As one who desires to be a school administrator capable of leading sustainable educational change, examining the work of turnaround principals made sense.  They are expected to perform under the worst conditions, and I thought that learning from their successes would assist me when working under more desirable circumstances. 

However, I’ve now come to the conclusion that the requirements for successful and sustainable change are the same, regardless of the setting.  Whether it is leading change in low-performing or high-performing schools, or in urban or rural communities, the same plan of action can be applied.

The decisions and changes school leaders make should include the basic components of pursuing a precise and shared objective, building the capacity of faculty and staff, analyzing data, communicating with stakeholders, and monitoring the effects of the current efforts in place.

Examining the work of successful turnaround principals is helpful, though, when facing opposition.  The important characteristics they need to tackle the challenges of low-performing, troubled schools include:

• being team oriented as opposed to having a top-down principal-staff hierarchy
• having the ability to have courageous conversations (straight talk) with staff
• willing to make difficult decisions around personnel and resource allocation
• using data to help students improve rapidly
• having the ability to create very quick cycles of improvement that involves trying new tactics, quickly discarding failed strategies, and doing more of what works

My research on successful turnaround initiatives led me to create a plan of action that I believe to be successful for leading sustainable change in schools.

The plan of action proposed here is necessarily generic because, in order to be effective, it would have to be modified to approach the challenges of a particular school.

Phase 1: Initiation

• Learn the school’s culture
• Identify precise objectives
• Develop plan to achieve objectives
• Determine who the key stakeholders are
• Include stakeholders in the change process
• Garner support from district and community leaders
• Identify additional leaders within the school
• Develop capacity
• Procure appropriate professional development

Phase 2: Implementation

• Continually gather and review data
• Make necessary adjustments
• Continue communications with stakeholders
• Continue to leverage leadership within the school
• Celebrate small wins
• Motivate for continued success

Phase 3: Continuation and Sustainability

• Continue monitoring data
• Nourish relationships with district and community leaders
• Nourish and support teacher leaders
• Provide continuous support to staff through ongoing, appropriate professional development activities

  If you take the time to look at the attached presentation, you will find that my plan of action for an education leader differs only slightly to that which I outlined as a business management consultant for the deployment of a new program in other types of organizations.