Title: Why do most education turnaround projects in low performing schools fail? - Quora
Headings: Why do most education turnaround projects in low performing schools fail?
Why do most education turnaround projects in low performing schools fail?
Content: As Tony Wagner clearly writes in Change Leadership (2012), “Without determining what is truly important, everything becomes urgent, and, in practice then, nothing is important.” While this is true of all leaders, turnaround principals must not only be able to discern between what is urgent and what is important but between what is important and what is most important. This is a battle that turnaround leaders must fight—and win—on a regular basis. Successful turnaround principals have a sense of urgency to focus on the things that are most important in school transformation. In today’s educational environment, there is so much urgency that it necessitates a leader who can not just react to his/her environment but one who can deliberately attend to the things that matter most in a transformational school. Discernment in a transformational school is based on the understanding that—first and foremost— the quality of instruction will determine the quality of student achievement. Transformational leaders who do not make the improvement of instruction their number one priority will not besuccessful in school transformation. Successful turnaround principals also understand that todiscern is not enough. Nearlyevery principal I work with understands that the quality of instruction influences student achievement. What often are missing are the details about how to influence thequality of instruction.