Leading Low-Performing Schools: 

Lessons from the Turnaround School

Leaders Program

December 2018

Prepared for:

U.S. Department of Education

Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development

Policy and Program Studies Service

Prepared by:

Dan Aladjem

Adrienne von Glatz

Jeanine Hildreth

Clarissa McKithen

Westat

Policy Studies Associates
This report was produced under U.S. Department of Education Contract No. ED-PEP-11-O-0028/TO28 with Westat. 

Ivy Morgan, Erica Lee, and Julie Warner served as the contracting officer’s representative. The views expressed 

herein do not necessarily represent the positions or policies of the Department of Education. No official 

endorsement by the U.S. Department of Education of any product, commodity, service or enterprise mentioned in 

this publication is intended or should be inferred. For the reader’s convenience, this publication contains 

information about and from outside organizations, including hyperlinks and URLs. Inclusion of such information 

does not constitute an endorsement by the Department. 

U.S. Department of Education

Betsy DeVos

Secretary

Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development

James Blew

Assistant Secretary

Policy and Program Studies Service

Gregory Fortelney

Director

November 2018

This report is in the public domain. Authorization to reproduce it in whole or in part is granted. While permission to 

reprint this publication is not necessary, the citation should be: U.S. Department of Education, Office of Planning, 

Evaluation and Policy Development, Policy and Program Studies Service, Leading Low-Performing Schools: Lessons 

from the Turnaround School Leaders Program, Washington, D.C., 2018.

This report is available on the Department’s website at: 

http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/opepd/ppss/reports.html.

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20202.

Content Contact: 

Julie Warner

Phone: 202-453-6043

Email: juliewarner@ed.gov
iii

Contents

Chapter Page

List of Exhibits.................................................................................................. v

Acknowledgments ........................................................................................... vii

Executive Summary.......................................................................................... ix

1 Introduction ..................................................................................................... 1

Study Design and Methods.............................................................................. 5

Study Limitations ............................................................................................. 5

Overview of this Report................................................................................... 6

2 Project Partnerships ........................................................................................ 7

Leveraging and Scaling TSLP Activities............................................................. 11

Continuation of TSLP Activities........................................................................ 12

3 Identifying and Selecting Candidates............................................................... 15

4 Developing and Supporting Turnaround Leaders............................................ 21

Participants...................................................................................................... 21

Project Structure.............................................................................................. 23

Training Content .............................................................................................. 24

Residencies ...................................................................................................... 26

Support for Participants................................................................................... 28

Use of Data by Projects.................................................................................... 30

5 Post-Preparation Placement of Project Participants....................................... 31

6 Conclusions...................................................................................................... 37

Identification and Recruitment........................................................................ 37

Partnerships..................................................................................................... 37

Preparing Turnaround Leaders........................................................................ 37
iv

Contents (continued)

Chapter Page

Building Pipelines of School Leaders................................................................ 38

References....................................................................................................... 39

Appendixes

A Supplemental Exhibits ..................................................................................... 41

B Case Study Profiles........................................................................................... 65

C Data Sources and Methods.............................................................................. 87

D Data Collection Instruments............................................................................ 95
v

Exhibits

1 Percentage of projects with a memorandum of understanding or 

other written agreement documenting the roles and responsibilities 

of each partner organization, as reported by project directors,

by project leadership type ............................................................................... 7

2 Average level of participation of partner organizations in project 

functions, as reported by project directors, and district partners and 

training partners who were not from the same organization......................... 10

3 Number of project directors reporting that some aspects of the 

grant partnership will continue after the end of the grant............................. 12

4 Percentage of grantees where partners from other organizations are 

unsure or do not expect future work with other partners on 

preparing turnaround leaders after the end of the grant ............................... 13

5 Percentage of projects reporting use of information to identify 

potential candidates for school leadership, by respondent type.................... 16

6 Number of grantees considering various candidate characteristics to 

determine eligibility for participation, by prior experience of 

candidate, as reported by project directors.................................................... 17

7 Number of projects using various methods to assess candidates for 

project participation, as reported by project directors................................... 18

8 Percentage of participants who were aspiring school leaders before 

project participation ........................................................................................ 21

9 Percentage of projects offering incentives for participating in the 

program, as reported by project directors, by project leadership type.......... 22

10 Selected characteristics of case study projects............................................... 24

11 Number of grantees in which aspiring leaders participated in 

supervised internship or residency, by length of residency ............................ 26

12 Number of projects using performance measures to evaluate the 

performance of program participants............................................................. 28

13 Duration of mentoring or coaching provided to placed leaders..................... 29

14 Number of participants who completed training, by project 

leadership type ................................................................................................ 32
vi

15 Average percentage of program completers placed in turnaround 

school within one year of program completion, as reported by 

project directors, by project leadership type .................................................. 33

16 Percentage of participants placed in SIG or SIG-eligible schools, 

by project leadership type ............................................................................... 34

17 Average rating of the importance of factors considered when 

making a placement decision, as reported by district partners with 

participants who were not already turnaround leaders.................................. 36
vii

Acknowledgments

We wish to thank several individuals who contributed to the study and the report. First and foremost we 

thank the staff of the school districts, universities, and nonprofit organizations who responded to our 

surveys and welcomed us to their projects for our case study visits. We also thank the TSLP participants 

who participated in focus groups during the case study visits. We truly appreciate their time and their 

insights. We would like to thank the U.S. Department of Education for their guidance and support, 

particularly Ivy Morgan, Erica Lee, and Julie Warner of the Policy and Program Studies Service. We thank 

the staff members at Westat and Policy Studies Associates who contributed to the study. At Westat this 

includes Anthony Milanowski, Matthew Finster, Julia Bloom, Shen Lee, Richard Adrien, Sylvie Warren, 

and Allison Henderson. At Policy Studies Associates, this includes Tandra Turner and Brenda Turnbull. 

We would also like to thank the members of our technical working group for their thoughtful 

contributions, Nancy Brightwell, Charles Payne, Chris Pearson, Sam Redding, and William White.
This page intentionally left blank.
ix

Executive Summary

Policymakers and practitioners at the local, state, and federal levels have invested considerable time and 

energy into solving the problem of turning around chronically low-performing schools. As the 

U.S. Department of Education (the Department) has refined the federal effort to support states and 

districts to turn schools around, it has adopted targeted strategies. One recent strategy to support 

school turnaround is the Turnaround School Leaders Program (TSLP). The TSLP invested in partnerships 

between local school districts and others to build the quality and supply of leaders with the skills and 

knowledge to turn around low-performing schools. Grantees could use TSLP funds to train both current 

and aspiring leaders of turnaround schools, place leaders in school improvement grant (SIG) or 

SIG-eligible schools, provide ongoing professional support to placed leaders, retain effective leaders, or 

replace ineffective leaders. The Department funded two cohorts of grantees, one in 2014, the other in 

2015. This study examined the first cohort of grantees in the last year of their three-year grant.

In September 2014, the Department awarded a total of $20.5 million to 12 grantees: one state 

education agency (SEA), five school districts, four institutions of higher education (IHEs), and two 

nonprofit organizations. While each grantee organized its project differently, each project included at 

least one district and a partner responsible for training aspiring or current turnaround school leaders. 

Grantee projects also varied in that some projects built on established relationships among partnering 

organizations. In other projects, the partners created and implemented their training programs entirely 

with TSLP funding. Of the 12 grantees, four established new partnerships and programs for the TSLP 

grant. The other eight grantees used their TSLP grants to extend or revise projects already in place.

The projects funded by the TSLP included a mix of participants. Some were currently serving as 

principals. We refer to these project participants as current leaders throughout this report. Other project 

participants were not currently serving as principals, but were seeking training and administrative 

licenses to be eligible to be hired as principals. We refer to these project participants as aspiring leaders. 

We refer to participants who completed training and found jobs as principals, assistant principals, or 

other administrators as placed leaders.

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act

(ESSA), continues the emphasis of prior iterations of the ESEA on improvement in the lowest performing 

schools. Congress, through amending the ESEA by the ESSA, marked a fundamental shift in the 

orientation of federal education policy. Prior amendments of the ESEA, including the No Child Left 

Behind Act (NCLB), and recent programs, such as the SIG program, authorized under the ESEA, as 

amended by NCLB, included specific requirements for school improvement. States, districts, and schools 

were required to implement specific interventions to improve low-performing schools. While Congress 

maintained the decades-long federal commitment to student success and school improvement in the 

ESSA, it reduced the prescriptive requirements for school turnaround and created flexibility for 

innovation at the State and local level. The ESEA, as amended by the ESSA, encourages state innovation, 

particularly in the areas of school leadership and improving low-performing schools. Scott and Ostler 

(2016) noted that SEAs planned to make changes in the ways they identified and supported lowperforming schools under the ESEA, as amended by the ESSA. States also noted the need for external 

assistance in supporting those schools. Additionally, the ESEA, as amended by the ESSA, provides that 

states may set aside a portion of their federal funding to support principals and school leaders.

A recent analysis of how states plan to implement the new requirements of ESEA—based on surveys and 

interviews with state leaders—(Riley and Meredith, 2017) identified several ways in which states are 
x

planning to strengthen school leadership. Top among the list are improving coaching and professional 

development, strengthening the role of principal supervisors, and integrating principal support with 

school improvement planning. States are encouraging investing in leadership generally and in leadership 

in turnaround schools specifically.

Despite the need to expand state efforts to develop leaders for low-performing (and other) schools, the 

research and evaluation literature lags behind the demand for evidence-based practices. While many 

recent studies have examined the implementation and impact of programs and policies to turn around 

chronically low-performing schools, and while most of these have at least touched on the question of 

leadership, none has focused exclusively on the role of preparing school leaders in turning around 

chronically low-performing schools. This study stands at the intersection between studies of school 

turnaround and school leadership. This report provides a look at the ways the first cohort of TSLP 

grantees identified, developed, and supported turnaround school leaders and the early outcomes of 

their efforts as reflected in program performance measures. Key findings from the study include:

 Survey and interview data indicated joint ownership and involvement in all TSLP project 

activities by project partners, with the grantee having the most significant role across all 

project activities, followed by training partners and district partners.

 All project directors expected to work with their grant partners on some area of the 

turnaround leader pipeline after the end of the grant; district and training partners were 

more uncertain.

 TSLP grantees implemented multiple strategies to recruit potential program participants, 

offering incentives including financial incentives and professional development 

opportunities. TSLP grantees relied primarily on referrals from peers and current school 

leaders to identify program candidates.

 TSLP projects were primarily designed to serve aspiring leaders; 10 percent of participants 

were current school leaders.

 Training content and form was consistent with practices highlighted in current research on 

school leadership preparation in general.

 On average, project directors reported that 43 percent of program completers were placed 

in turnaround schools within one year of program completion.

 The number of program completers placed in administrative positions depended on the 

number of vacancies. Matching the number of program completers to vacancies was a 

challenge across projects, particularly in rural projects. There tended to be fewer vacancies 

in small, rural districts, making it more difficult for program completers from rural projects 

to find administrative positions.

Research Questions and Study Design 

To bridge the worlds of research on school improvement and research on leadership development, this 

study examined four broad study questions:

 What role did partners play in the TSLP projects, and are partnerships expected to be 

sustained?

 How did TSLP projects identify program participants?

 How do TSLP projects develop and support leaders for turnaround schools?

 How successful were program completers in finding leadership positions in turnaround 

schools, and what factors affected placement rates?
xi

The study drew on surveys, case studies, and extant data.

The study team administered an online survey to all 12 Cohort 1 project directors, representatives from 

grantees’ training partner organizations, and representatives from school district partners. This survey 

was designed to gather summary data on the implementation of the entire set of Cohort 1 projects. It 

consisted primarily of closed-ended items about program design, implementation, and evaluation. 

Survey data described projects’ approaches to identifying, developing, and supporting turnaround

leaders as well as the working of cross-organizational and cross-sector partnerships to support leader 

development. 

For a closer view of a subset of grantees, the study team conducted case studies of seven Cohort 1 

grantees. The study team selected a purposive sample of grantees to reflect the diversity of TSLP 

projects. Case studies included onsite interviews with grantee and partner staff as well as focus groups 

with program participants. The case studies provided in-depth understanding of the on-the-ground 

activities, policies, decision-making, challenges, and lessons learned in each of the seven projects.

Finally, the study reviewed available program documentation (including applications) and program 

performance data including Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) measures such as program 

participation, completion, and placement. Extant data provided limited information related to early 

project outcomes and project selectivity.

The study team developed a set of constructs based on the study questions that guided the analysis. 

Survey analysis focused on providing description or comparison of survey responses to help answer the 

research questions across the 12 grantees. Case study analyses focused on identifying more detailed 

findings and examples to expand on key findings from the survey and extant data.

This study describes the ways in which grantees of the first cohort of TSLP grants identified and trained 

future leaders of turnaround schools and presents preliminary indicators of program outcomes. The 

study focused on a small cohort of 12 grantees and only examined seven in depth. Readers should be 

cautious about drawing overly generalized conclusions about the development of leaders for 

turnaround schools.

Findings 

Project Partnerships

Survey and interview data indicate joint ownership and involvement in all TSLP 

project activities, with the lead organization having the most significant role across 

all project activities, followed by training partners and district partners. 

Survey respondents indicated that district partners played the most significant role in recruiting leaders 

or aspiring leaders for participation in activities, and training partners played the most significant role in 

developing and delivering training. Lead organizations exerted the greatest level of independent 

influence in developing metrics for and evaluating project success, and in deciding which participants 

successfully completed the program. Survey respondents indicated that the highest level of sharing 

among district, training partner, and lead organizations in project activities was in providing coaching or 

mentoring to program participants. Training partners and lead organizations had similar levels of 

responsibility for developing training content, while lead organizations and districts had the most similar 

levels of responsibility for providing support for placed leaders.
xii

Identifying and Selecting Candidates

TSLP grantees implemented multiple strategies to recruit potential program 

participants, offering incentives including financial incentives and professional 

development opportunities. TSLP grantees relied primarily on referrals from peers 

and existing school leaders to identify program candidates.

TSLP grantees used multiple sources of information to identify potential TSLP candidates (e.g., referrals, 

performance data, and historical data such as candidates’ employment history). However, project 

directors, district partners, and training partners indicated that TSLP grantees most often relied on 

referrals from peers and existing school leaders to identify potential program participants.

Case study respondents described multilayered selection processes that required 

written applications, a series of interviews, performance simulations, mock 

scenarios, and problem solving.

Developing and Supporting Turnaround Leaders 

TSLP projects were primarily designed to serve aspiring leaders; 10 percent of 

participants were current leaders. 

All TSLP grantees focused on prospective school leaders and included components designed to prepare 

aspiring leaders of turnaround schools. Ninety percent of participants were aspiring leaders. Ten

projects also provided professional development and training for teacher leaders or current 

administrators. No project reported focusing exclusively on current school leaders.

TSLP projects’ content and form of training were consistent with practices 

highlighted in current research on school leadership preparation in general. 

Despite the grant program’s particular focus on leadership for school turnaround, projects geared 

training toward school leadership in general. Most projects reported relying on field-based projects, 

action research, analysis, and discussion of case studies. About half of the grantees (seven) relied on 

portfolios demonstrating learning and accomplishments or capstone or concluding projects (six).

Just over half the projects (seven of 12) included university graduate coursework as 

part of their turnaround leader preparation.

Project participants did not necessarily earn graduate degrees or state administrative licenses. 

Graduates of five projects earned a graduate degree, while completers of five projects received state 

administrative licenses.

Eleven TSLP projects included a supervised residency or internship or provided 

periodic professional development as aspiring leaders continued working at their 

jobs. 

In seven projects, the residency lasted one school year; two projects included residencies that lasted 

between one and two school years; and two projects included residencies that lasted less than half a 

school year.
xiii

Supervision and support mirrored practices highlighted in the leadership

preparation literature, including evaluations using observation by mentors and staff 

as well as self-assessments. 

Aspiring leaders in all case study projects worked with mentor principals, and all respondents felt that 

the relationship between the participants and mentor principals was a key to the success of the 

leadership preparation. Six projects provided aspiring leaders with mentors during their residency. 

Post-Preparation Placement of Project Participants

On average, project directors reported that 43 percent of program completers were 

placed in turnaround schools within one year of program completion. 

The percentages reported on the survey ranged from 0 percent to 100 percent. University-led projects 

reported lower placement rates, likely because they tended to have longer training periods; such 

candidates did not complete some university-led projects until the end of the grant period. At the time 

of the survey, many participants had not yet completed training or were beginning their job search.

The number or program completers placed in administrative positions depended on 

the number of vacancies. There tended to be fewer vacancies in small rural districts, 

making it more difficult for program completers from rural projects to find 

administrative positions. 

Most program completers in case study projects looked for positions within their districts but 

occasionally found positions in other districts. Some program completers were not able to find positions 

in turnaround schools and accepted positions in higher performing schools.

Conclusions

Although funding has ended for the TSLP, the work performed by the first cohort of grantees offers

insights into the challenges and opportunities of preparing leaders for turnaround schools.

 None of the study’s respondents reported challenges in attracting qualified candidates for the 

preparation programs funded by TSLP. Each of the case study sites reported multiple, 

multifaceted approaches to identifying and selecting who they thought were the right

candidates. None reported difficulty filling their cohorts of aspiring school leaders.

 Partnerships played an important role in the development and ongoing support of turnaround 

leaders. This study documented the ways joint ownership and involvement of school districts

and training partners—whether IHEs or nonprofits—can support the development of leaders for 

turnaround schools.

 The preparation and support provided to aspiring turnaround leaders in these projects differed 

little from the literature on innovative general leadership preparation. Projects emphasized the 

importance of using cohort models; using residencies to provide job-embedded training; and 

frequent mentoring and coaching, especially during residencies and following completion of 

training.
xiv

 The TSLP projects studied exhibited challenges and successes in building pipelines of leaders for 

turnaround schools. Challenges included staff and leadership turnover and matching the supply 

of turnaround leaders to available leadership vacancies. Successes included shared ownership of 

partners in project activities and a desire, despite funding uncertainties, to work together after 

the end of the grant.
1

1. Introduction

Policymakers and practitioners at the local, state, and federal levels have invested considerable time and 

energy into solving the problem of turning around chronically low-performing schools. As the U.S. 

Department of Education (the Department) has refined the federal effort to support states and districts 

to turn schools around, it has adopted targeted strategies. One recent strategy to support school 

turnaround is the Turnaround School Leaders Program (TSLP). The TSLP invested in partnerships 

between local school districts and others to build the quality and supply of leaders with the skills and 

knowledge to turn around low-performing schools. The Department funded two cohorts of grantees,

one in 2014, the other in 2015. This study examines the first cohort of grantees in the last year of their 

three-year grant. The projects funded by the TSLP included a mix of participants. Some were currently 

serving as principals. We refer to these project participants as current leaders throughout this report. 

Other project participants were not currently serving as principals but were seeking training and 

administrative licenses to be eligible to be hired as principals. We refer to these project participants as 

aspiring leaders. We refer to participants who completed training and found jobs as principals, assistant 

principals, or other administrators as placed leaders.

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act

(ESSA), continues the emphasis of prior iterations of the ESEA on improvement in the lowest performing 

schools. The ESEA, as amended by the ESSA, provides a school accountability framework for multistage 

support to schools. A full summary of the ESEA’s support systems is beyond the scope of this report. 

Two aspects of the ESEA’s accountability provisions are most relevant. First, the ESEA, as amended by 

the ESSA, continues the decades-long federal commitment to student success and school improvement. 

Second, while states have always been ultimately responsible for education, the amended ESEA deemphasizes the role of the federal government by reducing the prescriptive requirements for school 

improvement interventions. The amended ESEA encourages state innovation. Scott and Ostler (2016) 

noted that state education agencies (SEAs) planned to make changes in the ways they identified and 

supported low-performing schools under the ESEA, as amended by the ESSA. States also noted the need 

for external assistance in supporting those schools. Additionally, the ESEA, as amended by the ESSA,

provides that states may set aside a portion of their federal funding to support principals and school 

leaders. 

A recent analysis of how states plan to implement the new requirements of ESEA—based on surveys and 

interviews with state leaders—(Riley and Meredith, 2017) identified several ways in which states are 

planning to strengthen school leadership. Top among the list are improving coaching and professional 

development, strengthening the role of principal supervisors, and integrating principal support with 

school improvement planning. States are emphasizing investing in leadership generally and leadership in 

turnaround schools in particular. The text box below shows some of these strategies from ESSA State 

Plans that were commonly used by TSLP projects.

 24 states plan to use the Title II set-aside for leadership activities

 41 states include leadership as a strategy for turning around their lowest performing schools

 14 states plan to invest in principal residencies in partnership with other organizations

 21 states plan to expand principal preparation programs in partnership with other 

organizations

 21 states plan to improve induction support for new principals
2

Although states plan to expand efforts to develop leaders for low-performing (and other) schools, the 

research and evaluation literature lags behind the demand for evidence-based practices. While many 

recent studies have examined the implementation and impact of programs and policies to turn around 

chronically low-performing schools, and while most of these have at least touched on the question of 

leadership, none has focused exclusively on the role of school leadership in turning around chronically 

low-performing schools. This study stands at the intersection between studies of school turnaround and 

school leadership.

The Department launched the TSLP to support school turnaround by investing in partnerships between 

school districts and others (including SEAs, institutions of higher education [IHEs], or public or private 

nonprofit or for-profit organizations). TSLP funding was authorized through the School Improvement 

Grants (SIG) program. Under the SIG program, the Department awarded formula grants to states.

Districts then applied to their state for the funds to serve eligible schools (typically the lowestperforming schools in the state) by implementing one of the “SIG models” in turnaround schools. These 

models included, for example, interventions such as replacing the principal, replacing staff, 

implementing increased learning time, and other strategies.

The goal of the TSLP was to build the quality and supply of leaders imbued with the skills and knowledge 

to turn around low-performing schools that participate in or are eligible for SIG such as building school 

cultures of achievement, using data for school improvement, providing feedback to teachers and other 

staff, and engaging parents and the community. The Department funded two cohorts of grantees 

through this competitive program. Four types of organizations were eligible to apply for grants: school 

districts (or consortia of school districts) with at least five SIG or SIG-eligible schools, SEAs, IHEs, and 

public or private nonprofit or for-profit organizations or a combination of the four. SEAs, IHEs, and 

nonprofit or for-profit organizations had to apply in partnership with a school district or consortium of 

school districts with five SIG or SIG-eligible schools. In 2014, the Department awarded a total of $20.5 

million to 12 grantees: one SEA, five school districts, four IHEs, and two nonprofit organizations. In 2015, 

the Department made awards to a second cohort of grantees. This second cohort was not part of this 

study. There have been no subsequent grants made.

Grantees were allowed to use TSLP funds for the following activities:

 Recruiting and selecting promising current and prospective school leaders using locally 

adopted competencies that the applicant identified as necessary to turn around a SIG 

school or SIG-eligible school;

 Providing high-quality training to selected school leaders to prepare them to successfully 

lead turnaround efforts in SIG schools or SIG-eligible schools;

 Placing school leaders in SIG schools or SIG-eligible schools;

 Providing leaders with ongoing professional development and other support that focuses

on instructional leadership and school management and is based on individual needs 

consistent with the district’s plan for turning around its SIG schools or SIG-eligible schools;

 Retaining effective school leaders with financial or other incentives; and

 Replacing ineffective school leaders.

Grantees were required to submit annual performance reports describing progress toward their goals. 

These reports included data on TSLP Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) measures that fell 

into four broad categories: school climate; student achievement; program participation; and cost.
3

While each grantee had organized its project differently, each project included at least one district and a 

partner responsible for training aspiring or current turnaround school leaders. Grantee projects also 

varied in that some projects built on established relationships among partnering organizations. In other 

projects, the partners created and implemented their training programs entirely with TSLP funding. Of 

the 12 grantees, four had established new partnerships and programs for the TSLP grant. The other 

eight grantees used their TSLP grants to extend or revise projects already in place. 

Leadership has become a popular and readily accessible policy lever as there are only about 100,000 

public school principals compared to over 3 million teachers. The research and evaluation literature 

offers insights to the development of school principals and turning around low-performing schools.

In a long-term study of the Wallace Foundation’s Principal Pipeline Initiative, Turnbull (Turnbull, Riley, 

and MacFarlane, 2015) observed that an intentional approach to developing leaders brings fundamental 

changes in policy and practice. They recommend not just choosing from among each year’s applicants 

for principal openings. Instead, school districts should:

 Work with partners to identify the skills needed in turnaround school leadership; 

 Recruit and prepare promising candidates;

 Use performance assessments to select the best-prepared applicants and match them to 

schools; and

 Gather data on performance to meet the needs of low-performing schools. 

Turnbull and colleagues found that a pipeline for leader development brings challenges such as the 

following:

 Lack of planning. Short-term and long-term approaches are needed on a range of issues: 

– Preparing sitting principals to move into turnaround positions; 

– Preparing strong assistant principals for promotion; and 

– Deepening the “bench” by creating multiyear preparation pathways.

