What Actually Works in School Turnaround

After working in dozens of struggling schools, the pattern is consistent: the districts that improve focus on a small number of core adult practices, executed consistently, rather than launching many initiatives at once.

Fewer Priorities, Executed Well

Schools that improve typically narrow to two or three instructional priorities and build deep coaching and monitoring routines around them — rather than adopting every promising program simultaneously and diluting focus across all of them.

Leading Indicators Over Lagging Ones

Waiting for test scores to confirm whether turnaround is working means waiting a full year to find out. The districts that improve fastest track adult practice and attendance data monthly, adjusting course before the annual results arrive.

Central Office as a Service, Not an Auditor

Turnaround accelerates when central office functions as responsive support for principals — solving real obstacles quickly — rather than primarily as a compliance-checking function that principals learn to avoid rather than lean on.

In Practice

Zeal's Concord High School engagement in Staten Island, NY reflects this exact pattern: rather than launching many initiatives at once, the root cause analysis identified four connected drivers of chronic absenteeism and built a focused, MTSS-aligned intervention plan around them, including daily check-in/check-out systems and peer mentorship, tracked on a three-to-five-day cycle. Learn more on our What We Do page. IES What Works Clearinghouse independently reviews evidence behind school improvement interventions.