assistant Executive Director for Congressional Relations, National School Boards Association.

FEA bases its work on the Joint Organizational Statement on NCLB, now signed by 156 national education, civil rights, religious, disability, parent and civic groups.  FEA has published reports and provided recommendations for overhauling ESEA regarding assessment, accountability, school improvement and opportunity to learn.  All our materials are on our website at http://www.edaccountability.org .

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