 Lack of relationships. Universities, nonprofit organizations, and state academies have to

navigate accreditation and state licensure requirements. They must develop strong 

relationships with schools to develop and enhance a robust clinical experience as part of 

leader preparation.

 Lack of communication. Partnerships need responsibilities clearly identified with regular 

communication about tasks, and an internal champion for the partnership in each 

organization (Turnbull, Riley, and MacFarlane, 2013).

 Lack of mentorships. Districts and partners may struggle to find and train mentors who 

have the skills to help aspiring and novice leaders exercise instructional leadership.

 Lack of data. Compiling data on leaders’ records of positions and performance is a 

formidable task because data on human capital and achievement are often in separate 

systems.

These challenges take on additional urgency as leaders have no time to lose in making changes in 

staffing, instruction, and family and community engagement.

While school improvement has been studied for decades, there are significant gaps in the literature on 

school turnaround leadership, and the particular leadership demands of turnaround schools are a new 

and largely unexplored territory. 
4

Steiner and colleagues (Steiner, Hassel, and Hassel, 2008; Steiner and Hassel, 2011) as well as others 

conceptualize turnaround leadership in terms of “habits of behavior and underlying motivations.” 

However, they do not provide much beyond the kind of truisms that characterize modern business 

management. Herman et al. (2008) also embrace this attitudinal perspective—while acknowledging the 

scant research evidence for it—with calls for turnaround leaders to seek “quick wins” to demonstrate 

the seriousness of the process. The recent Department study of SIG schools (Le Floch et al., 2014) takes 

a theoretical approach by grouping turnaround leaders by “leadership approaches.” Though this study

has merits, it provides scant help to practitioners or policymakers. All of these studies failed to dive 

deeply into the behaviors of turnaround leaders or how to develop turnaround leadership. 

An earlier exploratory study (U.S. Department of Education, 2010) looked at leadership types in 

turnaround schools, selected from a sampling frame of over 5,000 schools nationally that had received 

federal comprehensive school reform grants. The study team observed leadership behaviors such as 

improving student and teacher attendance, improving instruction, and creating safe school 

environments. The Department’s report concluded that leadership styles can and likely do vary in 

successful turnaround schools. The study reported no discernable pattern of leadership styles in 

successful turnarounds. Rather than leadership style, the report concluded that leader behaviors in 

certain areas mattered for turnaround success. 

Another study conducted for the Department sought to identify potential hypotheses for a turnaround 

school impact study. This set of case studies (Arcaira and Turnbull, 2012) supports the idea that 

behaviors rather than styles might be important. Based upon the study’s findings, the study team 

hypothesized that leaders’ specific ways of communicating instructional goals, facilitating professional 

development, and monitoring and supporting teaching practices were consistent with favorable 

conditions for turnaround. The study further hypothesized that leader behaviors enhanced the 

effectiveness of popular strategies, such as using data, making an important difference in how those 

strategies were carried out.

The research and evaluation literatures on principal training and development and on turning around 

low-performing schools have largely been independent of each other. Few studies have examined the 

development of leaders for turnaround schools specifically (although much programmatic work has 

been devoted to conceptualizing and preparing turnaround school leaders). This study informs the gap 

between the literatures on principal development and school turnaround. 

To bridge the worlds of research on school improvement and research on leadership development, this 

study has examined four broad study questions: 

 What role did partners play in the TSLP projects, and were partnerships expected to be 

sustained?

 How did TSLP projects identify program participants?

 How did TSLP projects develop and support leaders for turnaround schools?

 How successful were program completers in finding leadership positions in turnaround 

schools, and what factors affected placement rates?
5

Study Design and Methods

This study drew on surveys, case studies, and extant data.

The study team administered an online survey to all 12 Cohort 1 project directors, representatives from 

grantees’ training partner organizations, and representatives from school district partners. The intent of 

this survey was to gather data on the implementation of the entire set of Cohort 1 projects in a 

minimally burdensome and efficient manner. The survey consisted primarily of closed-ended items 

about program design, implementation, and evaluation; however, it also included a small number of 

open-ended items addressing major project successes and challenges. Survey data described projects’

approaches to identifying, developing, and supporting turnaround leaders as well as the working of 

cross-organizational and cross-sector partnerships to support leader development. Survey data have

helped the study team clarify and illustrate the landscape of grantee program implementation and 

operation.

For a closer view of a subset of grantees, the study team conducted case studies of seven Cohort 1 

grantees. The study team selected a purposive sample of grantees to reflect the diversity of TSLP 

projects. Case studies included on-site interviews with grantee and partner staff as well as focus groups 

with program participants. The case studies provided in-depth understanding of the on-the-ground 

activities, policies, decision-making, challenges, and lessons learned in each of the seven projects. 

Specifically, interviews provided an opportunity to probe more deeply on extant data and data collected 

through surveys. Data from the case studies provide clear illustrations of the ways in which projects 

implemented their TSLP grants. The report includes brief profiles of each case study project 

(Appendix B). The study team invited the visited grantees to review the profiles for accuracy.

Finally, the study reviewed available program documentation (including applications) and program 

performance data (including GPRA measures) such as program participation, completion, and 

placement. Extant data provided limited information related to early project outcomes and project 

selectivity.

The study team developed a set of constructs based on the study questions, which guided the analysis. 

Survey analysis focused on providing description or comparison of survey responses to help answer the 

research questions across the 12 grantees. Case study analyses focused on identifying more detailed 

findings and examples to expand on key findings from the survey and extant data.

Study Limitations

This study describes the ways in which grantees of the first cohort of TSLP grants identified and trained 

future leaders of turnaround schools and presents preliminary indicators of program outcomes. While 

this study focuses on a small cohort of grantees, the TSLP remains an innovative effort to pair leadership 

development and school improvement. Thus the study offers insights into the opportunities and 

challenges of developing turnaround leaders. As such, the study is well positioned to generate 

hypotheses as well as lessons learned for further programmatic and evaluative efforts. Nonetheless, 

readers should be cautious about drawing overly generalized conclusions about the development of 

leaders for turnaround schools. 

Note that while the study included all 12 grantees in the cohort, the study only examined seven in 

depth. Even in those seven sites, the study team spoke only with staff and participants identified by the 

project, not all project staff and program participants. 
6

Data collection for the study also occurred during the last year of the three-year grant awards. Study 

participants’ memories of activities during the first year of the projects may have faded. In some cases, 

key staff from the inception of the grant were no longer associated with the projects and not available 

to the study team.

Overview of this Report

This report is organized around each of the four study questions. Each of the TSLP grantees partnered 

with other organizations, and Chapter 2 describes the ways these partnerships facilitated the 

development of turnaround leaders. Chapter 3 delves into the approaches taken by grantees to identify 

and select candidates for the leadership development activities described in Chapter 4. Chapter 4

describes the multiple approaches taken by grantees to develop and support leaders for turnaround 

schools. Chapter 5 describes the extent to which TSLP project participants have been placed in 

leadership positions in turnaround schools. Chapter 6 presents conclusions.
7

2. Project Partnerships 

Partnerships formed the core of all 12 TSLP projects and supported all phases of the turnaround leader 

development process. Both interview and survey respondents emphasized three potentially important 

aspects of partnerships: communication structures; stability of district leadership; and flexibility of 

partners to respond effectively to any challenges. 

In this chapter, we explore operating and managing partnerships, including using formal agreements as 

a management tool, and how partner organization representatives share the work of the partnership. 

We conclude with a discussion on local efforts to scale and leverage the TSLP partnership to support 

district improvement efforts and continue funded activities after the conclusion of the grant.

For most TSLP projects, a memorandum of understanding (MOU) served as the basis 

for identifying the roles of each of the partner organizations and defined the strategies 

for supporting program participants. 

Survey and interview data indicate that most partnerships were formally codified in a written agreement 

such as a memorandum of understanding (MOU). On the survey, more than 80 percent of all TSLP 

project directors—including 100 percent of university and nonprofit-led partnerships—were guided by a 

formal MOU (Exhibit 1). TSLP projects led by districts were least likely to report use of a formal MOU as 

part of the project.

Exhibit 1. Percentage of projects with a memorandum of understanding or other written agreement 

documenting the roles and responsibilities of each partner organization, as reported by project 

directors, by project leadership type1

Exhibit reads: Out of 12 total grantees, 83 percent reported having a memorandum of understanding or other 

written agreement documenting the roles and responsibilities of each partner organization.

1 For each of the 12 grantees in the study, we surveyed the project director, a representative of each district partner, and a representative of 

each training partner. Although all 12 project directors responded to the survey, some did not answer all questions. Thus, the Ns for exhibits 

reporting data from project directors may be less than 12.

Source: Project director survey, item II-2.

The extent to which interview participants reported that the MOU affected day-to-day operations varied 

across projects. For example, among case study participants, representatives of two LEAs (one with a 
8

university-led partnership and one with a nonprofit-led partnership) noted that, over time, the MOU 

provided the opportunity for districts to play a more significant role in guiding the work of the 

partnership. For example, a representative from one district partner noted that the district was 

currently redefining the pre-existing MOU to give the district a greater role in deciding who participated 

in leadership development activities, residency placement decisions, and principal placement. 

Additionally, the same district representative noted that the district had persistent challenges in placing 

effective principals in local high schools. For the 2017–18 school year, the district asked that its 

nonprofit partner incorporate existing high school assistant principals into its work in the district. The 

district representative noted that this change was important if the district was to more adequately staff 

its high schools. The representative said,

We have a huge need for high school principals right now. We can’t get them. Nobody 

wants to go to high school... So I asked [nonprofit] to take a look at assistant principals 

that are in high schools right now who go through their process, but of course we are 

looking at them to be principals in one year.... That’s the only way that we think that we 

are going to be able to keep up with the pace, but keep up the pace and be smart at the 

same time. 

Both the district and university partners in another project noted that the district amended the terms of 

its agreement with the TSLP university grantee and other nonparticipating local universities and 

nonprofit organizations that were members of the district’s principal development consortium. The 

changes resulted in the universities training more prospective principals than the district could 

accommodate in its residency program each year. The district provided funding to support 

approximately 40 residencies each year, while members of the consortia trained nearly 70 people who 

competed for residencies each year. This change allowed the district to exert greater power in residency 

placement because the district selected all residents from among the eligible population of prospective 

principals trained by the partner organizations, and approximately one-third of eligible potential 

principals would not be placed. Prior to this change, the lead TSLP organization reported that its 

program graduates were almost guaranteed to be placed in a district residency.

Interviews with case study participants indicate that an MOU was not sufficient for 

developing or maintaining a mutually satisfying partnership.

Although MOUs served as the formal framework for most TSLP partnerships, interview participants from 

nearly all case study sites consistently emphasized that the level and type of work that was required to 

create and sustain the partnerships went beyond the components of the project's MOU or contract. 

Data from both the survey and interviews with case study participants suggest that developing mutually 

satisfying partnerships required developing trusting relationships that were grounded in ongoing 

communications and a shared understanding of project goals. One of the university partners from a case 

study site stated,

We have a memorandum of understanding that’s multiple pages... I think that 

memoranda of understanding only help you if there’s a change on the superintendent... 

Because if you have a disagreement about what you should be doing or something like 

that because it’s really all about trusting relationships. We’re not going back to the 

paper all the time saying, ‘You agreed to this, and you agreed to that.’ It’s about trust.

Case study interview participants consistently emphasized the importance of partners flexibly 

responding to changes that occur in participating districts. A district representative from a nonprofit and 
9

district partnership highlighted the importance of partner organization responsiveness, stating, “You 

also want them to be flexible to meet the context of your district. So they're not too tight; that's not 

going to be beneficial. And if they are too loose, it's not going to help you set your vision and get it 

done.” Similarly, a university representative discussed efforts the training program made to make 

connections between prospective school leaders and the communities they would serve by requiring 

that program participants spend the summer before their residency interning in a local community 

agency and develop a grant proposal that would support the work of that agency in meeting the needs 

of students. The university partner identified these localized efforts as being important for securing 

district buy-in for the university’s work.

It builds the trust, honestly. It builds the trust that [university] is going to do the right 

thing with how we approach the preparation and how we approach the professional 

development or anything else; they’ve given us a lot of leeway to do a lot of things. I’ll 

tell you what, if I don’t do something right, [district staff person] will pick up that phone 

and call me and let me know pretty clearly that he didn’t like this or didn’t like that.

Case study interview participants from all sites identified regular communication about the successes 

and challenges of project activities as critical for partnership success. The communication allowed TSLP 

participants and local districts to provide feedback to training organizations on areas for program 

improvement. A district representative from one case study location stated that partner organizations 

had regular quarterly meetings that allowed district staff to get a better understanding of what 

prospective school leaders were learning. The staff person stated, 

They are constantly reflecting on what the districts are saying and what their [program 

participants] are saying, and so those quarterly check-ins are very helpful. You also can 

just pick up the phone anytime if you have a problem. They’re very open to receiving 

feedback outside of that quarterly report. 

A representative of the nonprofit leading this TSLP partnership remarked that the quarterly check-in 

meetings helped increase the level of perceived ownership of project activities. Survey respondents 

from three rural sites identified the geographic distance between training partners and participating 

school districts as a barrier to developing effective partnerships. One training partner from a rural site 

commented on the survey that distance limited recruiting efforts, the ability of partners to make site 

visits, and efforts to monitor participant progress.

Survey and interview data indicate joint ownership and involvement in all TSLP 

project activities, with the lead organization having the most significant role across 

all project activities, followed by training partners and district partners.

Both interviews with case study site representatives and analyses of survey data reveal a shared 

responsibility of the TSLP partner organizations for many key project activities. Survey data indicate that 

lead organizations had the most responsibilities across each of the activities included in the survey 

(average of 4.5 on a 6-point scale), compared with an average of 3.3 for training partners and 2.1 for 

district partners (Exhibit 2). Survey respondents indicated that district partners played the most 

significant role in recruiting leaders or aspiring leaders for participation in activities, and training 

partners played the most significant role in developing and delivering training. Lead organizations 

exerted the greatest level of independent influence in developing metrics for and evaluating project 

success, and in deciding which participants successfully completed the program. Survey respondents 

indicated that the highest level of sharing among districts, training partners, and lead organizations in 
10

project activities was in providing coaching or mentoring to program participants. Training partners and 

lead organizations had similar levels of responsibility for developing training content, while lead 

organizations and districts had the most similar level of responsibility for providing support for placed 

leaders.

Exhibit 2. Average level of participation of partner organizations in project functions, as reported by project 

directors, and district partners and training partners who were not from the same organization

Exhibit reads: On a scale of 1 (not involved) to 6 (solely responsible), the average level of participation for 

conceptualizing the overall project for district partners was 2.1. For training partners, the average level of 

participation was 3.3, and for lead organizations it was 4.5.

Source: Project director survey, item II-2; district partner survey, item I-1; training partner survey, item I-1.

Interviews at all case study sites highlighted the shared nature of partnership activities and indicated

that shared ownership is likely rooted in ongoing efforts to tailor services and supports to district and 

local school needs. As noted above, efforts to tailor services and supports were fostered by frequent 

conversations among all participating organizations and were critical to developing shared trust and 

understanding. A member of a university-based partnership stated, “I think the willingness to have 

those conversations and to value those conversations is something that lends a lot more trust and 

credibility to that partnership.”
11

One district/nonprofit partnership framed the work of the partnership as one of shifting responsibilities 

in which the nonprofit played the key role in most project activities during the first year of the project 

and shifted more project activities to district staff during the latter years of the project. For example, in 

the first year, the nonprofit took the lead on identifying and selecting participants. The next year, district 

staff took the lead with assistance from the nonprofit. During the third year, district staff assumed 

complete responsibility for the process.

The planned sharing and shifting of responsibilities resulted in the district fully funding the program 

coordinator’s position and planning to maintain only limited contact with the nonprofit organization 

after the conclusion of TSLP funding. The district representative also noted that the district planned to 

petition the state department of education to become a licensed principal certification organization.

Leveraging and Scaling TSLP Activities

Partnerships between school districts and institutions of higher education or 

nonprofit organizations were the foundation of TSLP projects.

TSLP grantees and partner organizations emphasized the important role that grant activities arising from 

the partnerships played in helping overall district improvement efforts. Grant activities supported 

developing turnaround principals and teacher leadership development efforts. In some cases, partner 

organizations also provided training to school board members and nonparticipating district staff. 

Interview participants from all seven TSLP case study sites noted that the partnership played a key role 

in efforts to increase the number of effective turnaround principals through the development of a 

turnaround principal pipeline. For six of seven case study sites, TSLP activities served as an extension of 

ongoing efforts to improve the quality and effectiveness of school leaders. For at least half of the case 

study sites, developing effective turnaround principals was also more broadly focused on developing an 

effective leadership pipeline. For example, at least one project worked with principals and their teachers 

to develop a more decentralized shared leadership model. 

For one case study project, efforts to build the pipeline also incorporated district school boards. TSLP 

funding supported the work of executive coaches who worked with school board members to help them 

identify and agree on leadership competencies for their schools.

In at least four case study projects, partner organizations also provided support to district efforts to 

provide professional development to non-TSLP participants. For example, in one district-led partnership, 

the district asked its nonprofit partner to help with district efforts to build the capacity of 

nonparticipating principals. The focus of the training was on increasing capacity to coach teachers and 

other administrators in the school. The nonprofit partner helped design the training and facilitated the 

training for principals three times each year. One of the faculty members of a university-led partnership 

stated that she had recently begun working more closely with district leadership in areas such as 

supporting continuous improvement work by providing feedback on tools that district staff use to collect 

and review information on progress. She noted that prior to the TSLP, district employees enrolled in 

university programs, but with the grant there was greater cooperation between the district and the 

university. This cooperation also strengthened the university’s program by providing greater insights 

into district operations and expectations for school leaders. For another university-led partnership, 

university staff provided summer training in technology and technology leadership to both participating 

and nonparticipating principals.
12

Data suggest that leveraging and scaling of the TSLP work was facilitated by high levels of district buy-in 

to the goals and strategies of the TSLP project. Turnover among district staff was cited as a barrier to 

developing stronger partnerships by survey and/or interview respondents from nearly half of all TSLP 

projects. One survey respondent commented that district turnover affected the continuity of 

communication efforts among partners. Similarly, training partners from two different districts noted on 

the survey that high turnover in partner districts resulted in the need to gain buy-in and develop a 

shared understanding of project operation and goals with district staff who were not involved in the 

preparation of the initial application for funding.

Continuation of TSLP Activities

All project directors expected to work with their grant partners on some area of the 

turnaround leader pipeline after the end of the grant. District and training partners 

were more uncertain that the partnership would continue. 

All project directors anticipated that connections between districts, nonprofit organizations or 

universities, and training partners would continue after the end of TSLP funding with providing input on 

training needs of turnaround leaders as the most likely area of continued connection (Exhibit 3). Staff 

from partner organizations were not as sure as the project directors were about the continuation of 

activities. At least one partner from all projects reporting was uncertain about future activities 

(Exhibit 4; see also Appendix A, Exhibit A-22).

Exhibit 3. Number of project directors reporting that some aspects of the grant partnership will continue after 

the end of the grant

Exhibit reads: All 12 grantees reported that at least some aspect of the grant partnership will continue after the 

end of the grant.

Source: Project director survey, item III-2.

12

11

9

9

8

8

8

0 3 6 9 12

Any area

Providing input on training needs of turnaround leaders

Providing training targeted to turnaround leaders

Providing mentoring/coaching to turnaround leaders

Selecting or placing leaders for turnaround schools

Identifying or recruiting potential turnaround leaders

Helping assess needs/performance of turnaround leaders

Number of projects
13

Exhibit 4. Percentage of grantees where partners from other organizations are unsure or do not expect future 

work with other partners on preparing turnaround leaders after the end of the grant

Exhibit reads: All five university-led grantees had one or more district partner that was unsure or did not expect 

future work with other partners on preparing turnaround leaders after the end of the grant.

Source: district partner survey, item II-2; Training partner survey, item II-2.

Among case study sites, the likelihood of formal continuation of activities that had been funded by TSLP 

varied across sites. As reflected in survey responses, all case study interview participants reported that 

at least informal communication among TSLP partners would continue in future school years. Among 

case study sites, three partnerships are likely to continue in substantially the same manner as with TSLP 

funding. For two of these three partnerships (one nonprofit led and one university led), the lead

organizations and the districts had been partners in leadership development work for more than 10 

years. Interview participants from both the district and partner organizations commented that work 

would continue into the 2017–18 school year. As noted above, one of the partnerships would expand to 

include existing high school assistant principals into training efforts. The district representative from the 

other long-term, continuing site stated, “So it’s not something that will stop. We honestly just need to 

continue to get better. So, the work that we are going to really start leveraging now is definitely 

continuing our residencies...Now, the retention [of trained principals] is our biggest focus.”

The end of the TSLP grant signaled the end of the formal partnership for three sites. For one district-led 

site, the entire TSLP grant centered on having the nonprofit train district staff to administer and support 

the program. That goal was accomplished, and the district funded the position of the staff person 

responsible for maintaining the program in future school years. For another district-led site, developing 

district capacity was not as explicit. However, the district representative noted that she had received 

training from the nonprofit partner and anticipated continuing to provide similar services in the district 

for future school years. She also noted that an effort to work with local universities to improve the 

capacity of the principal training program to develop effective school leaders would also likely continue 

in at least an informal manner. For the third university-led partnership, the formal connections between 

the university and participating districts was not anticipated to continue. However, the university 

representative anticipated that connections between university partners and local school districts that

developed as a result of the TSLP would continue in the future.

At the time of the site visit, representatives from both the two participating districts and the nonprofit 

partner for one project were unsure what the partnership would look like in the future. Representatives 

of all three organizations anticipated some level of partnership but were unable to identify the exact 

nature of the work moving forward. The nonprofit organization representative stated that they 

anticipated having some carryover funds and planned to continue to provide some level of support 

University led (n=5)

100%

N/A

District led (n = 5)

80%

N/A

Nonprofit led (n = 1)

100%

100%

One or more training partner unsure

One or more district partner unsure
14

using those funds to continue the work into the fourth year. A district staff person for one district 

commented that the principal development network managed by the nonprofit would continue with 

aspiring school leaders having to pay individually to participate. A representative of the other district 

noted that their district was increasingly focused on retention and stability of school leaders and 

anticipated working with the nonprofit in this area. The nonprofit representative noted that the district’s 

small size posed a challenge for efforts to constantly train new leaders since principal openings were 

relatively rare. She anticipated that future work would focus more directly on building the leadership 

capacity of teachers.

Both survey and interview data highlighted the important role that partnerships played in implementing 

TSLP projects. Staff in case study projects indicated that sharing responsibilities among project partners 

for key project activities—and ongoing communication about goals, needs, and progress—facilitated 

project implementation and resulted in services that were better tailored to the needs of participants.
15

3. Identifying and Selecting Candidates

To identify, assess, and select candidates for aspiring leaders programs, TSLP grantees took into account 

a number of measures. To identify and recruit candidates, referrals (from either peers or school and 

district leaders) were important measures. Previous experience, credentials and certifications, and 

performance ratings were frequent considerations before actually admitting candidates. 

Overall, TSLP grantees employed systematic, multilayered selection processes to identify and select 

project participants. Candidates demonstrated their skills and abilities in multiple ways (e.g., resume and 

application submissions, interviews, completion of tasks and assignments) to enter TSLP programs.

Alongside the aspiring leaders programs, some of the TSLP projects also included leadership 

development programs for teachers and current school leaders. The identification and selection 

processes for these programs, however, were less systematic, and selection was largely at the discretion 

of the school or district leaders. 

TSLP grantees implemented multiple strategies to recruit potential program 

participants, offering incentives including financial incentives and professional 

development opportunities. TSLP grantees relied primarily on referrals from peers 

and existing school leaders to identify program candidates.

TSLP grantees used multiple sources of information to identify potential TSLP candidates (e.g., referrals, 

performance data, and historical data such as candidates’ employment history). Project directors, 

district partners, and training partners indicated that TSLP grantees most often relied on referrals from 

peers and existing school leaders to identify potential program participants (Exhibit 5).

Case study respondents shared a similar narrative, suggesting that school and district leaders 

“purposefully tapped” candidates to apply for programs. Aspiring leaders and placed leaders from at 

least half the case study sites also mentioned that a school leader or district leader referred them to the 

program. For example, an aspiring leader shared, “[The] superintendent called me into his office and 

told me that he saw the value in what I did and thought it would be a good move for me to look into the 

[program], which I did.” A district partner also shared:

We have conversations even with our principals, [and ask] ‘Who are some of [the] folks 

in your building that are showing, or that you think might have, leadership ability?’

That’s one pool of candidates we try to identify, and some of those we might not even 

approach immediately. But at least we try to identify them early and begin to nurture 

and keep an eye on [them] and track their development.

