School Turnaround: Not For The Weak!

The Fast Approach To Excellence: Why the “Slow and Steady” Approach is Failing Our Kids

If you are looking for a comfortable, five-year plan to “gradually improve” a school, you are in the wrong place. I don’t believe in the luxury of time. When I walk into a building on a state closure list, I am not looking at a calendar—I am looking at a stopwatch.

Why the urgency? Because a third-grader doesn’t have five years for a leadership team to “find their footing.” By the time a five-year plan yields results, that child is in high school, and for many, the window of opportunity has already slammed shut.

In a successful turnaround, we have a short time period to save a school. This work isn’t for the weak.

The “Physical Reset”: Environment Dictates Expectation

I believe that a successful turnaround starts with Culture, and it begins before the first bell rings. You cannot ask for a high-achieving mind in a low-achieving environment.

In 2014, on the south side of Chicago, I walked into a building that felt like a dungeon—trash in the corners, dark hallways, and a heavy silence. We spent that summer scrubbing walls and moving furniture. We reset the physical space so that on “Day One,” the building screamed excellence.

The “Minute One” Philosophy

In a failing school, you don’t have the luxury of “easing into” the year. The battle is won or lost in the first sixty seconds of the first day. This falls under Consistency.

If you lose “Minute One,” you lose the week. If you lose the week, you lose the month. And if you lose the month, you can kiss that 12-month exit from the closure list goodbye.

The Adult Problem: Mindsets vs. Receipts

Turnarounds fail when the adults in the building are held hostage by their own low expectations. Whether we are working with a “green” staff that lacks the muscle or a jaded staff that has seen “turnaround leaders” come and go, the standard is non-negotiable.

Teacher Development is also a necessity.  Building leaders have to support teachers as they build the “muscle” they need to deliver high quality instruction.  Real-time coaching, intentional professional development, and deep data dives help teachers be able to stand and deliver with confidence. However, these things can only be effective if the mindset is right.

The Loneliness of the 100%

You don’t turnaround failing schools by making everyone happy. You get it by being obsessed with the mission.

People will call you “harsh.” They will say you’re an “acquired taste.” Leadership in a turnaround requires Grit—the place where passion meets perseverance. You have to believe in the mission more than you fear the pushback.

The clock is ticking. We have only have a limited amount of time to change the trajectory of a child’s life.

Are you ready to work?