New York City Takes A Turnaround On Turnarounds

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio rolled out his new school turnaround strategy there yesterday.  Key details TBD but it’s hard not to see it as a backing off of the more aggressive approach of the Bloomberg administration.

Key questions:

– Where has this approach worked at any scale?

– Why is it a choice between better supporting students and schools and also taking aggressive steps in cases of persistently low-performance?

– Given the evidence on turnarounds, would these resources have a greater impact if targeted at middling schools while continuing a more aggressive strategy on the lowest-performing ones?

– And, the track record on turning around the lowest-performers is pretty stark. In the context of that evidence base do those parents and children deserve more immediate relief now?