Additionally, three case study sites required endorsements from the district (e.g., superintendent) 

before allowing a candidate to move forward in the selection process. Two sites required endorsements 

from school leaders.
16

Exhibit 5. Percentage of projects reporting use of information to identify potential candidates for school 

leadership, by respondent type

Exhibit reads: One hundred percent of project directors, 83 percent of district partners, and 64 percent of training 

partners reported using referrals from peers/existing leaders to identify potential candidates for school leadership.

Source: Project director survey, item I-1; district partner survey, item III-1; training partner survey, item III-1. 

While TSLP grantees relied primarily on referrals and existing data (Exhibit 5) to identify candidates, case 

study respondents also mentioned that grantees implemented other strategies to inform educators 

about the programs and to recruit potential program participants. Both aspiring and placed leaders 

recalled attending information sessions, receiving email notices, or reading announcements on social 

media. Word-of-mouth recruitment (e.g., knowing someone in a program) and specific encouragement 

from previous or current TSLP participants to apply were also major factors reported by case study 

respondents as ways of identifying and recruiting candidates.

Four case study sites implemented components for teacher leaders and/or current school leaders. One 

grantee gave priority to teachers serving in TSLP schools and then opened the program to other 

teachers in the district. The other two projects left it to the school principals to identify teacher leaders. 

In one grantee with a current administrator component, districts recommended candidates, and project 

staff selected program participants. 

To determine eligibility for program participation, grantees searching for aspiring 

leaders most often used teaching experience, teacher leadership excellence, and 

performance in current position. 

When determining eligibility for participation in TSLPs (Exhibit 6), particularly for aspiring leader 

candidates, grantees most often considered teaching experience (11 grantees), teacher leadership 

experience (nine grantees), and performance in current position (nine grantees). For candidates who 

were already school leaders, grantees most often considered performance in current position (10 
17

grantees), school administrator experience (nine grantees), and current administrator credential or 

certification (nine grantees) to determine eligibility. 

Exhibit 6. Number of grantees considering various candidate characteristics to determine eligibility for 

participation, by prior experience of candidate, as reported by project directors

Exhibit reads: Eleven grantees reported considering teaching experience to determine eligibility for participation 

for aspiring leaders.

Source: Project director survey, item I-2 (N=12). 

All grantees used both resume reviews and panel interviews. Almost all grantees 

reviewed written examples of work to assess candidates for program participation. 

To assess potential candidates for aspiring leaders programs (Exhibit 7), all grantees conducted resume 

reviews and panel interviews. Additionally, almost all grantees reviewed written examples of work (11 

grantees) and required candidates to complete written exercises (10 grantees)—often on the spot, 

according to case study respondents. At least half the case study sites also required applicants to submit 

portfolios demonstrating previous leadership experience and instructional expertise. 

Among the case study sites that also implemented components for teacher leaders or current leaders, 

one had a formal application and selection process that required applicants to submit an application,

participate in an interview, and complete assignments to demonstrate skills and ability. Staff in two 

other projects relied primarily on recommendations from districts and schools. One project director 

noted that the process was not “as purposeful” as the aspiring leaders component. Many of the 

participants had been involved in a previous state-level program targeting priority schools.
18

Exhibit 7. Number of projects using various methods to assess candidates for project participation, as reported 

by project directors

Exhibit reads: Twelve projects reported using panel interviews to assess candidates for project participation.

Source: Project director survey, item I-5 (n=12). 

Case study respondents described multilayered selection processes that required 

written applications, a series of interviews, performance simulations, mock 

scenarios, problem solving, and group work. 

Program participants, including both aspiring leaders and placed leaders, often described the selection 

process as “rigorous” or “intense.” One aspiring leader elaborated, “I felt like this was more intense than 

actually applying to undergraduate or graduate school.” During case study visits, participants described 

multilayered selection processes that required not only resumes and interviews but also written 

applications, essays, performance simulations, mock scenarios, problem solving, and group work. As one 

project director described:

There are three essays. The first essay is basically, “Tell me about a time where you’ve 

made an impact in your organization, while developing capacity of others using data, 

and what you would do differently about it.” The second essay question is basically 

[about] the life of a principal.... Then the last question is, “Why do you want to do this? 

Why do you want to be an aspiring principal?”

12

8

12

11

10

7

5

4

4

2

0 4 8 12

Panel interview

One-on-one interviews

Resume review

Review of written examples of work

Written exercises or reflections

Situational judgment tests

Role play

Leadership ability questionnaires or surveys

Observation or video clips of observable performance

Personality tests

Number of projects
19

At least four case study sites implemented such activities during a day-long assessment session that 

candidates were required to attend. A training partner described such a meeting:

For [the assessment day], the applicants or potential leaders are put through a number 

of role plays and scenario-based situations, where we actually hear and see and feel 

what their responses would be to various scenarios. We have some students in there, 

and some program staff in there, some faculty, and some former state- and nationallevel educational leaders, who are all in this group assessing these fellows.... You can see 

where their hearts and minds are, and [whether] they have the genuine belief that all 

students can learn, and that they can be a part of that.

At least half the case study sites mentioned using rubrics and other tools to score 

and assess candidates’ submissions and overall performance. 

Respondents from at least four case study sites indicated grantees used rubrics and other tools to assess 

candidates’ submissions and overall performance, and ultimately to select aspiring leaders for their 

programs. Two respondents noted that the scoring rubrics and tools mapped to the leadership 

standards and competencies that informed the program. Grantees scored various selection 

components, including candidates’ resumes, responses to essay questions, recommendation letters, and 

performance in interviews and mock activities. 
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21

4. Developing and Supporting Turnaround Leaders

The core purpose of the TSLP projects was to develop and support leaders to work in turnaround 

schools. While each grantee designed its project independently, there were consistent themes to the 

ways projects developed and supported turnaround school leaders. Projects largely served aspiring 

leaders, meaning those without prior school leadership experience, rather than leaders already working 

in administrative positions. Projects tended to provide incentives for leadership candidates to 

participate in TSLP-funded programming. TSLP projects relied on academic coursework and organized 

candidates into cohorts for training, provided extended clinical experiences for candidates through 

residencies, and provided ongoing mentorship and coaching to program participants. The content of 

training for new principals hewed closely to the literature on general leadership development. Survey 

and case study data did not highlight activities that focused explicitly or exclusively on the knowledge 

and skills needed for successfully leading a turnaround school.

Participants

TSLP projects were primarily designed to serve aspiring leaders; 10 percent of 

participants were current leaders.

All TSLP grantees focused on prospective school leaders and included components designed to prepare 

aspiring leaders of turnaround schools. Ninety percent of participants were aspiring leaders (Exhibit 8). 

Ten projects also provided professional development and training for teacher leaders or current 

administrators. No project reported focusing exclusively on current school leaders.

Exhibit 8. Percentage of participants who were aspiring school leaders before project participation

Exhibit reads: Across all grantees with project directors who responded to this question, 90 percent of participants 

were aspiring school leaders. 

Source: Project director survey, items I-6, I-7. 

90%

97%

92%

76%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

All grantees (n=11)

University led (n=5)

District led (n=4)

Nonprofit led (n=2)

Percentage of participants
22

Ten of 12 grantees provided some form of incentive to participants for participating 

in the program.

All university-led and nonprofit-led grantees provided some type of incentive to participate (Exhibit 9; 

see also Appendix A, Exhibit A-17). In case study projects, these incentives were either subsidized tuition 

or fees, and release time to attend training or participate in residencies and internships. 

Exhibit 9. Percentage of projects offering incentives for participating in the program, as reported by project 

directors, by project leadership type

Exhibit reads: Eighty-three percent of all grantees (12 grantees) offered incentives for participating in the program. 

Source: Project director survey, items I-27, I-29. 

All but one of the case study projects subsidized the costs of participating in the program through 

subsidized tuition or fees and with release time to attend training. Some participants cited this as a 

major factor in deciding to apply to the program. As one aspiring leader in a project that subsidized 

graduate tuition put it, “I wouldn’t have done it without the scholarship part because I already had 

student loans from [previous education].”

Participants in case study projects emphasized nonfinancial reasons for participating, however. Some 

cited the appeal of on-the-job learning with mentoring and coaching: 

...the residency excited me and interested me....because I thought being hands-on and 

learning on the go, learning by doing, would be the best avenue, coupled with the fact 

that I would have a mentor, someone that I trusted to lead the way. For me, it was the 

perfect scenario.

83%

100%

60%

100%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

All grantees (n = 12)

University led (n = 5)

District led (n = 5)

Nonprofit led (n = 2)

Percentage of projects
23

An aspiring leader in another project agreed:

One of the biggest draws for me was the coaching piece. The most beneficial piece to me 

was having the mentorship and the on-site coaching because I’m a person who, when I 

receive feedback, I’ll implement it.

Others were drawn to the cohort model: 

For me, the collaboration. When you are in a high-needs school, depending on the 

demographics of your district, you may be a lone ranger or there are not a lot of SIG or 

failing schools in your district. So, just that collaboration is what helped me want to 

continue with the program.

Project Structure

The broad research and policy literature on principal preparation informed the structure and 

experiences of each of the TSLP projects. Numerous works tout the importance of principal preparation 

programs focusing on:

 Aligning program content to national and state professional standards;

 Providing instructional leadership;

 Integrating theory and practice;

 Having knowledgeable faculty;

 Emphasizing the principalship as a career;

 Providing social and professional support via a cohort model of principal preparation;

 Targeting recruitment and selecting candidates; and

 Providing supervised residencies in schools that provide real-world leadership experiences 

(see, for example, Darling-Hammond, Myerson, LaPointe, and Orr, 2010 and Orr and

Orphanos, 2011).

All case study projects used a cohort model, typically having served one or two cohorts over the course 

of the grant.

Just over half the projects (seven of 12) included university graduate coursework as 

part of their turnaround leader preparation.

Project participants did not necessarily earn graduate degrees or state administrative licenses. 

Graduates of five projects earned a graduate degree, while completers of five projects received 

state administrative licenses. Case study projects offered various combinations of training or 

coursework and residencies to aspiring leaders and regular training and professional 

development to current leaders and/or teacher leaders (Exhibit 10). Training time in case study 

projects ranged from one to four years. Aspiring leaders in all case study projects participated in 

residencies. 
24

Exhibit 10. Selected characteristics of case study projects

Project Duration Residency

Graduate 

degree 

awarded

License 

granted Who pays tuition?

1

Aspiring Leaders 18 months (2 academic 

years) 10 days Yes No

IHE partners partially 

subsidize

Current Leaders Life of grant NA No No NA

2

Aspiring Leaders 12 months (1 academic 

year plus summer) 12 months No Yes

TSLP grant pays for 12 

“fellows”

School Leadership Teams Life of grant NA NA NA NA

3

Aspiring Leaders 2 school yearsa11 months No No NA

4

Aspiring Leaders 1 year 1 year Yes Yes TSLP grant

Teacher Leaders 2 years NA No No NA

Principal Mentors 1 year NA No No NA

5

Aspiring Leaders 2 years plus 2 summers 1 year Yes Yes TSLP grant

6

Emerging Leaders 1 year training NA No No NA

Aspiring Leaders 1 year residency

1 year support

1 year No Yes NA

7

Aspiring Leaders 4 yearsb1 year Yes Yes Participants

Exhibit reads: In one project, the aspiring leaders component lasted 18 months.

a

The program begins with a five-week summer intensive, followed by an 11-month residency and a one-year transition to the principalship.

b One-semester coursework, one-year residency, two years post-residency placement.

NA = not applicable.

Source: Case study interviews.

Training Content

All projects used both research on effective school leadership and specific 

strategies for turning around schools to identify the leadership competencies to 

develop in project participants.

Project directors reported on surveys that they relied on the following sources to identify leadership 

competencies to target in their projects (see Appendix A, Exhibit A-1): 

 Research on effective school leadership;

 Specific district school turnaround programs or strategies;

 National or state leadership standards;

 Activities or strategies from SIG models;

 Leadership models used by training partners; and

 District leadership models. 
25

Six case study projects used multiple sets of professional leadership standards to identify competencies:

 Two projects mapped state standards to national leadership standards. 

 One project used competencies derived from the research literature mapped to state 

standards, which were aligned with national leadership standards.

 One project used state standards customized for the participating district and aligned with 

national leadership standards.

 One project used district competencies plus national leadership standards and the research 

literature.

 Another project used a training partner model aligned with national leadership standards 

plus a district blueprint and state competencies. 

In cases where projects used national leadership standards, respondents most often cited the Interstate 

Leader Licensure Consortium (ISLLC) standards or their successor, the Professional Standards for 

Educational Leaders (PSEL) (both developed by the Council of Chief State School Officers in collaboration 

with the National Policy Board on Educational Administration). One project used the urban leadership 

framework developed by the training partner. None of the projects reported relying on standards or 

competencies explicitly focused on the exigencies of leading turnaround schools.

TSLP projects content and form of training was consistent with practices 

highlighted in current research on school leadership preparation in general.

Despite the focus on leadership for school turnaround, projects geared training toward leadership in 

general. Most projects used field-based projects, action research, analysis, and discussion of leadership 

case studies in their training. About half of the grantees (seven) included portfolios demonstrating 

learning and accomplishments or capstone or concluding projects (six) (see Appendix A, Exhibit A-6). 

Project directors also reported allocating relatively more training time to:

 Data use;

 Communication and interpersonal skills;

 Monitoring and evaluation instruction;

 Developing a positive school culture; and

 Developing a school vision and culturally responsive pedagogy.

Less time was given to allocating resources and budgeting, and to recruiting and selecting teachers (see 

Appendix A, Exhibits A-3, A-4). 

Case study project staff echoed survey results and noted that they tried to allocate time across topics 

equally. While respondents in all projects emphasized the use of data, there was some variation in 

emphasis. Staff and participants in two projects noted a particular emphasis on educational equity. 

Placed leaders in an urban project described an emphasis on adaptive leadership when dealing with 

school politics, which one defined as “for lack of a better word, street smarts.” Particularly useful topics 

for a placed leader in a rural project included improving school culture, transforming discipline 

procedures, and instructional leadership. The training in another rural project included topics specific to 

very rural districts, such as obtaining grant funding, local politics, and dealing with the isolation in small 

rural communities.
26

Residencies

Principal residencies offered aspiring principals apprenticeship experiences in schools for an extended 

period of time. In these positions, aspiring principals received frequent support through supervision, 

coaching, and mentoring both from principals as well as experienced TSLP project staff and consultants. 

Residencies provided aspiring principals the opportunity to practice the craft of school leadership. The 

TSLP projects exhibited a range of residency offerings as described below.

Eleven TSLP projects included a supervised residency or internship or provided 

periodic professional development as aspiring leaders continued working at their 

jobs.

In seven projects, the residency lasted one school year; two projects included residencies that lasted 

between one and two school years; and two projects included residencies that lasted less than half a 

school year (Exhibit 11; see also Appendix A, Exhibit A-7).

Exhibit 11. Number of grantees in which aspiring leaders participated in supervised internship or residency,

by length of residency 

Exhibit reads: Two grantees reported that aspiring leaders participated in a supervised residency lasting half a 

school year or less.

Source: Project director survey, item I-16, I-17 (n=12).

Residencies in nine projects involved participants working in another school either part time or full time. 

Ten project directors reported that residencies included each of the following (Appendix A, Exhibit A-8):

 Supervision and assistance from a mentor or coach, 

 Responsibilities for making leadership decisions, and 

 Regular performance evaluation. 

All residencies included opportunities to network with other residents.

2

7

2

1

0

3

6

9

12

≤ 0.5 SY 1 SY > to < 2 SYs No residency
27

Residencies formed the core of six of the case study projects. In all six, the residencies were either full 

time or close to full time for a year. In two of the three projects where aspiring leaders earned graduate 

degrees, residencies followed periods of coursework ranging from a semester to a year. In the third 

degree-conferring project, the residency and coursework were concurrent. 

For aspiring leaders in the four nondegree-conferring projects, residencies and coursework or training 

were concurrent. Some began with summer sessions. Participants attended training sessions once or 

twice a week with their cohorts.

Participants were positive about the opportunities for the real-world leadership experience that 

residencies offered:

The biggest piece for me was the opportunity to be in a residence for a year and to learn 

from an administrator and to actually be in that role for an entire year and figure things 

out. I thought it really prepared me for what I’m doing now. I thought the experience 

was invaluable compared to my traditional licensure program. 

In one project, the residency consisted of a minimum of 10 days throughout the 18 months of graduate 

coursework. Over the course of these 10 days, aspiring leaders shadowed principals in several schools 

and experienced a variety of grade levels and demographics.

Supervision and support mirrored practices highlighted in the leadership preparation 

literature, including evaluations using observation by mentors and staff as well as selfassessments.

Aspiring leaders in all case study projects worked with mentor principals, and all respondents felt that 

the relationship between the participants and mentor principals was a key to the success of the 

leadership preparation. Six projects provided aspiring leaders with mentors during their residency. The 

one project with a 10-day residency assigned mentors to aspiring leaders for the duration of the project. 

One placed participants in schools with principals trained by the project. One matched participants with 

mentors, taking interests and career goals into account. Another project assigned participants to 

“successful transformational principals.” In another project, aspiring leaders and their principals applied 

to the program together.

All projects expected mentor principals to work closely with aspiring principals and give regular 

feedback. As one project director put it:

It’s not just shadowing. It starts out as shadowing and moves toward gradual release 

where they are doing things together and [then] the aspiring principal is out doing things 

on their own...having the opportunity to make mistakes.

Most aspiring leaders valued the relationship. One called the relationship “a cornerstone” of her 

experience. As another put it:

I shared an office with my mentor principal, and that was huge because there was 

nothing that went on in that building that I wasn’t exposed to.

Three projects also provided aspiring leaders with coaching support during their residencies. Coaches 

were project staff who made regular visits to school sites. 
28

Four case study projects that included components for current school administrators or teacher leaders 

also provided these participants with mentors or coaching support. Coaches made regular visits to 

schools or kept in touch with participants by telephone and email.

Projects evaluated participant performance most commonly through observations of practice, selfassessments, and review of artifacts such as portfolios (Exhibit 12). Participants in case study projects 

reported that they received ongoing feedback for the duration of the project from mentors, coaches, 

and supervisors as well as more formal performance assessments. 

Exhibit 12. Number of projects using performance measures to evaluate the performance of program 

participants

Exhibit reads: All of the projects for which project directors responded reported using observation of practice to 

evaluate the performance of program participants who are not school leaders. These projects also reported using 

observation of practice to evaluate the performance of program participants who are school leaders.

Source: Project director survey, item I-23 (n=10).

Support for Participants

All grantees provided some form of assistance (for at least a year) to leaders placed in 

turnaround schools. 

This assistance included providing help with individual professional development planning, providing 

periodic group meetings or seminars with other turnaround leaders, and assisting with work products 

such as school improvement plans or budgets (see Appendix A, Exhibits A-13, A-14, A-15).

10

10

9

5

0

1

0

4

4

10

10

9

5

2

5

3

5

5

0 2 4 6 8 10

Observation of practice

Self-assessment

Review of artifacts

Course grades

Student surveys

Staff surveys

Parent surveys

Student achievement growth

Other student outcomes

Number of projects

Aspiring leaders School leaders
29

Eleven projects provided individual mentoring or coaching upon completion of the 

TSLP-provided training. 

In five projects, this coaching or mentoring support lasted one year. Three projects provided this 

support for the duration of time the placed leaders remained in the turnaround school (Exhibit 13; see 

also Appendix A, Exhibits A-14, A-15).

Exhibit 13. Duration of mentoring or coaching provided to placed leaders

Exhibit reads: Out of 11 grantees providing mentoring or coaching to placed leaders, five grantees provided one 

year of mentoring or coaching.

Source: Project director survey, item I-25 (n=11).

Two case study projects provided coaching support to placed leaders for one year. Placed leaders in one 

of these projects could also participate in training offered to the current cohort of aspiring leaders. 

Placed leaders in a nonprofit-led project could participate in the organization’s principal induction 

program for a year. As the project director put it, “We believe very strongly that once you are a 

[program participant], you’re always a [program participant].” Another project offered placed leaders 

two years of coaching support after placement. 

Two projects provided more informal support to program completers. In one, placed leaders had access 

to leadership networks run by the grantee as well as continued access to principal mentors. Participants 

in the other project also maintained informal contact with principal mentors and university faculty. 

Those who found administrative jobs prior to the end of the grant could become part of the current 

administrator component and receive professional development.

5

2

1

3

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

1 year 2 years > 2 years Duration in

turnaround

school
30

Participants also relied on other members of their cohorts for support during training and after 

placement. As one aspiring leader put it:

I think one thing we have done as a cohort is that we have provided this support to each 

other and the learning to each other. I have learned so much from this group, but I think 

that we have also come together to make it really meaningful. I’m very appreciative that 

we had eight of us. It was a nice number.

Use of Data by Projects

All TSLP projects used data primarily for continuous improvement.

Eight of 12 projects reported using locally developed metrics in addition to the project’s GPRA indicators 

to measure success (see Appendix A, Exhibits A-20, A-21). Commonly used metrics included: 

 Student achievement gains and achievement gaps, 

 Principal retention, 

 Participant satisfaction, 

 Equity, and 

 School climate and culture. 

GPRA measures included student and teacher attendance rates; student achievement proficiency data; 

participation, completion, and placement data; and a cost measure. Respondents in case study projects 

expressed mixed assessments of the value of the GPRA indicators. One project director noted that 

“quite frankly, I don’t use them because they don’t help guide the work of the [project].” Another had 

positive views: “Basically, they keep reminding us about what these programs are supposed to be 

accomplishing in the first place. So that’s very useful for us.”

Some case study projects, especially those with longstanding programs, collected both formative and 

summative data on their participants and schools. One project looked at school quality ratings; teacher 

and principal evaluations; surveys of teachers, principals, parents, and students; and subgroup 

achievement data. The project also tracked how long it takes program completers to get a principalship. 

Another project used project-developed competencies to look at newly hired school leaders. The project

examined achievement gaps and links between school practices and gaps. The project also conducted a 

survey that measures the amount of shared leadership practices in schools.

A participating district in one project was developing a leadership tracker that would contain profiles of 

potential school leaders including information on professional development received, evaluation results, 

and information about the potential leaders’ current schools. District staff hope to use the tracker to 

search the pool of potential leaders and better match new principals to the needs of schools. 
31

5. Post-Preparation Placement of Project Participants

A key intermediate outcome of TSLP projects is placing aspiring leaders in administrative positions in SIG 

or SIG-eligible schools. Because most TSLP-placed leaders had not been in their positions for more than 

a year or two, it would be unreasonable to attribute longer term school-level outcomes to the school 

leaders of the TSLP projects. This chapter reports the outcomes of TSLP project participants as 

evidenced in the projects’ GPRA data.

In the first two years of the grant, projects reported the number of participants who 

completed training ranged from eight to 125, with between 39 and 100 percent of 

participants completing the training.

Most participants in TSLP projects successfully completed training. The variation by project is primarily 

due to the size of the project, the length of training, and the number of cohorts. In their Annual 

Performance Reports, grantees reported the number of participants who enrolled and the number who 

completed training (Exhibit 14). The GPRA measure includes all types of participants and does not 

distinguish between aspiring and current leaders.

After completing training, aspiring leaders generally participated in the usual district application process 

for leadership positions (see Appendix A, Exhibits A-10, A-11, A-12). There were no guarantees that 

aspiring leaders would find administrative jobs. As one project director put it, “There’s no free pass to 

saying because you’ve gone through the program, you’re going to be given a position. Positions are 

earned by the folks in the program.” 

A few case study projects supported program completers during the application process. For example, 

one project held mock interviews to prepare candidates. One year, a district set up a special project pool 

for administrative vacancies. In another district, if there were no open positions or positions suited to 

program completers, project staff “worked with [another district] to see if they needed somebody.”

In one district, aspiring leaders interested in leadership positions were required to apply to be in an 

eligibility pool. The application included two essays and an interview. Applicants received interview and 

essay scores with the final score determining eligibility. Overall, this process has a 35 percent pass rate, 

but the pass rate for TSLP project completers was over 90 percent.

Two case study projects often trained aspiring leaders for specific positions. 

On average, project directors reported that 43 percent of program completers were 

placed in turnaround schools within one year of program completion. 

The percentages reported on the survey ranged from 0 percent to 100 percent. University-led projects 

reported lower placement rates, likely because they tended to have longer training periods. At the time 

of the survey, many participants had not yet completed training or were beginning their job search 

(Exhibit 15). 
32

Exhibit 14. Number of participants who completed training, by project leadership type

Exhibit reads: One university-led grantee reported 29 participants completed training in year 2 of the grant.

Note: Missing data indicates that participants had not yet completed training as of the reporting date.

Source: Year 1 and year 2 Annual Performance Reports, GPRA performance measure—participation (n=12).

93

125

64

18

85

16

19

45

17

28

29

46

70

25

12

9

8

16

75

13

48

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140

Grantee 8

Grantee 3

Grantee 12

Grantee 11

Grantee 7

Grantee 6

Grantee 5

Grantee 10

Grantee 9

Grantee 4

Grantee 2

Grantee 1

Number of participants

Year 1

Year 2

University led

District led

Nonprofit led
33

Exhibit 15. Average percentage of program completers placed in turnaround school within one year of program 

completion, as reported by project directors, by project leadership type

Exhibit reads: Across the nine projects that reported these data, the average percentage of program completers 

placed in a turnaround school within one year of program completion was 43 percent.

Source: Project director survey, item I-8.

One of the GPRA measures focused on placement rates. Each year, grantees reported the percentage of 

participants placed in SIG or SIG-eligible schools (Exhibit 16). However, as with the completion GPRA

measure, this measure includes both aspiring and current school leaders. In addition, defining 

“placement” was left up to each grantee.

43%

16%

60%

52%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

All grantees (n = 9)

University led (n = 3)

District led (n = 4)

Nonprofit led (n = 2)

Percentage of program completers
34

Exhibit 16. Percentage of participants placed in SIG or SIG-eligible schools, by project leadership type

Exhibit reads: One university-led grantee placed 62 percent of participants in a SIG or SIG eligible school in year 2 

of the grant.

Note: Missing data indicates that participants had not yet completed training as of the reporting date.

Source: Year 1 and year 2 Annual Performance Reports, GPRA performance measure—placement (n=12).

The number of program completers placed in administrative positions depended on 

the number of vacancies. There tended to be fewer vacancies in small, rural 

districts, making it more difficult for program completers to find positions.

Most program completers in case study projects looked for positions within their districts but 

occasionally found positions in other districts because of a lack of vacancies. Similarly, some program 

completers were not able to find positions in turnaround schools and accepted positions in higher 

performing schools. 

6%

4%

96%

45%

30%

100%

13%

9%

18%

62%

17%

100%

2%

40%

64%

7%

10%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Grantee 8

Grantee 3

Grantee 12

Grantee 11

Grantee 7

Grantee 6

Grantee 5

Grantee 10

Grantee 9

Grantee 4

Grantee 2

Grantee 1

Percentage of participants

Year 1

Year 2

University led

District led

Nonprofit led
35

Graduates in one rural project found the lack of vacancies to be a particular barrier. At the time of the 

site visit, few program completers had found administrative positions. Participating districts had low 

turnover among principals and assistant principals. Most program completers were still teachers at their 

original school. One participating district worked to give graduates more leadership responsibilities in 

their schools; for example, making them part of the school leadership teams. The superintendent noted 

that “their principals rely very heavily on them and their input.” Participants and training partner staff 

also mentioned that their lack of administrative experience was a barrier. As one superintendent put it:

Two applied for assistant principal positions in our district. They did very well on their 

interview; however, we had another applicant who had experience, so the principal 

chose that person.

Four case study projects with pre-existing relationships among partners reported 

high placement rates; respondents attributed this to districts’ familiarity with the

quality of program completers.

Two nonprofit-led grantees and two university-led grantees had longstanding relationships with 

participating districts. In three of these projects, districts relied on these programs to provide a pipeline 

of school administrators. Staff in two projects cited placement rates over 90 percent. A participating 

district in one of these projects had hired two aspiring leaders directly from their internship.

Case study respondents in six of seven projects reported that most placed program 

completers found positions as assistant principals.

Several district officials said that graduates were expected to work as assistant principals before 

becoming principals. One district official noted that “we actively look to them to step up into assistant 

principal positions as the first stepping stone.” The official acknowledged that the lead partner felt 

participants were being trained as principals and wanted them to go straight into principal positions. A 

training partner in another project echoed this sentiment:

What we say to them and to their mentor principal is that we are not training assistant 

principals; we are training principals. We want them to have access to all of the tools 

that will help them to be successful when they become a principal.

However, as one district official put it:

We don’t have a huge principal turnover. What we tend to have more of is assistant 

principal positions, and we tend to move people through the ranks. None of them have 

been assistant principals, so this gets them into an assistant principal [role] for a year or 

two, and then they can be ready for a principalship.

One urban district-led project focused on helping program completers find positions as principals and 

placed a majority of program completers in principal positions—about 60 percent. In another urban 

project, about a third of graduates found principal positions.
36

District partners rated experience and expertise with turnaround strategies as the 

most important factor when making placement decisions.

Because there were often not enough vacant principal positions for every program completer, districts 

relied on multiple factors in making placement choices. The most important factor when placing 

participants in vacant school leadership positions was experience/expertise with turnaround strategies 

(Exhibit 17).

Exhibit 17. Average rating of the importance of factors considered when making a placement decision, as 

reported by district partners with participants who were not already turnaround leaders

Exhibit reads: On a scale of 1 (not important) to 4 (very important), the average rating across all district partners 

with participants who were not already turnaround school leaders for experience or expertise with turnaround 

strategies was 3.4.

Source: District partner survey, item III-6 (n=17).
37

6. Conclusions

Although funding has ended for the TSLP, the work performed by the first cohort of grantees offers 

insights into the challenges and opportunities of preparing leaders for turnaround schools. TSLP 

grantees reported on the challenge and opportunity of preparing leaders for turnaround schools and in 

matching the supply of newly prepared leaders to the available vacancies in turnaround schools. 

In many ways, the preparation and support provided aspiring turnaround leaders in these projects 

differed little from the literature on innovative general leadership preparation. What needs to be 

different about leadership preparation in the turnaround context is not yet clear from this set of leader 

preparation programs. What is clear is the important role partnerships played in the development and 

ongoing support of turnaround leaders in the TSLP grants. This study documented the ways joint 

ownership and involvement of school districts and training partners—whether institutions of higher 

education or nonprofits—can support the development of leaders for turnaround schools. 

Identification and Recruitment

None of the study’s respondents reported challenges in attracting candidates for the preparation 

programs funded by TSLP, using their professional expertise, processes, and judgment, as described in 

Chapter 3. Each of the case study sites reported multiple, multifaceted approaches to identifying and 

selecting who they thought were the right candidates. None reported difficulty filling their cohorts of 

aspiring school leaders.

Partnerships

Each of the projects, by design of the TSLP, involved partnerships between local school districts and 

either nonprofit organizations, institutions of higher education, or state education agencies. These 

partnerships relied on buy-in from each of the partners to the approach to leadership development 

embodied in the project. This often required near constant communication. On occasion, organizational 

and staff turnover within partner organizations led to challenges for projects. Each of the projects clearly 

delineated broad roles for each partner organization. Even in projects in which the school district was 

not the grantee, the needs of participating school districts were of paramount importance. Partners 

devoted time to planning upfront and worked toward ownership of the work on the part of each 

partner. University respondents noted the importance of forging ties between school leadership 

programs and school districts. 

Preparing Turnaround Leaders

While each TSLP project sought to train leaders for turnaround schools, the methods used to train 

leaders reflected generally accepted approaches to training school leaders. Little explicit attention was 

paid across programs to the knowledge and skills thought to be required for turnaround schools. 

Projects shared several common features. They required clear standards on selection and the will to 

hold themselves to those set standards. Other common features included training aspiring leaders using 

a cohort model and relying heavily on residencies to provide job-embedded experiences to candidates. 

Project residencies involved an emphasis on frequent mentoring and coaching, with attention paid to 

the selection and training of mentors and coaches. Continued mentoring, coaching, and systems of 

support of new leaders extended beyond completion of the TSLP projects, often for a full year post 
38

completion and in some cases beyond that. As one district observer noted, “To be a great leader in an 

urban school district, you need time. I think we throw people into the throes too quickly and we lose 

them.”

Building Pipelines of School Leaders

The TSLP projects studied exhibited challenges and successes in building pipelines of leaders for 

turnaround schools. Challenges faced by projects included staff and leadership turnover, real time 

program development, and matching the supply of turnaround leaders to labor market demands for 

turnaround leaders. Key staff, including project directors, and key partner leaders, such as district 

superintendents, left and were replaced during the course of the grants. This turnover created the need 

to rebuild trust between partners and with participants. Regardless of how projects structured 

themselves or their approach to developing turnaround leaders, matching the supply of turnaround 

leaders exiting programs to available turnaround leadership vacancies was rarely one-to-one. This was 

the case in both rural and urban projects. Developing leaders using cohort models such as the ones used 

by TSLP grantees will likely need to engage in careful vacancy forecasts and/or identify alternative posttraining career opportunities. In future grant programs, the Department may want to consider the 

implications of training excess supply.

Despite these and other challenges, staff and project participants—that is, aspiring and future leaders of 

the nation’s turnaround schools—repeatedly and consistently expressed high levels of satisfaction with 

their experiences in TSLP-funded activities. Aspiring turnaround leaders found their training valuable 

and professionally satisfying, especially residency experiences, mentoring, and being part of a cohort of 

future turnaround leaders. Project partners expressed the hope to continue working together, even 

though funding was uncertain in most places at the time of this study’s data collection. 
39

References

Arcaira, Erikson R. and Brenda J. Turnbull. 2012, September. “Implementation of Turnaround Strategies 

in Chronically Low-Performing Schools.” Paper presented at the Fall Conference of the Society for 

Research on Educational Effectiveness, Washington, DC.

Darling-Hammond, Linda, Debra Meyerson, Michelle La Pointe, and Margaret Terry Orr. 2010. Preparing 

School Leaders for a Changing World: Lessons from Effective School Leadership Programs. San Francisco: 

John Wiley & Sons. 

Herman, Rebecca, Priscilla Dawson, Thomas Dee, Jay Greene, Rebecca Maynard, Sam Redding, and

Marlene Darwin. 2008. Turning Around Chronically Low-Performing Schools. IES Practice Guide (NCEE 

2008-4020). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National 

Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance.

Le Floch, Kerstin Carlson, Beatrice Birman, Jennifer O'Day, Steven Hurlburt, Diana Mercado-Garcia, Rose 

Goff, and Lara Hulsey. 2014. Case Studies of Schools Receiving School Improvement Grants: Findings 

after the First Year of Implementation (NCEE 2014-4015). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of 

Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional 

Assistance.

Orr, Margaret Terry and Stelios Orphanos. 2011. “How graduate-level preparation influences the 

effectiveness of school leaders: A comparison of the outcomes of exemplary and conventional 

leadership preparation programs for principals.” Educational Administration Quarterly, 47: 18-70. 

Riley, Derek L. and Julie Meredith. 2017. State efforts to strengthen school leadership: insights from 

CCSSO Action Groups. Washington, DC: Policy Studies Associates.

Scott, Caitlin and Nora Ostler. 2016. A first look at state responses to ESSA and low-performing schools: 

Center on School Turnaround survey of state supports for school turnaround. Portland, OR: Education 

Northwest.

Steiner, Lucy M., Emily Ayscue Hassel, and Bryan Hassel. 2008. School Turnaround Leaders: 

Competencies for Success (part of the school turnaround collection from Public Impact). Chicago, IL: 

Chicago Public Education Fund.

Steiner, Lucy and Emily Ayscue Hassel. 2011. Using Competencies to Improve School Turnaround 

Principal Success. Chapel Hill, NC: Public Impact.

Turnbull, Brenda J., Derek R. Riley, and Jacklyn MacFarlane. 2013. Building a Stronger Principalship, 

Vol. 2: Cultivating Talent through a Principal Pipeline. Washington DC: Policy Studies Associates.

Turnbull, Brenda J., Derek R. Riley, and Jacklyn MacFarlane. 2015. Building a Stronger Principalship, 

Vol. 3: Districts Taking Charge. Washington DC: Policy Studies Associates.

U.S. Department of Education. 2010. Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development, Policy and 

Program Studies Service. Achieving Dramatic School Improvement: An Exploratory Study. Washington, 

D.C.
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41

Appendix A

Supplemental Exhibits
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43

Exhibit A-1. Number of grantees deriving competencies from various sources, as reported by project 

directors

Exhibit reads: All 12 grantees reported deriving competencies from research on effective school leadership. 

Source: Project director survey, item I-4 (n=12). 

12

12

11

11

11

11

0 4 8 12

Research on effective school leadership

Specific district school turnaround programs or strategies

National or state leadership standards

Activities or strategies from SIG school turnaround models

Leadership models of training providers

District leadership models

Number of grantees
44

Exhibit A-2. Average expected months of duration of participation in turnaround leaders projects, as 

reported by project directors, by project leadership type

Exhibit reads: Among university-led projects, the average expected months of duration of participation in the 

turnaround leaders project was 21.4 for aspiring leaders, 23.8 for current leaders who were not at a turnaround 

school, and 23.8 for current leaders from turnaround schools. 

Note: The number of respondents reporting on duration for aspiring school leaders was five for university-led projects, 11 for all projects, two 

for nonprofit-led projects, and four for district-led projects. The number of project directors reporting on current leaders who were not at 

turnaround schools was four for university-led projects, nine for all, two for nonprofit-led projects, and three for district-led projects. The 

corresponding numbers for current leaders from turnaround schools were four for university-led projects, eight for all, three for district-led 

projects, and one for nonprofit-led projects. Some projects did not have participants in all categories. 

Source: Project director survey, item I-9 (n=12). 

All grantees, 18.6 All grantees, 19.1 All grantees, 18.5

University led, 21.4

University led, 23.8 University led, 23.8

District led, 16

District led, 14.3 District led, 14.3

Nonprofit led, 17 [SERIES NAME], [Y 

VALUE]

Nonprofit led, 10

[CELLRANGE] [CELLRANGE] [CELLRANGE]

0

5

10

15

20

25
45

Exhibit A-3. Relative training time spent on various topics across all grantees, as reported by project 

directors

Exhibit reads: On a scale of -2 (much less than most other topics) to 2 (much more than most other topics), 

grantees used somewhat more training time on the use of data for instructional and project decisions relative to 

other topics (average value of 1.1).

Note: Four project directors listed seven other topics between them: closing achievement gaps, leading/facilitating adult learning, leadership 

development, school law, organizational change, continuous improvement through collaborative inquiry cycles, and collaboration among 

schools

Source: Project director survey, item I-12 (n=12).

« Less training time

1.1

0.9

0.9

0.9

0.8

0.8

0.4

0.4

0.2

0.2

0.1

0.1

0

1.6

More training time»

-2 -1 0 1 2

Use of data for instructional and project decisions

Monitoring/evaluating instruction

Developing a positive school culture

Communication/interpersonal skills

Developing/communicating a school vision or strategy

Culturally relevant/responsive pedagogy

Selecting instructional models or curricula

Community engagement/partnership

Student behavior/engagement

Parent communication/engagement

Teacher recruitment, selection, retention

Technology use

Resource allocation and budgeting

Other
46

Exhibit A-4. Relative training time spent on various topics, by project leadership type, as reported by 

project directors

 

University led 

(n=5)

District led

(n=4)

Nonprofit led

(n=2) 

Use of data for instructional and project decisions 1.0 1.3 1.0

Monitoring/evaluating instruction 1.0 0.8 1.0

Developing a positive school culture 1.4 0.3 1.0

Communication/interpersonal skills 0.8 1.0 1.0

Developing/communicating a school vision or strategy 1.0 0.5 1.0

Culturally relevant/responsive pedagogy 0.8 0.8 1.0

Selecting instructional models or curricula 0.6 0.3 0.0

Community engagement/partnership 0.4 0.3 0.5

Student behavior/engagement -0.4 0.0 0.5

Parent communication/engagement 0.0 0.3 0.5

Teacher recruitment, selection, retention -0.2 0.0 1.0

Technology use 0.4 -0.3 0.0

Resource allocation and budgeting -0.4 0.7 0.0

Exhibit reads: On a scale of -2 (much less than most other topics) to 2 (much more than most other topics), 

university-led projects (five of five project directors responding) spent more training time on the use of data for 

instructional and project decisions relative to other topics (average value of 1.0). District-led projects (four of five 

project directors responding) also spend relatively more training time (1.3) as did nonprofit-led projects (1.0) (two 

of two project directors responding).

Source: Project director survey, item I-12.
47

Exhibit A-5. Percentage of grantees including university graduate coursework as part of leader 

preparation, as reported by project directors, by project leadership type

Exhibit reads: Fifty-eight percent of all grantees for which project directors responded to this question 

(11 grantees) included university graduate coursework is part of leader preparation.

Source: Project director survey, item I-13.

58%

80%

40%

50%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

All grantees (n = 11)

University led (n = 5)

District led (n = 5)

Nonprofit led (n = 2)

Percentage of grantees
48

Exhibit A-6. Number of grantees in which one or more of the training partners reported using 

various learning strategies

Exhibit reads: Ten grantees had one or more training partners reporting the use of field-based projects a learning 

practice or instructional strategy.

Source: Training partner survey, items III-5, III-6 (n=20).

10

9

10

10

7

6

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Field-based projects

Field-based problems or problem-based

Action research or inquiry project

Analysis and discussion of case studies

Portfolio demonstrating learning/accomplishments

Capstone or culminating project

Number of grantees
49

Exhibit A-7. Number of grantees in which aspiring leaders participate in supervised internship or

residency, as reported by project directors, by length and location of residency

Exhibit reads: Across all grantees (12 grantees), one grantee reported that aspiring leaders participate in a 

supervised internship or residency lasting less than half a school year (SY), one grantee reported that aspiring 

leaders participate in a supervised internship or residency lasting half a SY, seven grantees reported that aspiring 

leaders participate in a supervised internship or residency lasting one SY, and two grantees reported that aspiring 

leaders participate in a supervised internship or residency lasting between one but less than two SYs. One grantee 

reported that aspiring leaders do not participate in a supervised internship or residency.

Source: Project director survey, item I-16, I-17.

< 0.5 SY, 1 < 0.5 SY, 1

0.5 SY, 1

0.5 SY, 1

1 SY, 7

1 SY, 1

1 SY, 2

1 SY, 4

> 1 to < 2 SYs , 2

> 1 to < 2 SYs , 1

> 1 to < 2 SYs , 1

No residency, 1

0

3

6

9

12

All grantees

(n = 12)

Remain in current

position

(n = 2)

Different school (partial)

(n = 4)

Different school (whole)

(n = 5)

Number of grantees
50

Exhibit A-8. Percentage of grantees with selected characteristics of residency programs, as reported 

by project directors

Exhibit reads: Across all grantees with residency programs (11 grantees), 91 percent reported that the residency 

included supervision and assistance from a mentor or coach.

Source: Project director survey, item I-18 (n=12).

91%

91%

91%

100%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Supervision and assistance from mentor/coach

Responsibilities typical of turnaround leader

Regular evaluation of performance by project faculty

Opportunities to network with other interns/residents

Percentage of grantees
51

Exhibit A-9. Percentage of grantees reporting expected frequencies of interactions of 

mentors/coaches with residents/interns, as reported by project directors, by project 

leadership type

Exhibit reads: Across all grantees with residencies (10 of 12 project directors reporting), 64 percent indicated the 

expected frequency of interactions of mentors/coaches with residents/interns was weekly. Nine percent indicated 

the expected frequency was twice a month, 18 percent indicated several times per year, and 9 percent did not 

provide a response.

Source: Project director survey, item I-19.

Weekly, 70%

Weekly, 50%

Weekly, 75%

Weekly, 100%

Twice a month

10%

Twice a month

25%

Several times

per year

20%

Several times

per year

25%

Several times

per year

25%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

All grantees with

residencies (n = 11)

University led (n = 4) District led (n = 4) Nonprofit led (n = 2)

Percentage of grantees
52

Exhibit A-10. Number of grantees in which school staff were involved in the placement of program 

completers, as reported by project directors

Exhibit reads: District partners in eight out of nine grantees reported that school staff were involved in the 

placement of program completers.

Source: District partner survey, item III-5 (n=24).

8

7

7

7

6

0 3 6 9

Any form of school staff involvement

Initial review of candidate qualifications

Candidate interviews

Discussions about who should be hired or placed

Making recommendation about hiring/placement

Number of grantees
53

Exhibit A-11. Number of projects in which training partners had a role in placing turnaround leaders 

who complete TSLP training, as reported by training partners

Exhibit reads: Five grantees (out of nine with participants who were not already turnaround school leaders) 

reported that training partners were not involved in the placement decision.

Source: Training partner survey, item III-8 (n=21).

5

1

3

4

0

0 3 6 9

Not involved in the placement decision

Assess qualifications for leading a turnaround school

Participate in deliberations about candidate fit

Recommend hiring or placement

Make final hiring/placement decision

Number of projects
54

Exhibit A-12. Number of projects in which project director or district partner indicated that 

incentives are provided for placed leaders 

Practice/strategy

Project 

director 

reported 

incentive

(n=12)

One or more 

district 

reported 

incentive

(n=23)

Either PD or 

one or more 

district 

reported 

incentive

A one-time bonus upon being placed or hired as a leader 1 3 3

A special salary increase for taking a job as a turnaround 

leader 3 4 4

A retention bonus or stipend after each year of leading a 

turnaround school 2 1 2

A performance-based bonus or stipend similar to that for 

which other school leaders in the district would be eligible 2 2 4

A performance-based bonus or stipend specifically for 

leaders of turnaround schools 2 2 4

Other 1 - 1

Any financial incentive 5 5 7

Any non-financial incentive 1 2 3

Exhibit reads: One project director reported providing a one-time bonus upon being placed or hired as a 

turnaround leader; in three projects, one or more district partners reported such a bonus; and in three projects,

either the project director or one or more district partners reported such a bonus.

Source: Project director survey, item I-27; district partner survey, item III-8.
55

Exhibit A-13. Number of projects providing support to participants after they complete the program 

and are placed as turnaround leaders, as reported by project directors, by project 

leadership type 

Type of support

All 

grantees

(n=12)

University 

led

(n=5)

District led

(n=5)

Nonprofit 

led

(n=2)

Assistance with individual professional development 

planning 12 5 5 2

Periodic group meetings or seminars with other 

turnaround leaders 11 4 5 2

Assistance with work products like school 

improvement plans, budgets 11 4 5 2

Individual mentoring or coaching 11 5 5 1

Exhibit reads: Twelve out of 12 grantees reported providing support in the form of assistance with individual 

professional development planning to participants after they complete the program and are placed as turnaround 

leaders, including five of five university-led projects, five of five district-led projects, and two of two nonprofit-led 

projects.

Source: Project director survey, item I-25. 
56

Exhibit A-14. Duration of mentoring or coaching provided to placed leaders for projects providing 

mentoring/coaching to placed leaders, as reported by project directors, by project 

leadership type

Exhibit reads: Out of 11 grantees providing mentoring or coaching to placed leaders, 45 percent reported 

providing one year of mentoring or coaching to placed leaders, while 18 percent reported providing two years, 

9 percent reported providing more than two years, and 27 percent reported providing mentoring or coaching for 

the duration the leader remained in the school.

Source: Project director survey, item I-25.

1 year, 45%

1 year, 40%

1 year, 60%

2 years, 18%

2 years, 20%

2 years, 100%

> 2 years, 9%

> 2 years, 20%

Duration in

turnaround

school

27%

Duration in

turnaround

school

40%

Duration in

turnaround

school

20%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

All grantees (n = 11) University led (n = 5) District led (n = 5) Nonprofit led (n = 1)

Percent
57

Exhibit A-15. Expected frequency of interactions between mentors/coaches and placed leaders, as 

reported by project directors, by project leadership type

Exhibit reads: Out of 11 grantees providing mentoring or coaching to placed leaders, 64 percent indicated the 

expected frequency of interactions between mentors/coaches and placed leaders was weekly. Nine percent 

reported an expected frequency of twice a month, 9 percent reported monthly, and 18 percent reported several 

times per year.

Source: Project director survey, item I-26.

Weekly, 64%

Weekly, 80%

Weekly, 40%

Weekly, 100%

Twice a month

9%

Twice a month

20%

Monthly, 9%

Monthly, 20%

Several times

per year, 18%

Several times

per year, 20%

Several times

per year, 20%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

All grantees (n = 11) University led (n = 5) District led (n = 5) Nonprofit led (n = 1)

Percentag of projects
58

Exhibit A-16. Percentage of district partners reporting additional supports or resources to 

turnaround schools

Exhibit reads: Of the participating districts that responded, 74 percent reported providing technical assistance 

from district staff or outside consultants to turnaround schools.

Source: District partner survey, item III-12 (n=23). 

74%

48%

48%

39%

35%

35%

30%

0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

Technical assistance from district staff or outside consultants

Additional budgeting or staffing flexibility

Non-financial incentives for qualified or effective teachers

Additional staff or funding

A longer school day or year

Financial incentives to for qualified or effective teachers

Preference to recruit more qualified or effective teachers

Percentage of districts
59

Exhibit A-17. Percentage of grantees by portion of tuition or fee paid by participants, as reported by 

project directors, by project leadership type 

Exhibit reads: Out of 12 grantees, 67 percent did not require participants to pay any tuition or fees.

Source: Project director survey, item I-11.

No fee, 67%

No fee, 40%

No fee, 100%

No fee, 50%

Partial

17%

Partial

20%

Partial

50%

Full

17%

Full

40%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

All grantees (n = 12)

University led (n = 5)

District led (n = 5)

Nonprofit led (n = 2)

Percentage of grantees
60

Exhibit A-18. Number of grantees where partners report changes in projects, as reported by project 

directors, district partners, and training partners 

Exhibit reads: All 12 grantees reported at least some change in their project.

Source: Project director survey, item III-3, district partner survey, item II-1, and training partner survey, item II-1.

12

11

9

8

10

8

9

6

0 3 6 9 12

Any change

Content of turnaround leadership PD

Change in the districts or schools being served

Methods of selecting project participants

Mentoring/coaching provided to current/potential leaders

Changing professional development or support providers

Recruitment of current or potential leaders

Incentives for current or aspiring leaders to participate

Number of grantees
61

Exhibit A-19. Number of grantees citing main or contributing factors to changes in the content of 

professional development, as reported by project directors

Exhibit reads: Out of 11 grantees reporting changes in the content of professional development, five cited 

developing better methods as the main factor. Four cited developing better methods as a contributing factor.

Source: Project director survey, item III-3 (n=12).

5

3

3

3

2

1

1

4

5

1

2

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Developed better methods

Input from project participants

Change in state or district policies or priorities

Changes in the capacity or commitment of other partners

Change in demand for turnaround leaders

Financial constraints

Other (use of inquiry cycles)

Number of grantees

Main Contributing
62

Exhibit A-20. Number of projects using locally developed metrics other than GPRA measures to 

measure project success, as reported by project directors

Exhibit reads: Eight out of 12 grantees reported using locally developed metrics to measure project success.

Source: Project director survey, item IV-1, IV-2 (n=12).
63

Exhibit A-21. Percentage of grantees reporting staff involved in analyzing and summarizing project 

performance data, as reported by project directors, by project leadership type

Exhibit reads: Half of the 12 grantees reported that only project staff were involved in analyzing and summarizing 

project performance data. Twenty percent of university led grantees, 60 percent of district led grantees, and all 

nonprofit-led grantees reported the same.

Source: Project director survey, item IV-1, IV-2.

All grantees 

(n=12)

50%

[CELLRANGE]

[CELLRANGE]

[CELLRANGE]

[CELLRANGE]

University led 

(n = 5)

40%

40%

[CELLRANGE]

[CELLRANGE]

[CELLRANGE]

District led 

(n = 5)

60%

[CELLRANGE]

[CELLRANGE]

[CELLRANGE]

[CELLRANGE]

Nonprofit led 

(n = 2)

100%

[CELLRANGE]

[CELLRANGE]

[CELLRANGE]

[CELLRANGE]

Only project staff (PS)

PS and external evaluator (EE)

PS and development partner (DP)

PS, EE, and DP

PS and district partner
64

Exhibit A-22. Number of projects where partners from other organizations are unsure or do not 

expect future work with other partners on preparing turnaround leaders after the end 

of the grant

Further cooperation uncertain or not expected

University led 

(n=5)

District led 

(n=5)

Nonprofit led

(n=1)

One or more training partner unsure of future cooperation 

or does not expect future cooperation NA 4 1

One or more district partner unsure of future cooperation or 

does not expect future cooperation 5 NA 1

NA = Not applicable

Exhibit reads: Four of the five district-led projects had one or more training partners that were unsure or did not 

expect future work with other partners on preparing turnaround leaders after the end of the grant. For the one 

nonprofit-led grant for which an district partner or training partner responded, at least one of these partners were 

unsure or did not expect future work with the others. 

Source: District partner survey, item II-2; Training partner survey, item II-2.
65

Appendix B

Case Study Profiles
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67

Alabama Department of Education

Project Structure

Project Alabama Consortium for Turnaround (PACT) was 

designed to focus on several rural districts across the 

state. The goals were to build a pool of principal 

candidates focused on turnaround leadership and to work 

with current school administrators to improve school 

environments and outcomes.

The project consisted of two components:

 The new principal component, in which 32 aspiring leaders participated in an 18-month 

master’s degree program at one of three universities in the state. 

 The currently licensed principal component, which provided monthly professional 

development to 15 assistant principals and principals from School Improvement Grant (SIG) 

or SIG-eligible schools.

The State Department of Education partnered with seven rural school districts, three universities 

(Auburn University, the University of Alabama, and Sanford University), and Edwards Educational 

Services. 

Identification of Potential Leaders

New principal component: The three partner universities—Auburn University, the University of Alabama, 

and Sanford University—had the primary responsibility of identifying and recruiting participants. Each 

university worked with a group of the targeted districts and sent information about the program to 

principals in the targeted schools. Principals then sent information, primarily through email, either to all 

teachers or those they identified as a good fit for the program. Applicants attended an information 

Lead agency: State

Urbanicity: Rural

Number of districts: 11

Number of teacher participants: 32

Number of administrator participants: 15

Award amount: $1,985,289
68

session, submitted a portfolio of work, and participated in a panel interview. The universities made the 

final decisions; district staff often participated in the interviews. 

Current administrator component: State project staff were responsible for recruiting and selecting 

participants. They recruited principals and assistant principals in the Principal Leadership Network—a 

state-created network developed to support leaders in school improvement priority schools. Successful 

applicants then received permission from their districts to participate in the program.

Pre-Service Development and Training

New principal component: During the 18-month master’s program, participants worked full time in their 

regular teaching jobs and attended classes mostly after school. The universities modified their curricula 

for the grant to include a greater focus on the needs of rural schools. This included providing 

participants with principal mentors throughout, as well as increasing emphasis on local politics, securing 

grant funds, relationship building, and quality of life issues in small, isolated communities. The program 

included a minimum 10-day residency. The residency days occurred throughout the 18-month period. 

Each semester, participants would shadow a principal in another school, gaining exposure to both 

elementary and secondary schools. Participants received feedback from professors and their mentors 

throughout.

Current administrator component: Participants met monthly for day-long professional development 

sessions. Edwards Educational Services delivered the professional development sessions, which were 

based on ISLLC standards. In addition to the monthly sessions, Edwards also provided participants with 

informal ongoing mentoring through phone calls or visits to participants’ schools.

Placement and Ongoing Support

New principal component: Graduates of the program needed to pass the Praxis and were then listed in a 

state database of potential school leaders. Graduates who found positions as administrators joined the 

current administrator component and took part in the monthly professional development sessions. 

Many participants maintained informal contact with university staff and mentors following graduation.

Current administrator component: Professional development and support lasted the duration of the 

grant.

Use of Partnerships

The partnership did not exist prior to the grant. The universities initiated the grant. They saw the grant 

as a good opportunity and approached the State Department of Education. The universities had the 

primary responsibility for the new principal component. They divided the target districts among them 

based on geography and worked with the districts to recruit participants. The universities were 

responsible for the curriculum and training.

The State Department was the lead organization, served as the coordinator of the partnership, and took 

the lead on recruiting participants for the current administrator component. The State Department also 

worked closely with Edwards Educational Services to schedule and host the monthly professional 

development for current leaders.

Districts helped identify and select participants for the new principal component. Districts also provided 

feedback to the universities and Edwards Educational Services about district needs. 
69

Sustainability and Leadership Pipeline

The formal PACT partnership for both programs will not continue beyond the grant, but some aspects of 

the project will endure. The three universities will keep the mentoring component of their educational 

leadership programs. One of the participating districts has plans to revive its principal preparation 

program. The State Department also plans to add elements of the program to its SIG work.
70

Baltimore New Leaders

Project Structure

The Turnaround School Leaders Program 

(TSLP) grant provided support for New 

Leaders’ long-standing partnership with 

Baltimore City Public Schools (New Leaders

began working with the district in 2005). 

The TSLP grant supported each of the three 

New Leaders projects operating in the district: 

 Emerging Leaders (EL)—current school-based staff who are potentially interested in 

becoming principals. Participants apply to participate in a year-long program in which they 

work in their current jobs on a specific problem of practice focused on building their 

leadership abilities.

 Aspiring Principals (AP)—a one-year principal residency whereby selected applicants work 

with mentor principals in existing schools and continue to complete specific New Leaders 

assignments. Participants receive the regular salary of an assistant principal, which is 

shared by the school and the school district with each paying 50 percent of salary and 

benefits. 

 New Principal Induction (NPI)—successful completers of the Aspiring Principals who are 

placed as principals in district schools and receive additional support during the first year of 

work.

The goal of the entire portfolio of services is to improve the capacity of current and future principals to 

serve as effective instructional leaders in the Baltimore City setting. The grant did not change the core 

content of the existing New Leaders’ program but did increase its focus on placing program completers 

in turnaround schools.

Lead agency: Nonprofit

Urbanicity: Urban

Number of districts: 1

Number of teacher participants: 62 (13 Aspiring Leaders;

49 Teacher Leaders)

Number of administrator participants: 44

Award amount: $1,500,000.00
71

Identification of Potential Leaders

The TSLP strategy represented a continuation of the regular New Leaders program. Applicants to both 

the EL and AP program submitted an online application to participate. Word-of-mouth and prior 

experience with former New Leaders graduates served as the key means for encouraging prospective 

applicants to apply, supporting the identification of a racially and ethnically diverse cohort of promising 

leaders. Applicants for both programs submitted work samples and participated in an in-person 

interview and a live session to demonstrate their instructional and leadership skills. Most current AP 

participants are selected from successful completers of the EL program. Completers of the AP program 

are eligible to apply to be a principal via the district’s Assessment Center process. All principal applicants 

participate in the same process, although New Leaders participants may be given some preference.

Pre-Service Development and Training

Participants in both the EL and AP programs participate in a year-long training process. Their training is 

grounded in the New Leaders-developed Urban Excellence Framework,

1 which includes seven 

competencies for a successful school leader. Participants in each of the programs work on building 

competencies in these areas throughout the school year, with EL participants focused on working with a 

small group of teachers and AP participants focused more globally on overall school operation and 

management. The AP process begins during the summer with the summer residency program. 

Participants focus on instruction, culture, and climate. During the school year, participants meet every 

two weeks for a day to discuss and review their work in schools, and are also responsible for completing 

assignments. During the course of the school year, participants reported receiving support from other 

cohort members and working directly with a New Leaders coach and the mentor principal of their 

assigned school. AP participants get weekly feedback from the New Leaders staff person. New Leaders 

provides AP completers with assistance throughout the principal application process, including 

facilitating mock interviews with New Leaders staff.

During the school year EL participants met monthly for 41⁄2 hours to discuss their work and were also 

required to complete assignments. Monthly group sessions were preceded by a web-based session that 

provided an overview of the discussion topics for the monthly sessions. The focus of their training was 

on developing and supporting teams of teachers, managing data analysis, and implementing targeted 

improvement efforts. Participants were in regular contact with the assigned New Leaders staff person 

(who also regularly visited schools) throughout the year and had three formal learning meetings 

throughout the year. Participants were judged throughout the year, and based on their final assessment 

using New Leaders rubrics, may be offered a seat in the AP program.

During their first year of placement as a school leader, former AP participants took part in NPI. The focus 

of NPI training and support was on further building their capacity to support high-quality 

implementation of Common Core standards and successful implementation of the data-driven 

improvement cycle. They received two on-site coaching visits each month; the first was targeted to a 

specific need, and the second primarily followed up on what was identified in the prior visit.

Use of Partnerships

 

1

In recognition of the fact that New Leaders now partners with high-need districts and charter management 

organizations from rural to urban areas and develops leaders at all levels of the system—from teacher leaders to 

principals and their supervisors—they refreshed the Urban Excellence Framework and renamed it the 

Transformational Leadership Framework in 2016.
72

The district’s leadership strategy is still developing. The New Leaders’ focus on developing strong 

instructional leaders overlaps significantly with district priority focus areas for school principals. The 

Chief of Schools emphasized the need for principals to be able to coach teachers to the next level. This 

was a focus for all schools, not just turnaround schools. With low levels of achievement throughout the 

district, the general focus is on building the capacity of all school leaders. The New Leaders partnership 

plays a big role in this process. The Chief of Schools noted that the New Leaders completers could be 

placed in more established schools, which would allow the district to move effective, established 

principals into turnaround schools. As the district begins to play a more involved role with New Leaders, 

they are also focused more closely on developing a long-term leadership pipeline. The goal is to be able 

to identify potential prospects three years out and move them through the New Leaders process 

(including a potential earlier program for high-potential staff who need to improve instructionally before 

enrolling in the EL program).

Until the 2015–16 school year, the work was defined in two-year Memorandum of Understandings 

(MOUs). The most recent MOU was for three years. Within the last year the district began playing a 

more hands-on role in determining who gets to participate in the program and in the placement process 

for completers of the AP program. The Chief of Schools noted that the district wants to play a more 

direct role in ensuring that placed school leaders are the correct fit for the selected school. New Leaders 

was the lead partner in selecting participants, delivering the content, and providing support to 

participants in each of the three programs. For the 2017–18 school year, the district asked that New 

Leaders incorporate existing high school assistant principals in its cohort of AP. This arrangement will 

assist district efforts to transform the role of assistant principals. The district is also planning on playing a 

more significant role in selecting participants for the EL program, an area of operation that has 

previously been managed by New Leaders.

Sustainability and Leadership Pipeline

The Baltimore partnership with New Leaders has been a critical component of supplying principals to 

lead the district for more than 10 years. In addition, the partnership has supported Baltimore’s 

commitment to building its internal capacity to develop and enact a comprehensive leadership strategy, 

and the district plans to continue this work in the future. Recently, the district has begun playing an 

even more active role in working with New Leaders to ensure that program completers have the priority 

skill sets necessary for success in district schools. Beginning in 2017–18, the district requested that 

existing high school assistant principals participate in New Leaders activities, a marked change from 

previous years of operation. This change will allow the district the opportunity to develop the skills of 

existing staff who are familiar with the operation of district schools but may need additional training in 

becoming effective instructional leaders.
73

University of Illinois-Chicago

Project Structure

The University of Illinois Chicago (UIC), Urban Education 

Leadership program is structured as a three-year doctoral 

program that combines academic study with focused 

clinical practice in Chicago Public Schools (CPS). The 

program unfolds in three broad phases (pre-residency, 

residency, and post-residency). Students begin the 

program during the second semester of the school year with coursework (pre-residency); serve a yearlong residency in a district school; and upon approval through the district’s principal certification process 

are eligible to apply for placement as a district principal (post-residency). Participating students pay all 

tuition and fees. During the residency and first two years as a school leader, participants continue 

coursework at the university and receive on-site coaching support from one of the program’s coaches. 

Coursework focuses on instructional leadership, organizational leadership, and practitioner inquiry. 

Upon placement as a principal or assistant principal, program participants receive up to two years of 

additional coaching. Students earn the doctoral degree after completing the capstone project, which is a 

case study of leadership and management of the change process, and which is grounded in an in-depth 

analysis of data generated as a result of the student’s work as a school leader. The cohort model 

undergirds the UIC project and serves as key component of the project as all students who enter the 

project move through all phases of the program as a group and serve as a source of support for each 

other both within and across cohorts.

Lead agency: University

Urbanicity: Urban

Number of districts: 1

Number of teacher participants: 33

Number of administrator participants: 8

Award amount: $1,969,898
74

Identification of Potential Leaders

The program used both word-of-mouth and active recruitment of potential students to apply for 

admission into the school’s doctoral program. Applicants must have already earned a master’s degree 

and have had a strong instructional background, including evidence of instructional leadership, for 

admission. Prospective students participated in an in-person interview, submitted a writing sample, and 

completed a presentation and a portfolio demonstrating their instructional abilities as part of the 

admissions process. The program recently lifted its requirement for minimum GRE scores as part of the 

application process.

Pre-Service Development and Training

The UIC leadership program provided both academic and clinical training to students with a focus on 

developing students into instructional leaders who could successfully lead improvement efforts in lowperforming schools. The academic program for participants was highly scripted, with all students in a 

cohort participating in the same sequence of courses that targeted instructional leadership, 

organizational leadership, and practitioner inquiry. Students must have completed a total of 80 hours of 

coursework to complete all degree requirements.

Course content focused on topics such as how to address issues of race, gender, and class; 

communicating effectively; and using data to inform instructional improvement. The program employed 

two full-time coaches to provide targeted, tailored support to program participants. The coaches 

provided weekly feedback for participants throughout the residency and during the two years after 

placement as a school leader. Coaches were selected based on their proven record of success as 

teachers in and leaders of turnaround schools. Coaches visited schools to work with participants weekly, 

and during the residency phase, met jointly with the student and the mentor principal (triad meeting) to 

discuss progress in developing key leadership competencies approximately three times each year. 

During the triad meetings, participants set the agenda and provided a report on the progress they had 

made to date. CPS paid the full salary and benefits for students selected to serve as resident principals.

Use of Partnerships

UIC relies heavily on its partnership with the CPS to shape the clinical and academic training of new 

school leaders to meet the needs of students enrolled in the district. According to the program director, 

a guiding principal of the partnership, which began in the early 2000s, was that UIC would play a lead 

role in developing effective school leaders who would later, in turn, become network chiefs (principal 

supervisors). In this way, the partnership would help develop the district’s “bench” of effective leaders. 

Staff from UIC leverage its close relationship with the district to guide improvements made to the 

content of academic courses and the types of coaching support participants received. Research 

supported by the TSLP grant highlighted that program graduates struggled to effectively lead schools 

that were characterized by high levels of student mobility, high levels of student truancy, and high rates 

of student homelessness. As a result, the program is working on developing better training and supports 

that will enable students to lead improvement efforts in these types of school contexts. 

Sustainability and Leadership Pipeline

The TSLP served as an opportunity for UIC to better hone its focus on preparing program graduates to 

be effective leaders in low-performing, turnaround school settings. Key changes made to program 

design included the addition of triad meetings (meetings between the coach, mentor principal, and 

student) during the residency to ensure that students were developing the needed skills; and an 

increased focus on being successful in the most challenging school contexts. The TSLP grant also led the 

program to think about ways to improve post-residency support provided to students during their first 

years of placement as a school leader. The grant allowed UIC the opportunity to increase the focus of 
75

coursework in the first two years after placement on helping students develop the practical skills 

needed to be an effective instructional and organizational leader. Additionally, the grant allowed UIC to 

develop a better understanding of the ways in which the program was not successful in developing 

program graduates to be successful in all school settings and to better develop and support graduates 

serving in a range of school settings. UIC staff also provided professional development to non-UIC 

district principals upon request of the district, and worked with mentor principals during the residency 

as needed to help them develop a better understanding of the UIC model for school leadership. The 

school district relied on its partnership with UIC to serve as a key developer of its school leaders and has 

no plans to discontinue the project in the future.
76

Center for Leadership and 

Educational Equity (CLEE)

Project Structure

CLEE, a Rhode Island-based nonprofit that operates 

leadership training and professional development 

programs, partnered with two Rhode Island school 

districts—Providence and Central Falls—for the TSLP 

grant. CLEE’s work has focused solely on Rhode 

Island, and its mission is to “provide leaders with professional learning and support to create equitable 

outcomes for students.” The organization is well known in the state and had prior relationships with 

both districts. The primary goal of the grant is to promote educational equity through transformational 

school leadership.

The grant enabled CLEE to leverage two existing programs—the Principal Residency Network (PRN) and 

the Learning Leader Network. The first is typically a 12-month residency-based administrator 

certification program. The second is an ongoing professional development program for school and 

teacher leaders. The grant funded fellowships for PRN participants in two cohorts and funded the 

Learning Leader Network training for members of school leadership teams in targeted schools. 

During the first year of the grant, CLEE, in collaboration with the two districts, conducted an extensive 

literature review and developed a set of transformational leadership competencies and hiring tools for 

targeted schools. CLEE mapped these competencies to the current state leadership competencies, which 

were aligned with national (ISLLC) standards. The competencies are organized into six domains: mission, 

vision, goals; learning and teaching; organizational systems; community and family partnerships; ethics 

and integrity; and equity in educational systems. These competencies undergird all the components of 

the grant.

Lead agency: Nonprofit

Urbanicity: Urban

Number of districts: 2

Number of teacher participants: 96

Number of administrator participants: 35

Award amount: $1,633,952
77
78

Identification of Potential Leaders

Principal Residency Network. The school districts distributed PRN information, and candidates and their 

current principal (who served as a mentor in the program) applied together as a pair. Aspiring principals 

had to have a master’s degree. PRN candidates and mentor principals both completed applications with 

essays and recommendations and participated in a joint interview. Districts had to approve the 

applications. One of the districts required applicants to interview with the district during the application 

period. 

Learning Leader Network. For this network, CLEE relied on principals to identify teachers and staff they 

believed would benefit from leadership development training. The school teams included administrators 

and teachers.

Pre-Service Development and Training

Principal Residency Network. The 12-month residency lasted from June to June. Aspiring principals spent 

the residency in their current schools but were required to devote no more than 25 percent of the time 

in direct service to students. Throughout the residency, participants worked closely with mentor 

principals. The residency included 12 to 13 day-long meetings with cohort members at CLEE; mentor 

principals participated in fewer than half of these. Training included required reading; writing papers;

reflections on practice; regular meetings with mentor principals; visits to other schools representing a 

variety of demographics, grade levels, size, and programs; plus standards-based assessments. 

Participants compiled portfolios of work and undertook an action research project to increase equity in 

their school. CLEE provided each participant with an advisor/coach who made periodic visits to their 

school, gave ongoing feedback, and assessed all the candidate’s work. 

Learning Leader Network. Professional development for the school leadership teams included four 5- to 

6-day initial training sessions or institutes over the course of the grant, three networking sessions each 

year, and regular coaching visits to the schools. During the training sessions, participants analyzed 

school data, practiced using CLEE data and dialogue protocols to facilitate meetings, and drafted and 

received peer feedback on strategies for school plans. CLEE staff used the coaching visits to observe and 

model practices for leadership teams.

Placement and Ongoing Support

The partners expected that PRN participants would apply for leadership positions within their districts. 

CLEE provided informal ongoing support to participants who transitioned into an administrator position. 

During training, PRN participants were required by CLEE to join the CLEE statewide critical feedback

network. Participants still had access to this network after they completed the program, as well as 

continued access to both their mentors and advisors. CLEE staff also reported that several participants 

who became administrators were placed in schools in which CLEE runs its school leadership team 

training, which provided former participants with continued support from CLEE. CLEE recently received a 

grant to run an induction program and will use that as first-year support for former participants. In 

Central Falls, first-year administrators have mentors who work at the district office.

Use of Partnerships

CLEE leveraged existing relationships with the districts to implement their grant. CLEE collaborated with 

both districts to design the grant and develop the leadership competencies. CLEE operated both the PRN 

and Learning Leader Network in close collaboration with the districts. The partnership, referred to as the 

consortium, met every two months to discuss the program. The districts played a key role in identifying 

and selecting participants. 
79

Sustainability and Leadership Pipeline

CLEE will continue to operate the Principal Residency Network and Learning Leader Network and will 

continue to work with both districts. CLEE expects that they may be able to use leftover funds to offer 

programming that could address the specific needs of each district. Central Falls has relied on the PRN to 

build its pool of potential administrators. In the near term, the district will focus on strengthening its 

school leadership teams with the support of CLEE. The grant has prompted Providence to focus on its 

leadership preparation and pipeline.
80

Cleveland Metropolitan School District

Project Structure

Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD) is 

implementing an aspiring principal program that is based 

on locally adopted New York City Leadership Academy’s 

(NYCLA’s) leadership competencies and includes three 

primary phases—summer intensive (5 weeks), residency 

(11 months), and transition (one year of coaching)—to 

develop an urban turnaround leaders. This is a district-led 

project with support coming from the training partner—NYCLA. NYCLA initially provided the program 

structure and training but over the course of the grant, gradually released responsibility to CMSD for all 

aspects of the program, including selection process of aspiring leaders, leading summer intensive for 

aspiring leaders, and training mentors and coaches. CMSD will continue the program next year without 

formal support from NYCLA. 

Identification of Potential Leaders

CMSD recruited TSLP candidates through colleges, Teach For America, and other opportunities inside 

and outside of CMSD. The project director hosted three information sessions prior to the application 

deadline. In addition to formal recruitment processes, many aspiring and placed leaders reported they 

heard about the program from word of mouth or through Google searches because they were seeking

to relocate to Cleveland. CMSD recruited a majority of its applicants from outside of the district. The 

project director noted that in the past, 60–70 percent of candidates came from outside of the district. 

The selection involved written essays, recommendations, and group and individual interviews. Both 

participants (aspiring and placed leaders) and CMSD leadership described the selection process as 

“intense.” After initial selection for the program, participants could also be “let go” after the summer 

intensive training, or the residency, both of which were pass/fail. For cohort 2, 50 percent (5 of 10) of 

initial TSLP candidates remained in the residency phase.

Lead agency: District

Urbanicity: Urban

Number of districts: 1

Number of teacher participants: 2

Number of administrator participants: 28

Award amount: $794,595.00
81

Pre-Service Development and Training

Aspiring leaders participated in pre-service development training that consisted of a five-week summer 

intensive course and an eleven-month residency period. (The transition phases are discussed under 

ongoing support.) The summer intensive phase used a standards-based curriculum that simulated the 

challenges of a CMSD principal. In the five-week summer intensive, aspiring leaders were split into two 

groups and engaged in readings, discussions, and problem-solving issues for a simulated high school. 

The residency phase consisted of a school-based residency under the mentorship of an experienced 

CMSD principal. Aspiring leaders shadowed a mentor principal for 11 months. Aspiring leaders were 

matched with mentor principals based on their own weaknesses and the strengths of the mentor. 

Ideally, principals gave aspiring leaders issues in the building that focus on the competencies 

emphasized in the program and allowed them to strengthen their identified areas of weakness. The 

residency period also employed a gradual release model with the goal of the aspiring leader eventually 

managing most elements in the building. 

Placement and Ongoing Support

Completion of the residency phase alone did not guarantee an aspiring leader was eligible to be placed 

as a principal in a school since CMSD’s TSLP program was not certified as a credential program. 

Participants either had an administrative credential, were working on one, or had to apply for an 

alternative credential. (CMSD staff were in the process of beginning to take steps to get the program 

certified as an alternative route.) 

CMSD tries to place the leaders in School Improvement Grant (SIG)-eligible schools for the residency 

phase—however, due to logistics, CMSD has had to place some aspiring leaders in non-SIG eligible 

schools for the residency phase. Similarly, CMSD attempts to place aspiring leaders who have completed 

the residency phase and have been hired by CMSD via the regular principal application process in SIG 

schools, but those placements are dependent upon job openings.

After aspiring leaders completed the residency phase and had the necessary credentials, they could 

apply for open principal positions in CMSD. If an aspiring leader is hired as a principal, ongoing support 

consisted of a transition phase that provided coaching for the first year of principalship. As part of the 

process for all new principals, placed aspiring leaders are also evaluated by the network support leader 

using the Ohio evaluation system.

Use of Partnerships

This grant was a district-led partnership with one training partner that took the lead initially in all 

aspects of the program but built district capacity as part of the process and gradually released 

responsibility to the district over the course of the grant. CMSD and NYCLA shared a similar vision of the 

turnaround school leadership, although CMSD slightly modified NYCLA’s leadership standards to fit with 

their local context. NYCLA initially assisted heavily with the selection process and provided the training 

to CMSD staff (PD, mentors, coaches) and aspiring leaders during the summer intensive training. In the 

second year, both NYCLA and the CMSD equally worked together to operate the program. In the third 

year, CMSD led the efforts for managing the efforts of the program, with support from NYCLA. Beyond 

the third year, CMSD will be running all aspects of the program and NYCLA is not providing any formal 

support. Throughout the grant, CMSD and NYCLA had a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and 

vendor contract, with CMSD having “final say” on all decisions. 
82

Sustainability and Leadership Pipeline

Based on the performance of program participants, CMSD will continue the program next year by 

providing the funding itself. Overall, CMSD staff are satisfied with the performance of TSL graduates. 

CMSD staff perceive TSLP graduates as being more familiar with Cleveland processes in general, being 

better instructional leaders by providing better feedback to teachers, being more resilient and reflective 

than new external hires (and to some extent other current principals). 

The costs of the program may be lower in the future since CMSD will be providing all of the support to 

the program internally. Due to the nature of the partnership and focus on building capacity, CMSD staff 

are ready to take the lead in all aspects of the program (leading the summer intensive program and 

providing training to mentors etc.), so CMSD will not require the assistance of NYCLA and will not have 

to pay NYCLA for its services. 

CMSD staff are also in the process of taking steps to get their TSLP project certified as an alternative 

route program, which will streamline the credentialing process for program TSL participants and reduce 

their burden. 
83

Minneapolis Public Schools

Project Structure

Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) designed its Turnaround 

School Leaders Project (TSLP) to develop transformational 

competencies among aspiring school leaders, teacher 

leaders, and mentor principals. The project intended to 

provide each group with intensive, job-embedded 

professional development and coaching that addressed both individual- and group-level needs. 

Key components of MSP’s TSLP included:

 The Aspiring Principals Academy (APA), through which MPS leaders enrolled in the 

University of Minnesota’s principal preparation program, participated in a year-long 

residency, and received licensure upon completion of the program. Graduates are then 

eligible to apply to the MPS leader hiring pool and apply for administrative positions in SIG, 

SIG-eligible, or non-SIG schools. 

 The Transformational Teacher Leaders Program (T2LP), a two-year program that 

encompassed monthly professional development, individualized coaching, and the creation 

and implementation of an action research project aligned with schools’ improvement plans. 

MPS fully implemented T2LP during the 2015-16 school year, and required all SIG and SIGeligible teacher leaders to participate. 

The MPS Leadership Blueprint defined leadership competencies for instructional leaders across the 

district, and was based on competencies identified in research as the most likely to develop effective, 

transformational leaders. MPS used the Leadership Blueprint as a tool to identify, select, or determine 

the growth needs of educational leaders. 

Urbanicity: Urban

Number of districts: 1

Number of teacher participants: 50

Number of administrator participants: 15

Award amount: $1,925,820
84

Identification of Potential Leaders

The APA consisted of small cohorts of aspiring leaders who were identified by central office staff and 

building administrators or applied upon hearing of the program. APA participants were selected through 

a process focused on evidence and activities that give insight into candidates’ capacity to become agents 

of change. The interview process for the program was rigorous and included a teacher observation 

session. 

Pre-Service Development and Training

APA participants enrolled in the University of Minnesota’s principal preparation program and fulfilled 

specified course requirements. The summer prior to their preparation, participants attended the TSL 

Summer Institute, during which time they engaged in a series of simulations and intense learning 

activities that are aligned to the Leadership Profile and district and state leadership competencies. MPS 

assigned some participants to a full-time, year-long residency (funded by the TSLP grant). Other 

participants continued their full-time positions in schools while participating in TSLP activities. 

Participants engaged in weekly professional development and graduate coursework provided by the TSL 

project director, UM faculty, and other consultants. 

Placement and Ongoing Support

Upon completion of the principal preparation program at the University of Minnesota, aspiring 

principals obtained their administrator licensure. They were then eligible for assistant principal positions 

in the district by applying to the district-wide administrative hiring pool.

Participants received ongoing support from their respective associate superintendent and school 

principals, and participated in other professional development opportunities. 

Use of Partnerships

MPS collaborated with NYCLA and Mankato State University to develop APA. It contracted NYCLA also to 

lead the transformational leadership trainings with the associate superintendents, given its longstanding success with training leaders and its alignment with MPS standards. MPS also 

partnered/contracted with the University of Minnesota to provide the coursework for APA participants. 

Sustainability and Leadership Pipeline

Leadership changes within the district have led to communication gaps between the project and district 

leadership and the loss of the original vision/direction of the program among the partners and within 

MPS. The project is on “pause” and the director and other staff have moved on to other projects (some 

known, some not). 
85

North Carolina State University – Northeast Leadership Academy

Project Structure

During school year 2014-15, North Carolina State University 

(NCSU), in collaboration with the North Carolina Department of 

Public Instruction’s (NCDPI’s) Division of District and School 

Transformation (DST) and three northeastern North Carolina 

school districts—Halifax, Warren, and Edgecombe—launched 

the Northeast Leadership Acadibriemy – District and School 

Transformation (NELA-DST) project. NELA-DST was an 

expansion of NCSU’s existing Aspiring Leaders Academy, NELA,

and NELA 2.0, which all sought to develop school leaders throughout the state. 

During the NELA-DST project, specifically, NCSU selected 15 exemplary teachers2to participate in a twoyear experiential preparation program. The program was intended to cultivate innovative school leaders 

who would serve in rural, high-need, hard-to-staff School Improvement Grant (SIG) schools in 

northeastern North Carolina. 

 

2

NCSU selected 15 teachers to participate in the program, but during Year 1, one participant had to leave the 

program for a medical reason. Ultimately, 14 Fellows participated in the Aspiring Leaders Academy. 

Lead agency: University

Urbanicity: Rural

No. of districts: 3

No. of teacher participants: 14

No. of administrator participants: 8

Award amount: $1,996,725.00
86

In addition to the aspiring leaders program, NCSU implemented additional strategies as a part of its 

NELA-DST project, including:

 Competency-based hiring practices: Superintendents, school board members, and other 

key district stakeholders received training on competency-based hiring practices to improve 

hiring processes and encourage purposeful hiring of effective school leaders in SIG schools. 

 The SIG Turnaround Leaders Academy: The aspiring leaders (or NELA-DST Fellows), as well 

as current SIG principals and leadership teams within the participating districts, 

participated in a series of SIG-specific professional development, and received ongoing, 

individualized professional development and coaching. 

 Retention of effective SIG leaders in challenged rural communities: NELA-DST established 

financial incentives to attract and retain effective principals in SIG schools, including the 

“Principal Education Award,” which it awarded to current SIG principals whose schools 

“met” or “exceeded” growth on the state assessment. 

Identification of Potential Leaders 

NCSU worked closely with the district superintendents to identify potential candidates to participate in 

the Aspiring Leaders Academy. It also hosted recruitment sessions, created posters, and encouraged 

applicants through emails sent to superintendents, current NELA students, and NELA graduates from 

previous cohorts. Candidates formally applied to the NCSU graduate program and had to meet general 

school requirements (e.g., GPA, test scores). If candidates met the minimum requirements, NCSU invited 

them to Candidate Assessment Day, which is a full day of activities, including role-playing and discussion 

of real-life scenarios designed to allow candidates to demonstrate their skills and knowledge. 

Candidates also participated in one-on-one interviews. 

Pre-Service Development and Training

NELA-DST Fellows entered a two-year master’s program, which was free of charge to the participant and 

fulfilled the components of the program as a cohort. Fellows began coursework at NCSU during the 

summer of 2015, and continued coursework twice weekly through the fall and spring semesters. During 

the first year of the program, Fellows continued to teach full time at their school, and applied strategies 

learned through the leadership program in their classrooms. They also shared their newly acquired skills 

and practices with other teachers in the schools. 

During the summer between the first and second year (summer 2016), Fellows took summer classes and 

completed a full-time community internship at a community agency to familiarize themselves with the 

communities in which they might work, and to learn the importance of connecting the community to 

the school. During fall 2016, Fellows were released from their teaching duties and entered into a fulltime, year-long principal residency. During residency, Fellows got hands-on experience as a school 

administrator and took on various leadership responsibilities, which they were provisionally licensed to 

do. NCSU also assigned each fellow a school-based principal mentor and a NELA-DST executive coach (a 

former exemplary principal who is not affiliated with the district). Additionally, Fellows continued to 

attend classes twice a week and completed an Inquiry in Action project, which required them to analyze 

school data to identify and address, in collaboration with teachers and students, an issue or problem of 

practice. 

Throughout the duration of the program, Fellows participated in specialized trainings that covered an 

array of topics such as facilitative leadership, social justice, educational policy, student empowerment, 

crisis intervention, time management, adult learning, and conflict resolution. During residency, Fellows 
87

also attended monthly assistant principal staff development meetings and visited high-poverty, highperforming schools with their principal mentor.

During the program, Fellows received frequent and varied feedback from NELA leadership staff, 

mentors, coaches, and cohort members. They participated in one-on-one feedback sessions and 

Formative Assessment Days with NELA staff, and both the principal mentor and executive coaches 

drafted reports and used the data to assess Fellows’ progress and areas of need. The Fellows also 

completed weekly and monthly activity logs and self-reflections. Each Fellow created and maintained an 

updated electronic portfolio that tracked their work, which helped the NELA project team assess 

growth, monitor progress, and identify areas for improvement. 

Placement and Ongoing Support

At the completion of the two-year program, participants graduated with a master’s degree and a 

certification in School Administration. Before admission to the program, NCSU required fellows to 

commit (i.e., sign and return a Commitment Letter) to serve as school leaders in SIG/SIG-eligible schools 

in northeastern North Carolina for a minimum of three years, and participating districts committed to 

give NELA graduates priority when principal and assistant principal vacancies became available.3

After graduating, Fellows continued to receive coaching support from their NELA-DST executive coach

for at least one year. NCSU also provided post-degree professional development and learning (e.g., postdegree seminars) and allowed graduates to participate in any trainings offered to the current cohort of 

aspiring leaders. 

Use of Partnerships 

NELA-DST was a collaborative effort between NCSU, NCDPI, and the Halifax, Warren, and Edgecombe 

school districts to develop a pipeline of effective school leaders. NCSU, NCDPI (or the state), and the 

districts had existing relationships and worked together previously on pipeline development and 

improving student outcomes. For NELA-DST specifically, NCSU led the turnaround effort and provided 

the coursework and specialized trainings to the Fellows. As noted earlier, the partner districts were 

directly involved in nominating and selecting candidates to participate in the program, and the district 

superintendent had to endorse the NELA program before NCSU worked in the district. The districts also 

committed, via MOU, to give NELA graduates priority when principal and assistant principal positions 

became open. NCDPI delivered the professional development series as a part of the SIG Turnaround 

Leaders Academy. Both NCSU and NCDPI planned the sessions but NCDPI was the lead facilitator. The 

state also funded the NELA-DST internships during the second year of the program. All partners were 

involved in the evaluation of potential Fellows during Candidate Assessment Day.

Sustaining the Leadership Pipeline 

NCSU received funding from the Wallace Foundation to lead an effort to redesign principal preparation 

programs. The university incorporated the NELA-DST partner districts into this project, and will continue 

to work with them on leadership development. NCSU received two grants from the North Carolina 

Alliance for School Leadership Development: (1) Supporting Excellence in Leadership (the state), which 

will allow it to expand its reach to four additional school districts, and (2) the Z. Smith Reynolds 

Foundation to build, in partnership with Public Impact and New Leaders for New Schools, a human 

capital strategy and leadership pipeline for northeastern North Carolina schools. 

 

3

During the visit in May 2017, five Fellows were hired as assistant principals before graduating from the program. 
88

Appendix C

Data Sources and Methods
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90

Data Sources and Methods

The study drew on surveys, case studies, and extant data. 

Online Surveys

To provide a perspective on the full set of Turnaround School Leaders Project (TSLP) grantees, the study 

surveyed all (12) Cohort 1 project directors, representatives from grantees’ training partner 

organizations (under the circumstances that the project director is not part of the training organization), 

and representatives from school district partners. The study team administered the surveys 

electronically, and the surveys consisted primarily of closed-ended items about program design, 

implementation, and evaluation; however, they also included a small number of open-ended items that 

addressed major project successes and challenges. 

Survey response rates:

 Project director survey: 100 percent

 District partner survey: 83 percent

 Training partner survey: 95 percent

Case Studies

The case studies consisted of site visits to a purposively selected sample of Cohort 1 grantees. The study 

team completed two-person, two-day site visits to seven sites to conduct interviews with the project 

director, three district staff members (the assistant superintendent, the principal’s supervisor, and 

turnaround school professional staff), and two representatives from each partner organization. In 

addition, each visit included two separate five-person focus groups (one with aspiring turnaround 

leaders and one with current turnaround leaders) to understand the experiences and perceptions of 

project participants. 

The study team used a purposive sampling approach to draw the sample of seven case study sites. The 

goal of the purposive sampling approach was to select seven grantees that were diverse across a 

number of factors. After reviewing grantee applications and consulting with the Department, the study 

team prioritized five factors in selecting the sample.

 Implementation progress. The degree to which projects have encountered implementation 

difficulties or delays. “Notable success” refers to the TSLP program office’s assessment of early 

implementation progress based on regular monitoring calls with TSLP grantees. The program 

office described two case study sites as having made notable progress toward implementing 

their projects. Program office staff pointed out that one grantee needed to revise its project 

because of the withdrawal of one of their two district partners;

 Grantee type. Type of lead organization (i.e., districts, Institutions of higher education (IHEs), 

state education agencies, (SEAs), and nonprofit organizations);1

 Urbanicity. Rural projects as well as grantees working in urban settings;

 

1

For-profit organizations are eligible entities for the TSLP; however, none of the Cohort 1 grantees was a for-profit 

organization.
91

 Partner type. Types of partner organizations with which the grantee is working;

 Project design. Types of leader selection, training, and ongoing support. 

Considering the aforementioned factors, the study team selected the following grantees for the case 

study component:

 Alabama Department of Education

 North Carolina State University

 University of Illinois, Chicago

 Center for Leadership and Educational Equity

 New Leaders

 Minneapolis Public Schools

 Cleveland Municipal School District

These case study sites reflected diversity across the selection criteria. The case study sample included: 

 One SEA

 Two school districts

 Two rural grantees

 Two nonprofit grantees

 Two IHE grantees

 Three projects with substantial participation from urban school districts

 Two projects with teacher leaders in their conception of turnaround leadership 

Exhibit C-1 presents a matrix illustrating how grantee characteristics align with these criteria.
92

Exhibit C-1. Case study sample and selection criteria

Grantee Name 

(Grantee Short Name)

Proposed 

Case 

Study

Site?

Grantee Type Urbanicity Partner Type

Implementation 

Progress

Project

Design

IHE LEA NPO SEA Rural SEA

Large 

Urban LEA Delay

Notable 

Success

Teacher 

Leadership

Total Grantees in Sample 7 2 2 2 1 2 1 2 0 2 2

Alabama Department of Education (ADE) Yes X X X

Center for Leadership and Educational Equity 

(CLEE) Yes X X

Cleveland Municipal School District (CMSD) Yes X

Miami-Dade School District (M-DCPS) No X

New Leaders Yes X X X

North Carolina State University (NCSU) Yes X X X

Paterson Board of Education (PPS) No X

Rocky Mountain College (RMC) No X X X

School District #1 Minneapolis (MPS) Yes X X

Syracuse City School District (SCSD) No X X

University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) Yes X X

Western Michigan University (WMU) No X X

Exhibit reads: Alabama Department of Education has been selected for inclusion in the case studies. It is an SEA, received its grant under the priority for rural 

grantees, and has made notable progress in establishing relationships with its partners.

Note: Shaded cells indicate case study sites.

Sources: U.S. Department of Education TSLP grantee applications and TSLP project officers.
93

Extant Data

The study team also reviewed extant data collected from TSLP projects. These included Annual 

Performance Reports and GPRA measures as well as documents collected from case study projects. 

These documents included further information on participant selection, completion, and local program 

metrics, if available 

The Department provided the annual performance report data shown in Exhibit C-2.

Exhibit C-2. TSLP GPRA indicators

School Climate

1. The student attendance rate for the SIG or SIG-eligible schools being served by the grant. 

2. The teacher attendance rate for the SIG and/or SIG-eligible schools being served by the grant. 

Student Achievement

3. For each SIG and/or SIG-eligible school served by the grant, the percentage of students who met 

proficiency, by school, on state assessments in reading/language arts and mathematics. 

4. For each SIG and/or SIG-eligible school served by the grant, the proficiency target and if that target 

was met or not met, by school, on state assessments in reading/language arts and mathematics. 

5. The graduation rate for the SIG or SIG-eligible high schools being served by the grant. 

Participation

6a. The number of participants (including current school leaders, teachers, counselors, and other school 

personnel) who enroll in leadership training in preparation for placement in SIG or SIG-eligible 

schools. 

6b. The percentage of participants (including current school leaders, teachers, counselors, and other 

school personnel) enrolled in leadership training who complete the program requirements. 

6c. The percentage of participants (including current school leaders, teachers, counselors, and other 

school personnel) who complete the program requirements and are placed in a SIG or SIG-eligible 

school. 

Cost Measure

7. The cost, per participant, to complete a training program for preparation and placement as a leader in 

a SIG or SIG-eligible school. 

Analysis Methods

The research team developed a preliminary set of constructs based on the study questions, the 

literature, and steps generally associated with educational leadership pipelines. The analyses explored 

each of these constructs across different types of respondents: project directors, district partners, 

training partners, and aspiring and placed leaders.

The analyses of survey responses focused on providing a description or comparison of survey responses 

that help to answer the research questions. Survey analyses provided a complete and comparable 

description of the Cohort 1 grantees. 

Case study analyses focused on identifying more detailed findings and examples to expand upon key 

findings from the survey and extant data. The study team used NVivo, a qualitative research software 

application (QRS), to code all qualitative data, using the constructs as an initial coding scheme. After the 

initial coding was completed, the team added additional codes to reflect emergent categories, 

consolidating (and removing) codes that were applied infrequently, and splitting high-frequency codes 
94

into more fine-grained categories. To maintain consistency and inter-rater reliability, the study team 

held frequent meetings to discuss the coding and emerging themes. 

The GPRA measures for TSLP grantees fall into four groups: school climate, student achievement, 

participation, and financial. The study focused on the participation data as a source for early outcome 

measures. Using the GPRA data, the study team calculated completion and placement rates by program, 

by project leadership type. 
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96

Appendix D

Data Collection Instruments
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Implementation Study of the Turnaround School Leaders Program

Survey Instrument 98

Implementation Study of the Turnaround 

School Leaders Program

Project Director Survey

Introduction 

The Implementation Study of the Turnaround School Leaders Program (TSLP) is examining how grantees 

recruit, develop, support, and retain leaders for turnaround schools. This study is being conducted by 

Westat and its partner, Policy Studies Associates, for the United States (U.S.) Department of Education, 

Policy and Program Studies Service.

This survey is part of the study. Your responses are critical to drawing lessons about the implementation 

of the Turnaround School Leaders Program. 

The survey includes four sections: 

1. How programs recruit, select, place, develop, and support leadership candidates.

2. The roles project partners play in implementing projects and helping grantees achieve project 

goals.

3. How grantees are adapting to challenges in implementing their projects. 

4. How grantees are measuring the success of their TSLP projects. 

Responses to this data collection will be used only for research purposes. The reports prepared for this 

study will summarize findings across the sample and will not associate responses with a specific 

individual. We will not provide information that identifies you to anyone outside the study team, except 

as required by law.

According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection of 

information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number. The valid OMB control number 

for this information collection is: 1875-0283. The time required to complete this information collection 

is estimated to average 60 minutes per response, including the time to review instructions, search 

existing data resources, gather the data needed, and complete and review the information collection.
Implementation Study of the Turnaround School Leaders Program

Survey Instrument 99

I. Recruitment, selection, development, placement, evaluation, support, 

and retention

Recruitment

I-1. Does your project do any of the following to identify potential candidates for turnaround school 

leadership before they become school leaders or apply to participate in your TSLP project? (Select 

all that apply.)

□ Seek referrals from peers or existing school leaders

□ Collect and analyze information on prior performance of existing staff

□ Develop or review skills inventories 

□ Obtain lists of those currently in teacher leader roles or other positions along the 

leadership pipeline 

□ Use historical data patterns to identify the initial career paths of successful school leaders 

□ Use historical data patterns to identify where successful turnaround leaders were 

recruited in the past 

□ Other __________________________________________________________
Implementation Study of the Turnaround School Leaders Program

Survey Instrument 100

I-2. To determine whether a potential candidate is eligible for participation in your TSLP project, do 

you consider: 

 

For those who were not school 

leaders before participation

For those who were school 

leaders before participation

Yes No Yes No

a. Teaching experience?

b. Teacher leadership experience? 

c. School administrator experience?

d. Existing administrator credential or 

certification?

e. Employment in partner district? 

f. Employment in SIG school? 

g. Level of performance 

(e.g., effectiveness) in current position? 
Implementation Study of the Turnaround School Leaders Program

Survey Instrument 101

I-3. To recruit potential turnaround leaders, does your project use:

 Yes No

a. Job postings by district/partner districts? 

b. Referrals/nominations?

c. Job fairs?

d. Recruitment alliances?

e. District website(s)?

f. Project website(s)?

g. University placement offices/services?

h. Development provider website?

i. Advertising?

j. Other ____________________________________________
Implementation Study of the Turnaround School Leaders Program

Survey Instrument 102

I-4. How important was each of the following in identifying the turnaround leader competencies your 

project seeks to develop? 

 

Not 

important

Somewhat 

Important Important

Very 

Important

a. Research on effective school leadership

b. National or state leadership standards

c. Activities or strategies from SIG school 

turnaround models

d. Specific district school turnaround programs 

or strategies 

e. Leadership models of training providers

f. District leadership models

g. Other ___________________________
Implementation Study of the Turnaround School Leaders Program

Survey Instrument 103

I-5. To assess leadership candidates, did your project use: 

 Yes No

a. One-on-one interviews?

b. Panel interview?

c. Personality tests?

d. Situational judgment tests?

e. Resume reviews?

f. Role plays?

g. Written exercises or reflections?

h. Leadership ability questionnaires or surveys? 

i. Observations or video clips of observable performance?

j. Review of written examples of work? 

k. Other ___________________________________
Implementation Study of the Turnaround School Leaders Program

Survey Instrument 104

Development

I-6. For each applicable cohort: Consider only those who were not leaders in turnaround schools 

before beginning with the project. First enter the total number of applicants, then the number 

for each program stage shown in the table below. If you did not begin a cohort for one of the time 

periods listed, select “Not applicable.”

Cohort 

beginning

Not 

applicable Applied Accepted

Began 

program

Completed 

program

Was placed 

as a 

turnaround 

school leader 

within 1 year 

of project 

completion

Remained 

leader of a 

turnaround 

beyond the 

initial year 

of 

placement

Fall 2014

Spring 2015

Summer 2015

Fall 2015

Spring 2016

Summer 2016

Fall 2016

I-7. For each applicable cohort: Consider only those who were leaders in turnaround schools before 

beginning with the project. If you did not begin a cohort for one of the time periods listed, select 

“Not applicable.” 

Cohort 

beginning

Not 

applicable Applied Accepted

Began 

program

Completed 

program

Was 

employed as 

a turnaround 

leader within 

1 year after 

project 

completion

Remained 

leader of a 

turnaround 

beyond the 

initial year of 

placement

Fall 2014

Spring 2015

Summer 2015

Fall 2015

Spring 2016

Summer 2016

Fall 2016

I-8. What percentage of project completers are placed in turnaround schools within 1 year of 

completion? ____ % 
Implementation Study of the Turnaround School Leaders Program

Survey Instrument 105

I-9. What is the expected duration of the training and development for:

A participant aspiring to be a turnaround school principal or 

assistant principal

_____ months

A participant who entered as a school leader, but was not leading a 

turnaround school 

_____ months

A participant who entered as a leader of a turnaround school _____ months

I-10. How much is the total tuition or fee for one candidate to complete the turnaround leader 

training? (If there is no tuition or fee, please enter “0”). 

$ ___________ <Skip to Question I-12 if value=0>

I-11. Who typically pays each participant’s tuition? (Check all that apply)

☐ Federal grant funds

☐ Participant

☐ School district

☐ Other ____________________________________________________ 
Implementation Study of the Turnaround School Leaders Program

Survey Instrument 106

I-12. About how much training time does your project allocate to each of the following topics when 

preparing TSLP participants? 

Topic 

Much less 

than most 

other topics

Somewhat 

less than 

most other 

topics

About 

the same 

as most 

other 

topics

Somewhat 

more than 

most other 

topics

Much 

more 

than 

most 

other 

topics

a. Developing/communicating a school vision 

or strategy

b. Developing a positive school culture

c. Teacher recruitment, selection, retention

d. Monitoring/evaluating instruction

e. Selecting instructional models or curricula

f. Culturally relevant/responsive pedagogy

g. Use of data for instructional and project 

decisions

h. Parent communication/engagement

i. Community engagement/partnership 

j. Communication/interpersonal skills

k. Student behavior/engagement 

l. Resource allocation and budgeting 

m. Technology use

n. Other______________________________

o. Other___________________________

I-13. Is graduate coursework required as part of the leadership preparation training in your TSLP 

project (NOT including on-site internship/residency)? 

☐ Yes

☐ No <Skip to Question I-15>
Implementation Study of the Turnaround School Leaders Program

Survey Instrument 107

I-14. How often are the following learning practices/instructional strategies used as part of the 

coursework in your TSLP project’s leadership training?

Practice/strategy Not used Used once

Used 2 or 

3 times

Used 4 

times or 

more

a. Field-based projects in which aspiring turnaround 

leaders apply ideas in the field

b. Analysis and discussion of field-based problems or 

problem-based- learning approaches 

c. Action research or inquiry projects

d. Analysis and discussion of case studies

e. A portfolio demonstrating aspiring turnaround 

leaders’ learning and accomplishments

I-15. Do aspiring turnaround leaders participate in a supervised internship/residency (either in the job 

they held on entry or in a new position) as part of their leadership preparation training?

(Note: by “residency/internship” we mean the time that aspiring school leaders spend practicing 

leadership skills in a school setting as part of the requirements of the project. This could include 

activities added on to the participant’s full time job as a teacher, instructional coach, assistant 

principal, or placement in a new setting for an extended period (often a full school year) as an 

apprentice leader.)

☐ Yes

☐ No <Skip to Question I-20>

I-16. How long is the supervised internship/residency? (Select one.)

☐ Less than half of a school year

☐ Half of a school year

☐ One school year

☐ More than one school year but less than two 

☐ Two school years or more

I-17. Which of the following best describes how the internship/residency is structured? (Select one.)

☐ Participants remain in their current positions for the duration of the residency or internship

☐ Participants are placed at a different school for part of the residency or internship period

☐ Participants are placed at a different school for all of the residency or internship period

☐ Other (specify____________________________________________________________)
Implementation Study of the Turnaround School Leaders Program

Survey Instrument 108

I-18. Does the supervised internship/residency experience include: 

 Yes No

a. Supervision and assistance by a mentor or coach knowledgeable 

about school turnaround?

b. Responsibilities for leading, facilitating, and making decisions 

typical of a turnaround leader?

c. Regular evaluation of performance by project staff?

d. Opportunities to network with other interns/residents?

I-19. If the internship or residency includes a mentor or coach, about how often do mentors or 

coaches: 

Activity

Not 

expected Weekly

Twice a 

month Monthly

Several 

times 

per year

Once per 

year

a. Maintain regular contact with the 

participants?

b. Provide social/emotional support?

c. Suggest resources, strategies, or 

techniques to improve performance?

d. Observe the leaders performing 

leadership activities (e.g., conducting 

staff meetings, parent meetings, teacher 

evaluations)?

e. Advise/assist participants with work 

assignments?

f. Model appropriate leadership behavior?

g. Provide input into a summative 

evaluation of the participants’ 

performance?
Implementation Study of the Turnaround School Leaders Program

Survey Instrument 109

Placement

I-20. When are aspiring turnaround leaders (those not currently leading a SIG, SIG-eligible, or 

turnaround school) matched with a leadership position in a turnaround school?

a. Not applicable; our project includes only leaders who currently lead turnaround schools <Skip to 

question I-23>

b. Before they apply to the project (e.g., applicant or sponsor designates school of placement) 

c. At the time they apply to or are accepted into the turnaround leader training

d. During their training 

e. After the completion of their training

f. Other (Please describe in text box below.)

I-21. Are turnaround school staff involved in any of the following stages of the placement process?

 Yes No

Initial review of candidate qualifications

Candidate interviews

Discussions about who should be hired or placed

Making the recommendation to the appointing 

authority about who should be hired or placed

I-22. In general, how important is each of the following when making placement decisions? 

 

Not 

important

Somewhat 

important Important

Very

important

a. Prior experience in the potential placement 

school 

b. Prior experience in a similar school 

c. Performance during the development project

d. Prior experience in the placement district

e. Experience/expertise with specific school 

improvement/turnaround strategies 

f. Other forms of leadership experience 

g. Other ___________________________

h. Other ___________________________
Implementation Study of the Turnaround School Leaders Program

Survey Instrument 110

Evaluation of Turnaround Leaders 

I-23. To evaluate participants, does your project use: (Select NA in the appropriate rows if your project 

has no participants to whom the column applies.) 

 

For participants 

who are currently 

school leaders

For participants 

who are not

currently school 

leaders

Yes No NA Yes No NA

a. Course grades?

b. Observation of practice by mentor, supervisor, or 

project staff? 

c. Self-assessment? 

d. Review of artifacts such as school improvement 

plans, budgets, or meeting agendas?

e. Student surveys? 

f. Staff surveys 

g. Parent surveys 

h. Student achievement growth

i. Other student outcomes

j. Other ______________________________

Ongoing Support for Leaders

I-24. After completion of the turnaround leader training, does your project provide any of the following 

supports to the TSLP participants who are placed as turnaround school leaders? 

 Yes No

a. Periodic group meetings or seminars with other turnaround 

leaders

b. Assistance with work products like school improvement plans, 

budgets

c. Assistance with individual professional development planning

d. Individual mentoring or coaching

<If respondent selects “Yes” to I-24d, present questions I-25 and I-26; if respondent selects “No” to I24d, skip to question I-27>
Implementation Study of the Turnaround School Leaders Program

Survey Instrument 111

I-25. How long after completing the turnaround leader training is the mentor or coach available to 

work with the placed leaders? (Select one) 

☐ Less than 1 year

☐ 1 year

☐ 2 years

☐ More than 2 years

☐ As long as the leader remains in a turnaround school

I-26. About how often do mentors or coaches:

Activity

Not 

expected Weekly

Twice 

a 

month Monthly

Several 

times 

per year

Once 

per year

a. Maintain regular contact with the 

participants? 

b. Provide social/emotional support?

c. Suggest resources, strategies, or techniques 

to improve performance?

d. Observe the leaders performing leadership 

functions (e.g., conducting staff meetings, 

parent meetings, teacher evaluations)?

e. Advise/assist participants with work 

assignments? 

f. Model appropriate leadership behavior? 

g. Provide input into a summative evaluation 

of the participants’ performance?
Implementation Study of the Turnaround School Leaders Program

Survey Instrument 112

Incentives (Financial and Nonfinancial)

I-27. Are any financial incentives provided to participants for:

 Yes No

a. Participating in the program? 

b. Being placed in a turnaround school on completion of the preparation?

<If the respondent says yes to I-27b, present I-27c>

<If the respondent says no to both I-27a and I-27b, skip to I-29>

I-27c. Do leaders placed in turnaround schools receive: 

 Yes No

a. A one-time bonus upon being placed or hired as a leader? 

b. A special salary increase for taking a job as a turnaround leader?

c. A retention bonus or stipend after each year of leading a turnaround 

school? 

d. A performance-based bonus or stipend specifically for leaders of 

turnaround schools?

e. A performance-based bonus or stipend similar to that for which other 

school leaders in the district would be eligible? 

f. Other (please describe) _________________________________

I-28. If project participants receive financial incentives, who pays the cost? (Select all that apply) 

☐ The project, through federal funds

☐ The project, through other grant funds 

☐ The district 

☐ The state 

☐ A private foundation

☐ Other ____________________________________________________ 

I-29. Are any nonfinancial incentives provided or available for:

 Yes No

a. Participating in the program? 

b. Being placed in a turnaround school on completion of the preparation?

<If respondent selects yes to a or b above, show text box> Please list the non-financial incentives.
Implementation Study of the Turnaround School Leaders Program

Survey Instrument 113

II. Partner Roles

II-1. Which of the following roles does your organization play in the project? (Please select one in each 

row.)

Project function

Role

Not involved

Participate in 

discussions 

about this 

function

Assist other 

partners with 

primary 

responsibility

Responsible for 

this function 

equally with 

other partners

Primarily 

responsible for 

function with 

help from 

others

Solely 

responsible for 

this function

a. Conceptualizing the 

overall project

b. Identifying turnaround 

leadership skills or 

competencies

c. Recruiting leaders or 

aspiring leaders 

d. Developing selection 

criteria for accepting 

applicants

e. Making the decision to 

select an applicant into 

the turnaround leader 

training

f. Developing training 

content

g. Delivering training

h. Providing coaching or 

mentoring to project 

participants

i. Developing criteria for 

assessing participant 

performance

j. Evaluating participant 

performance

k. Deciding who will be 

graduated from the 

training

l. Providing ongoing 

support for placed leaders

m. Deciding how to 

measure the success of 

the TSLP project

n. Evaluating the overall 

success of the TSLP 

project
Implementation Study of the Turnaround School Leaders Program

Survey Instrument 114

II-2. Is there a memorandum of understanding (MOU) or other written agreement documenting the 

roles and responsibilities of each partner organization? 

☐ Yes

☐ No

☐ Other _______________

II-3. What were your two biggest successes in making your partnership work? 

Text box for open-ended response

II-4. What were your two biggest challenges in making your partnership work? 

Text box for open-ended response
Implementation Study of the Turnaround School Leaders Program

Survey Instrument 115

III. Project Changes and Sustainability

III-1. Has your TSLP project changed in any of the following areas since you received the grant? 

a. Recruitment of current or potential leaders

☐ Yes

☐ No

☐ Don’t know

 If the respondent selects Yes, the next page should display the following:

How important were the following potential reasons for changes in the recruitment of current or 

potential leaders?

Potential reason

Not a 

factor

Contributing 

factor Main factor

a.1 Developed better methods

a.2 Change in state or district policies or priorities

a.3 Changes in capacity or commitment of other 

partners

a.4 Input from project participants

a.5 Financial constraints

a.6 Change in the demand for turnaround leaders 

(e.g., more or fewer vacancies than expected)

a.7 Other (please describe) _________________
Implementation Study of the Turnaround School Leaders Program

Survey Instrument 116

b. Methods of selecting project participants

☐ Yes

☐ No

☐ Don’t know

How important were the following potential reasons for changes to methods of selecting project 

participants?

Potential reason Not a factor

Contributing 

factor Main factor

b.1 Developed better methods

b.2 Change in state or district policies or priorities

b.3 Changes in capacity or commitment of other partners

b.4 Input from project participants

b.5 Financial constraints

b.6 Change in the demand for turnaround leaders (e.g., 

more or fewer vacancies than expected)

b.7 Other (please describe) _________________

c. Content of turnaround leadership professional development 

☐ Yes

☐ No

☐ Don’t know

How important were the following potential reasons for changes to the content of the turnaround 

leadership professional development?

Potential reason Not a factor

Contributing 

factor Main factor

c.1 Developed better methods

c.2 Change in state or district policies or priorities

c.3 Changes in capacity or commitment of other partners

c.4 Input from project participants

c.5 Financial constraints

c.6 Change in the demand for turnaround leaders (e.g., 

more or fewer vacancies than expected)

c.7 Other (please describe) _________________
Implementation Study of the Turnaround School Leaders Program

Survey Instrument 117

d. Mentoring or coaching provided to current or potential leaders

☐ Yes

☐ No

☐ Don’t know

How important were the following potential reasons for changes to mentoring or coaching 

provided to current or potential leaders?

Potential reason Not a factor

Contributing 

factor Main factor

d.1 Developed better methods

d.2 Change in state or district policies or priorities

d.3 Changes in capacity or commitment of other partners

d.4 Input from project participants

d.5 Financial constraints

d.6 Change in the demand for turnaround leaders (e.g., 

more or fewer vacancies than expected)

d.7 Other (please describe) _________________

e. Incentives for current or potential leaders to participate

☐ Yes

☐ No

☐ Don’t know

How important were the following potential reasons for changes to incentives for current or 

potential leaders?

Potential reason Not a factor

Contributing 

factor Main factor

e.1 Developed better methods

e.2 Change in state or district policies or priorities

e.3 Changes in capacity or commitment of other partners

e.4 Input from project participants

e.5 Financial constraints

e.6 Change in the demand for turnaround leaders (e.g., 

more or fewer vacancies than expected)

e.7 Other (please describe) _________________
Implementation Study of the Turnaround School Leaders Program

Survey Instrument 118

f. Change in the districts or schools being served

☐ Yes

☐ No

☐ Don’t know

How important were the following potential reasons for changes in the districts or schools being 

served?

Potential reason Not a factor

Contributing 

factor Main factor

f.1 Developed better methods

f.2 Change in state or district policies or priorities

f.3 Changes in capacity or commitment of other partners

f.4 Input from project participants

f.5 Financial constraints

f.6 Change in the demand for turnaround leaders (e.g., 

more or fewer vacancies than expected)

f.7 Other (please describe) _________________

g. Changing professional development or support providers

☐ Yes

☐ No

☐ Don’t know

How important were the following potential reasons for changing professional development or 

support providers?

Potential reason Not a factor

Contributing 

factor Main factor

g.1 Developed better methods

g.2 Change in state or district policies or priorities

g.3 Changes in capacity or commitment of other partners

g.4 Input from project participants

g.5 Financial constraints

g.6 Change in the demand for turnaround leaders (e.g., 

more or fewer vacancies than expected)

g.7 Other (please describe) _________________
Implementation Study of the Turnaround School Leaders Program

Survey Instrument 119

h. Use the text box below to describe any other major changes not covered above and the 

reasons the changes were made 

Text box for open-ended response

III-2. Do you expect the partners to continue to work together in any of the following ways after the 

end of the grant? (Please select all that apply.)

☐ To identify or recruit potential turnaround leaders

☐ To provide input on the training/preparation needs of turnaround school leaders

☐ To select or place leaders for turnaround schools

☐ To provide training or development opportunities specifically targeted to turnaround school leaders

☐ To provide coaching or mentoring support to turnaround school leaders

☐ To help districts assess the training/development needs or performance of turnaround school 

leaders

☐ Other (Please describe) _________________________________________________

III-3. What aspects of your project do you expect to continue after the end of the grant? (Select all that 

apply.)

☐ The methods of recruiting turnaround leaders

☐ The methods of selecting potential or current leaders for training

☐ The training content

☐ Mentoring or coaching of aspiring or placed leaders

☐ The methods of evaluating the performance of aspiring or placed leaders

☐ Incentives for recruiting or retaining placed leaders used by the project
Implementation Study of the Turnaround School Leaders Program

Survey Instrument 120

IV. Measuring the Success of Your TSLP Project

IV-1. In addition to your project’s GPRA indicators, are you using any locally developed metrics to 

measure your project’s performance? 

☐ Yes

☐ No (skip to Question IV-3)

IV-2. Which of the following are included in your locally developed metrics? 

 Yes No

a. Percentage of participants receiving license, certification, endorsement, 

or degree

b. Performance of leaders on competency assessments or performance 

evaluation instruments designed for the project

c. Performance of placed leaders as evaluated by state/district school 

administrator evaluation process (i.e., ratings of performance or 

effectiveness) 

d. Participants’ perceptions of the project

e. Supervisors’ perceptions of participants 

f. School climate/culture in leaders’ schools

g. Achievement gaps in leaders’ schools

h. Retention of participants remaining as a leader of a high-need or SIG 

school after training or placement 

i. Other _______________________________________________

j. Other ________________________________________________

IV-3. Who is responsible for analyzing and summarizing data measuring the performance of your 

project? (Select all that apply.)

☐ Project staff 

☐ Development providers

☐ Partner districts 

☐ An external evaluator

☐ Other __________________________________________________________ 
Implementation Study of the Turnaround School Leaders Program

Survey Instrument 121

Implementation Study of the Turnaround 

School Leaders Program

District Partner Survey

Introduction 

The Implementation Study of the Turnaround School Leaders Program (TSLP) is examining how grantees 

recruit, develop, support, and retain leaders for turnaround schools. This study is being conducted by 

Westat and its partner, Policy Studies Associates, for the United States (U.S.) Department of Education, 

Policy and Program Studies Service.

This survey is part of the study. Your responses are critical to drawing lessons about the implementation 

of the Turnaround School Leaders Program. 

The survey includes four sections: 

1. The roles project partners play in implementing projects and helping grantees achieve project 

goals.

2. How grantees are adapting to challenges in implementing their projects. 

3. How programs recruit, select, place, develop, and support leadership candidates.

4. How grantees are measuring the success of their TSLP projects.

Responses to this data collection will be used only for research purposes. The reports prepared for this 

study will summarize findings across the sample and will not associate responses with a specific 

individual. We will not provide information that identifies you to anyone outside the study team, except 

as required by law.

According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection of 

information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number. The valid OMB control number 

for this information collection is: 1875-0283. The time required to complete this information collection 

is estimated to average 40 minutes per response, including the time to review instructions, search 

existing data resources, gather the data needed, and complete and review the information collection.
Implementation Study of the Turnaround School Leaders Program

Survey Instrument 122

I. Partner Roles

I-1. Which of the following roles does your district play in the project? (Please select one in each row.) 

Project function

Role

Not 

involved

Participate 

in 

discussions 

about this 

function

Assist other 

partners 

with primary 

responsibility

Share 

responsibility 

for this 

function 

equally with 

other 

partners

Primarily 

responsible 

for function 

with help 

from others

Solely 

responsible 

for this 

function

Conceptualizing the 

overall project

Identifying turnaround 

leadership skills or 

competencies

Recruiting leaders or 

aspiring leaders 

Developing selection 

criteria for accepting 

applicants

Making the decision to 

select an applicant into 

the turnaround leader 

training

Developing training 

content

Delivering training

Providing coaching or 

mentoring to project 

participants

Developing criteria for 

assessing participant 

performance

Evaluating participant 

performance

Deciding who will be 

graduated from the 

training

Providing ongoing 

support for placed 

leaders

Deciding how to 

measure the success of 

the TSLP project

Evaluating the overall 

success of the TSLP 

project

I-2. Is there a memorandum of understanding (MOU) or other written agreement documenting the 

roles and responsibilities of each partner organization? 
Implementation Study of the Turnaround School Leaders Program

Survey Instrument 123

☐ Yes

☐ No

☐ Other __________________________________

I-3. What were your two biggest successes in making your partnership work? 

Text box for open-ended response

I-4. What were your two biggest challenges in making your partnership work? 

Text box for open-ended response
Implementation Study of the Turnaround School Leaders Program

Survey Instrument 124

II. Project Changes and Sustainability

II-1. Has your TSLP project changed in any of the following areas since you received the grant? 

a. Recruitment of current or potential leaders

☐ Yes

☐ No

☐ Don’t know

 If respondent selects Yes, the next page should be displayed as follows.

How important were the following potential reasons for changes in the recruitment of current 

or potential leaders?

Potential reason Not a factor

Contributing 

factor Main factor

a.1 Developed better methods

a.2 Change in state or district policies or priorities

a.3 Changes in capacity or commitment of other partners

a.4 Input from program participants

a.5 Financial constraints

a.6 Change in the demand for turnaround leaders (e.g., 

more or fewer vacancies than expected)

a.7 Other (please describe) _____________________
Implementation Study of the Turnaround School Leaders Program

Survey Instrument 125

b. Methods of selecting project participants

☐ Yes

☐ No

☐ Don’t know

How important were the following potential reasons for changes in the methods of selecting 

project participants?

Potential reason Not a factor

Contributing 

factor Main factor

b.1 Developed better methods

b.2 Change in state or district policies or priorities

b.3 Changes in capacity or commitment of other partners

b.4 Input from program participants

b.5 Financial constraints

b.6 Change in the demand for turnaround leaders (e.g., 

more or fewer vacancies than expected)

b.7 Other (please describe) _____________________
Implementation Study of the Turnaround School Leaders Program

Survey Instrument 126

c. Content of turnaround leadership professional development 

☐ Yes

☐ No

☐ Don’t know

How important were the following potential reasons for changes in the content of turnaround 

leadership professional development?

Potential reason Not a factor

Contributing 

factor Main factor

c.1 Developed better methods

c.2 Change in state or district policies or priorities

c.3 Changes in capacity or commitment of other partners

c.4 Input from program participants

c.5 Financial constraints

c.6 Change in the demand for turnaround leaders (e.g., 

more or fewer vacancies than expected)

c.7 Other (please describe) _____________________

d. Mentoring or coaching provided to current or potential leaders

☐ Yes

☐ No

☐ Don’t know

How important were the following potential reasons for changes in the mentoring or coaching 

provided to current or potential leaders?

Potential reason Not a factor

Contributing 

factor Main factor

d.1 Developed better methods

d.2 Change in state or district policies or priorities

d.3 Changes in capacity or commitment of other partners

d.4 Input from program participants

d.5 Financial constraints

d.6 Change in the demand for turnaround leaders (e.g., 

more or fewer vacancies than expected)

d.7 Other (please describe) ____________________
Implementation Study of the Turnaround School Leaders Program

Survey Instrument 127

e. Incentives for current or potential leaders to participate

☐ Yes

☐ No

☐ Don’t know

How important were the following potential reasons for changes in incentives for current or 

potential leaders?

Potential reason Not a factor

Contributing 

factor Main factor

e.1 Developed better methods

e.2 Change in state or district policies or priorities

e.3 Changes in capacity or commitment of other partners

e.4 Input from program participants

e.5 Financial constraints

e.6 Change in the demand for turnaround leaders (e.g., 

more or fewer vacancies than expected)

e.7 Other (please describe) ____________________

f. Change in the population of schools being served

☐ Yes

☐ No

☐ Don’t know

How important were the following potential reasons for changes in the population of schools 

being served?

Potential reason Not a factor

Contributing 

factor Main factor

f.1 Developed better methods

f.2 Change in state or district policies or priorities

f.3 Changes in capacity or commitment of other partners

f.4 Input from program participants

f.5 Financial constraints

f.6 Change in the demand for turnaround leaders (e.g., 

more or fewer vacancies than expected)

f.7 Other (please describe) _____________________
Implementation Study of the Turnaround School Leaders Program

Survey Instrument 128

g. Changing professional development or support providers

☐ Yes

☐ No

☐ Don’t know

How important were the following potential reasons for changing professional development or 

support providers?

Potential reason Not a factor

Contributing 

factor Main factor

g.1 Developed better methods

g.2 Change in state or district policies or priorities

g.3 Changes in capacity or commitment of other partners

g.4 Input from program participants

g.5 Financial constraints

g.6 Change in the demand for turnaround leaders (e.g., 

more or fewer vacancies than expected)

g.7 Other (please describe) _____________________

h. Use the text box below to describe any other major changes not covered above and the reasons the 

changes were made. 

Text box for open-ended response

II-2. Do you expect that your district will continue to work with the other partners on preparing 

turnaround school leaders after the TSLP grant ends?

☐ Yes

☐ No (skip to question III-1)

☐ Don’t know (skip to question III-1)
Implementation Study of the Turnaround School Leaders Program

Survey Instrument 129

II-3. Do you expect to continue to work with these partners in any of the following ways? (Please 

select all that apply.)

☐ To identify or recruit potential turnaround leaders

☐ To provide input on the training/preparation needs of turnaround school leaders

☐ To select or place leaders for turnaround schools

☐ To provide training or development opportunities specifically targeted to turnaround school leaders

☐ To provide coaching or mentoring support to turnaround school leaders

☐ To help your district assess the training/development needs or performance of turnaround school 

leaders

☐ Other (Please describe) _________________________________________________
Implementation Study of the Turnaround School Leaders Program

Survey Instrument 130

III. Recruitment, Selection, Development, Placement, Evaluation, Support, 

and Retention

III-1. Does your district do any of the following to identify potential candidates for turnaround school 

leadership before they become school leaders or apply to participate in your TSLP project?(Select 

all that apply.)

☐ Seek referrals from peers or existing school leaders

☐ Collect and analyze information on prior performance of existing staff

☐ Develop or review skills inventories 

☐ Obtain lists of those currently in teacher leader roles or other positions along the leadership pipeline 

☐ Use historical data patterns to identify the initial career paths of successful school leaders 

☐ Use historical data patterns to identify where successful turnaround leaders were recruited in the 

past 

☐ Other __________________________________________________________

III-2. Does your district provide training on any of the following topics to TSLP participants? (Please 

consider only training provided by the district, and not that provided by other project partners, if 

any.)

 Yes No

a. Developing/communicating a school vision or strategy

b. Developing a positive school culture

c. Teacher hiring, evaluation, and retention

d. Selecting instructional models or curricula

e. Culturally relevant/responsive pedagogy

f. Use of data for instructional and project decisions

g. Parent communication/engagement

h. Community engagement/partnership 

i. Communication/interpersonal skills

j. Student behavior/engagement 

k. Resource allocation and budgeting 

l. Technology use

m. Other topics on which your district provides training about school leadership to 

TSLP participants, beyond that provided through the TSLP grant

If response to m above is yes, please list topics.
Implementation Study of the Turnaround School Leaders Program

Survey Instrument 131

III-3. To evaluate participants, does your district use: (Select NA in the appropriate rows if your project 

has no participants to whom the column applies.) 

 

For participants 

who are currently 

school leaders

For participants 

who are not

currently school 

leaders

Yes No NA Yes No NA

a. Course grades?

b. Observation of practice by mentor, supervisor, or 

project staff? 

c. Self-assessment? 

d. Review of artifacts such as school improvement 

plans, budgets, or meeting agendas?

e. Student surveys? 

f. Staff surveys? 

g. Parent surveys? 

h. Student achievement growth?

i. Other student outcomes?

j. Other ______________________________

III-4. When are aspiring turnaround leaders (those not currently leading a SIG, SIG-eligible, or 

turnaround school) matched with a leadership position in a turnaround school?

☐ Not applicable; our project includes only leaders who currently lead turnaround schools <Skip to 

question III-8>

☐ Before they apply to the project (e.g., applicant or sponsor designates school of placement) 

☐ At the time they apply to or are accepted into the turnaround leader training

☐ During their training 

☐ After the completion of their training

☐ Other (Please describe in text box below.)

III-5. What roles do district staff play in deciding where turnaround leaders who complete the TSLP are 

placed? (Select all that apply.) 

☐ Screen or assess qualifications for leading a turnaround school

☐ Participate in deliberations about candidate fit

☐ Recommend hiring or placement

☐ Make final hiring/placement decision (subject to district governing board or committee approval)
Implementation Study of the Turnaround School Leaders Program

Survey Instrument 132

III-6. In general, how important is each of the following when making placement decisions?

 

Not 

important

Somewhat 

important Important

Very

important

a. Prior experience in the potential placement 

school 

b. Prior experience in a similar school 

c. Performance during the development 

project

d. Prior experience in the placement district

e. Experience/expertise with specific school 

improvement/turnaround strategies 

f. Other forms of leadership experience 

g. Other ___________________________

h. Other ___________________________

III-7. Besides incentives associated with the TSLP grant program, does your district use any of the 

following financial incentives to attract or retain effective leaders in turnaround schools?

 Yes No

a. A one-time bonus upon being placed or hired as a leader 

b. A special salary increase for taking a job as a turnaround leader

c. A retention bonus or stipend after each year of leading a 

turnaround school 

d. A performance-based bonus or stipend specifically for leaders 

of turnaround schools 

e. A performance-based bonus or stipend similar to that for which 

other school leaders in the district would be eligible

f. Other (please describe) 

III-8. Are any nonfinancial incentives provided or available to turnaround school leaders? 

☐ Yes

☐ No

<If respondent selects yes, show text box> Please list the non-financial incentives.
Implementation Study of the Turnaround School Leaders Program

Survey Instrument 133

III-9. Who typically pays the tuition or fee (if any) for TSLP program participants from your district? 

☐ Federal grant funds

☐ Participant

☐ School district

☐ Not applicable – there is no tuition or fee

III-10. After completion of the turnaround leader training, does your district provide any of the following 

supports to TSLP participants placed as turnaround school leaders? 

 Yes No

a. Periodic group meetings or seminars with other turnaround 

leaders

b. Assistance with work products like school improvement plans, 

budgets

c. Assistance with individual professional development planning

d. Individual mentoring or coaching

<If respondent selects “Yes” to III-10d, present questions III-11 and III-12; if respondent selects “No” or 

Don’t know to III-10d, skip to question III-13>.

III-11. How long after placement is the mentor or coach available to work with the school leader? (Select 

one.) 

☐ Less than 1 year

☐ 1 year

☐ 2 years

☐ More than 2 years 

☐ As long as the leader remains in a turnaround school
Implementation Study of the Turnaround School Leaders Program

Survey Instrument 134

III-12. About how often do mentors or coaches: 

Activity

Not 

expected Weekly

Twice a 

month Monthly

Several 

times 

per year

Once per 

year

a. Maintain regular contact with the 

participants? 

b. Provide social/emotional support?

c. Suggest resources, strategies, or 

techniques to improve performance?

d. Observe the leaders practicing 

leadership activities (e.g., conducting 

staff meetings, parent meetings, 

teacher evaluations)?

e. Advise/assist participants with work 

assignments?

f. Model appropriate leadership 

behavior?

g. Provide input into a summative 

evaluation of the participants’ 

performance?

III-13. Does your district provide any of the following additional supports or resources to turnaround 

schools, over and above what typical schools in your district receive?

Yes No

a. Technical assistance from district staff or outside consultants

b. Additional staff or funding

c. Additional budgeting or staffing flexibility

d. A longer school day or year

e. Preferential opportunity to recruit more qualified or effective teachers

f. Financial incentives to attract or retain qualified or effective teachers

g. Nonfinancial incentives (e.g., smaller class size, planning time, reduced 

classroom hours) to attract or retain qualified or effective teachers
Implementation Study of the Turnaround School Leaders Program

Survey Instrument 135

IV. Measuring the Success of Your Project

IV-1. In addition to your project’s GPRA Indicators, is your district using any locally-developed metrics 

to measure the project’s performance?

☐ Yes

☐ No (Skip to the end of the survey)

IV-2. Which of the following are included in your locally developed metrics? 

 Yes No

a. Percentage of participants receiving license, certification, endorsement, 

or degree

b. Performance of leaders on competency assessments or performance 

evaluation instruments designed for the project

c. Performance of placed leaders as evaluated by state/district school 

administrator evaluation process (i.e., ratings of performance or 

effectiveness) 

d. Participants’ perceptions of the project

e. Supervisors’ perceptions of participants 

f. School climate/culture in leaders’ schools

g. Achievement gaps in leaders’ schools

h. Retention of participants remaining as a leader of a high-need or SIG 

school after training or placement 

i. Other _______________________________________________

j. Other ________________________________________________
Implementation Study of the Turnaround School Leaders Program

Survey Instrument 136

Implementation Study of the Turnaround 

School Leaders Program

Training Partner Survey

Introduction 

The Implementation Study of the Turnaround School Leaders Program (TSLP) is examining how grantees 

recruit, develop, support, and retain leaders for turnaround schools. This study is being conducted by 

Westat and its partner, Policy Studies Associates, for the United States (U.S.) Department of Education, 

Policy and Program Studies Service.

This survey is part of the study. Your responses are critical to drawing lessons about the implementation 

of the Turnaround School Leaders Program. 

The survey includes four sections: 

1. The roles project partners play in implementing projects and achieving project goals.

2. How grantees are adapting to challenges in implementing their projects. 

3. How projects recruit, select, place, develop, and support leadership candidates

4. How grantees are measuring the success of their TSLP projects. 

Responses to this data collection will be used only for research purposes. The reports prepared for this 

study will summarize findings across the sample and will not associate responses with a specific 

individual. We will not provide information that identifies you to anyone outside the study team, except 

as required by law.

According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection of 

information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number. The valid OMB control number 

for this information collection is: 1875-0283. The time required to complete this information collection 

is estimated to average 30 minutes per response, including the time to review instructions, search 

existing data resources, gather the data needed, and complete and review the information collection.
Implementation Study of the Turnaround School Leaders Program

Survey Instrument 137

I. Partner Roles

I-1. Which of the following roles does your organization play in the project? (Please select one in each 

row.)

Project function

Role

Not 

involved

Participate 

in 

discussions 

about this 

function

Assist other 

partners 

with primary 

responsibility

Share 

responsibility 

for this 

function 

equally with 

other 

partners

Primarily 

responsible

for function 

with help 

from others

Solely 

responsible 

for this 

function

Conceptualizing the 

overall project

Identifying turnaround 

leadership skills or 

competencies

Recruiting leaders or 

aspiring leaders 

Developing selection 

criteria for accepting 

applicants

Making the decision to 

select an applicant into 

the turnaround leader 

training

Developing training 

content

Delivering training

Providing coaching or 

mentoring to project 

participants

Developing criteria for 

assessing participant 

performance

Evaluating participant 

performance

Deciding who will be 

graduated from the 

training

Providing ongoing 

support for placed 

leaders

Deciding how to 

measure the success of 

the TSLP project

Evaluating the overall 

success of the TSLP 

project
Implementation Study of the Turnaround School Leaders Program

Survey Instrument 138

I-2. Is there a memorandum of understanding (MOU) or other written agreement documenting the 

roles and responsibilities of each partner organization? 

 Yes

 No

 Other ___________________________________

I-3. What were your two biggest successes in making your partnership work? 

Text box for open-ended response

I-4. What were your two biggest challenges in making your partnership work? 

Text box for open-ended response
Implementation Study of the Turnaround School Leaders Program

Survey Instrument 139

II. Project Changes and Sustainability

II-1. Has your TSLP project changed in any of the following areas since you received the grant? 

a. Recruitment of current or potential leaders

 Yes

 No

 Don’t know

 If respondent selects Yes, the next page should be displayed as follows.

How important were the following potential reasons for changes in the recruitment of current or 

potential leaders?

Potential reason

Not a 

factor

Contributing 

factor Main factor

a.1 Developed better methods

a.2 Change in state or district policies or priorities

a.3 Changes in capacity or commitment of other 

partners

a.4 Input from program participants

a.5 Financial constraints

a.6 Change in the demand for turnaround leaders 

(e.g., more or fewer vacancies than expected)

a.7 Other (please describe) _____________________

b. Methods of selecting project participants

 Yes

 No

 Don’t know

How important were the following potential reasons for changes in the methods of selecting 

project participants?

Potential reason

Not a 

factor

Contributing 

factor Main factor

b.1 Developed better methods

b.2 Change in state or district policies or priorities

b.3 Changes in capacity or commitment of other 

partners

b.4 Input from program participants

b.5 Financial constraints

b.6 Change in the demand for turnaround leaders 

(e.g., more or fewer vacancies than expected)

b.7 Other (please describe) _____________________
Implementation Study of the Turnaround School Leaders Program

Survey Instrument 140

c. Content of turnaround leadership professional development 

 Yes

 No

 Don’t know

How important were the following potential reasons for changes in the content of turnaround 

leadership professional development?

Potential reason

Not a 

factor

Contributing 

factor Main factor

c.1 Developed better methods

c.2 Change in state or district policies or priorities

c.3 Changes in capacity or commitment of other 

partners

c.4 Input from program participants

c.5 Financial constraints

c.6 Change in the demand for turnaround leaders 

(e.g., more or fewer vacancies than expected)

c.7 Other (please describe) _____________________

d. Mentoring or coaching provided to current or potential leaders

 Yes

 No

 Don’t know

How important were the following potential reasons for changes in the mentoring or coaching 

provided to current or potential leaders?

Potential reason

Not a 

factor

Contributing 

factor Main factor

d.1 Developed better methods

d.2 Change in state or district policies or priorities

d.3 Changes in capacity or commitment of other 

partners

d.4 Input from program participants

d.5 Financial constraints

d.6 Change in the demand for turnaround leaders 

(e.g., more or fewer vacancies than expected)

d.7 Other (please describe) ____________________
Implementation Study of the Turnaround School Leaders Program

Survey Instrument 141

e. Incentives for current or potential leaders to participate

 Yes

 No

 Don’t know

How important were the following potential reasons for changes in incentives for current or 

potential leaders?

Potential reason

Not a 

factor

Contributing 

factor Main factor

e.1 Developed better methods

e.2 Change in state or district policies or priorities

e.3 Changes in capacity or commitment of other 

partners

e.4 Input from program participants

e.5 Financial constraints

e.6 Change in the demand for turnaround leaders 

(e.g., more or fewer vacancies than expected)

e.7 Other (please describe) ____________________

f. Change in the population of schools being served

 Yes

 No

 Don’t know

How important were the following potential reasons for changes in the population of schools 

being served?

Potential reason

Not a 

factor

Contributing 

factor Main factor

f.1 Developed better methods

f.2 Change in state or district policies or priorities

f.3 Changes in capacity or commitment of other 

partners

f.4 Input from program participants

f.5 Financial constraints

f.6 Change in the demand for turnaround leaders 

(e.g., more or fewer vacancies than expected)

f.7 Other (please describe) _____________________
Implementation Study of the Turnaround School Leaders Program

Survey Instrument 142

g. Changing professional development or support providers

 Yes

 No

 Don’t know

How important were the following potential reasons for changing professional development or 

support providers?

Potential reason

Not a 

factor

Contributing 

factor Main factor

g.1 Developed better methods

g.2 Change in state or district policies or priorities

g.3 Changes in capacity or commitment of other 

partners

g.4 Input from program participants

g.5 Financial constraints

g.6 Change in the demand for turnaround leaders 

(e.g., more or fewer vacancies than expected)

g.7 Other (please describe) _____________________

h. Use the text box below to describe any other major changes not covered above and the reasons the 

changes were made. 

Text box for open-ended response

II-2. Do you expect that your organization will continue to work with the partner districts on preparing 

turnaround school leaders after the TSLP grant ends?

 Yes

 No (skip to question III-1)

 Don’t know (skip to question III-1)

II-3. Do you expect the partners to continue to work together in any of the following ways? (Please 

select all that apply)

 To identify or recruit potential turnaround leaders

 To provide input on the training/preparation needs of turnaround school leaders

 To select or place leaders for turnaround schools

 To provide training or development opportunities specifically targeted to turnaround school leaders

 To provide coaching or mentoring support to turnaround school leaders

 To help districts assess the training/development needs or performance of turnaround school leaders

 Other (Please describe) _________________________________________________
Implementation Study of the Turnaround School Leaders Program

Survey Instrument 143

III. Recruitment, Selection, Development, Placement, Evaluation, Support, 

and Retention

III-1. Does your organization do any of the following to identify potential candidates for turnaround 

school leadership before they become school leaders or apply to participate in your TSLP project?

 Seek referrals from peers or existing school leaders

 Collect and analyze information on prior performance of existing staff

 Develop or review skills inventories 

 Obtain lists of those currently in teacher leader roles or other positions along the leadership pipeline 

 Use historical data patterns to identify the initial career paths of successful school leaders 

 Use historical data patterns to identify where successful turnaround leaders were recruited in the past 

 Other __________________________________________________________

III-2. About how much training time does your project allocate to each of the following topics when 

preparing TSLP participants? 

Topic 

Much less 

than most 

other topics

Somewhat 

less than 

most other 

topics

About 

the same 

as most 

other 

topics

Somewhat 

more than 

most other 

topics

Much 

more 

than 

most 

other 

topics

a. Developing/communicating a school vision 

or strategy

b. Developing a positive school culture

c. Teacher recruitment, selection, retention

d. Monitoring/evaluating instruction

e. Selecting instructional models or curricula

f. Culturally relevant/responsive pedagogy

g. Use of data for instructional and project 

decisions

h. Parent communication/engagement

i. Community engagement/partnership 

j. Communication/interpersonal skills

k. Student behavior/engagement 

l. Resource allocation and budgeting 

m. Technology use

n. Other______________________________

o. Other___________________________

 Add NA option to rows a through l.

III-3. Does your organization provide participants with a mentor or coach during the TSLP training?

 Yes 

 No (skip to III-5) 
Implementation Study of the Turnaround School Leaders Program

Survey Instrument 144

III-4. About how often do mentors or coaches: 

Activity

Not 

expected Weekly

Twice a 

month Monthly

Several 

times 

per year

Once per 

year

a. Maintain regular contact with the 

participants? 

b. Provide social/emotional support?

c. Suggest resources, strategies, or 

techniques to improve performance? 

d. Observe the leaders performing 

leadership activities (e.g., conducting 

staff meetings, parent meetings, teacher 

evaluations)?

e. Advise/assist participants with work 

assignments?

f. Model appropriate leadership behavior? 

g. Provide input into a summative 

evaluation of the participants’ 

performance?

III-5. How often are the following learning practices/instructional strategies used as part of the 

coursework in your TSLP project’s leadership training?

Practice/strategy Not used Used once

Used 2 or 

3 times

Used 4 

times or 

more

a. Field-based projects in which aspiring 

turnaround leaders apply ideas in the 

field

b. Analysis and discussion of field-based 

problems or problem-based learning 

approaches 

c. Action research or inquiry projects

d. Analysis and discussion of case studies

e. A portfolio demonstrating aspiring 

turnaround leaders’ learning and 

accomplishments

III-6. Does the coursework in your TSLP project’s leadership training include a capstone or culminating 

project?

a. Required

b. Optional

c. Not included

d. Other (Specify_________________________)
Implementation Study of the Turnaround School Leaders Program

Survey Instrument 145

III-7. To evaluate participants, does your organization use: (Select NA in the appropriate column if your 

project has no participants to whom the column applies.) 

 

For participants 

who are currently 

school leaders

For participants 

who are not

currently school 

leaders

Yes No NA Yes No NA

a. Course grades?

b. Observation of practice by mentor, supervisor, or 

project staff? 

c. Self-assessment? 

d. Review of artifacts such as school improvement 

plans, budgets, or meeting agendas?

e. Student surveys? 

f. Staff surveys? 

g. Parent surveys? 

h. Student achievement growth?

i. Other student outcomes?

j. Other ______________________________

III-8. What roles does your organization play in deciding where turnaround leaders who complete the 

TSLP training are placed? (Select all that apply) 

 Not involved in the placement decision <Skip to question III-11>

 Screen or assess qualifications for leading a turnaround school

 Participate in deliberations about candidate fit

 Recommend hiring or placement

 Make final hiring/placement decision (subject to district governing board or committee approval)

III-9. When are aspiring turnaround leaders (those not currently leading a SIG, SIG-eligible, or 

turnaround school) matched with a leadership position in a turnaround school? (Select one.)

 Not applicable; our project includes only leaders who currently lead turnaround schools <Skip to 

question III-11>

 Before they apply to the project (e.g., applicant or sponsor designates school of placement) 

 At the time they apply to or are accepted into the turnaround leader training

 During their training 

 After the completion of their training

 Other (Please describe in text box below.)
Implementation Study of the Turnaround School Leaders Program

Survey Instrument 146

III-10. In general, how important is each of the following when making placement decisions?

 

Not 

important

Somewhat 

important Important

Very

important

a. Prior experience in the potential placement 

school 

b. Prior experience in a similar school 

c. Performance during the development 

project

d. Prior experience in the placement district

e. Experience/expertise with specific school 

improvement/turnaround strategies 

f. Other forms of leadership experience 

g. Other ___________________________

h. Other ___________________________

Evaluation of Turnaround Leaders 

III-11. To evaluate participants, does your organization use: (Select NA in the appropriate column if your 

project has no participants to whom the column applies.) 

 

For participants 

who are currently 

school leaders

For participants 

who are not

currently school 

leaders

Yes No NA Yes No NA

a. Course grades?

b. Observation of practice by mentor, supervisor, or 

project staff? 

c. Self-assessment? 

d. Review of artifacts such as school improvement 

plans, budgets, or meeting agendas?

e. Student surveys? 

f. Staff surveys? 

g. Parent surveys? 

h. Student achievement growth?

i. Other student outcomes?

j. Other ______________________________
Implementation Study of the Turnaround School Leaders Program

Survey Instrument 147

Ongoing Support for Leaders

III-12. After completion of the turnaround leader training, does your organization provide any of the 

following supports to participants placed as turnaround leaders? 

 Yes No

a. Periodic group meetings or seminars with other turnaround 

leaders

b. Assistance with work products like school improvement plans, 

budgets

c. Assistance with individual professional development planning

d. Individual mentoring or coaching

<If respondent selects “Yes” to III-12d, present questions III-13 and III-14; if respondent selects “No” or 

Don’t know to III-12d, skip to question IV-1>.

III-13. How long after completing the turnaround leader training is the mentor or coach available to 

work with the placed or aspiring leaders? (Select one.)

 Less than 1 year

 1 year

 2 years

 More than 2 years 

 As long as the leader remains in a turnaround school

III-14. About how often do mentors or coaches: 

Activity

Not 

expected Weekly

Twice a 

month Monthly

Several 

times per 

year

Once per 

year

a. Maintain regular contact with the 

participants? 

b. Provide social/emotional support?

c. Suggest resources, strategies, or 

techniques to improve 

performance? 

d. Observe the leaders performing 

leadership activities (e.g., 

conducting staff meetings, parent 

meetings, teacher evaluations)?

e. Advise/assist participants with work 

assignments?

f. Model appropriate leadership 

behavior? 

g. Provide input into a summative 

evaluation of the participants’ 

performance?
Implementation Study of the Turnaround School Leaders Program

Survey Instrument 148

IV. Measuring the Success of Your Project

IV-1. In addition to your project’s GPRA Indicators, is your organization using any locally-developed 

metrics to measure the project’s performance?

 Yes

 No (Skip to the end of the survey)

 Don’t know (skip to the end of the survey)

IV-2. Which of the following are included in your locally developed metrics? 

 Yes No

a. Percentage of participants receiving license, certification, endorsement, 

or degree

b. Performance of leaders on competency assessments or performance 

evaluation instruments designed for the project

c. Performance of placed leaders as evaluated by state/district school 

administrator evaluation process (i.e., ratings of performance or 

effectiveness) 

d. Participants’ perceptions of the project

e. Supervisors’ perceptions of participants 

f. School climate/culture in leaders’ schools

g. Achievement gaps in leaders’ schools

h. Retention of participants remaining as a leader of a high-need or SIG 

school after training or placement 

i. Other _______________________________________________

j. Other ________________________________________________
Implementation Study of the Turnaround School Leaders Program

Interview Protocol 149

Project Director Interview Protocol

Introduction

Thank you for agreeing to talk to me. My name is [NAME], and I work for [ORGANIZATION], one of the 

partner organizations the U.S. Department of Education has contracted with to conduct this study.

This study is about how the Turnaround School Leaders Program (TSLP) is being implemented by 

[PROJECT NAME]. We are talking to a variety of project partners to gain a detailed picture of your 

project. We will be asking about partnerships, identification and recruitment of school leaders, preservice training, ongoing support of school leaders, and program performance.

The interview should take about 90 minutes.

[Have respondent read and sign consent form]

Do you have any questions before we begin?

[Start audio recorder]

Respondent information

1. Let’s just start with some background information. How long have you worked for [insert project 

name]? Would you give me a quick overview of your main responsibilities as [insert respondent 

position]? What other professional experiences have you had in either school leadership or school 

turnaround? 

 Listen for and probe as necessary for connection to TSLP specifically and school leadership and 

school turnaround more generally.

Partnerships between LEAs and partner organizations

Topics for this section:

 Shared Vision (desired leadership standards/outcomes)

 Identification and division of roles and responsibilities

 Authority (memoranda of understanding, “final say”)
Implementation Study of the Turnaround School Leaders Program

Interview Protocol 150

2. How was your TSLP partnership formed? Why do you think the partners joined together? 

 Were the partners already working together?

 [If new partners] Why were the new partners selected?

3. What leadership standards, competencies, or expected behaviors has your TSLP project identified 

as necessary for turnaround leaders? How did your project identify these standards and 

competencies? 

4. Think about [the districts’ participating in this TSLP grant/your district’s] current leadership 

standards and job descriptions. 

 How well aligned are current leadership standards and job descriptions to district school 

turnaround strategies and the TSLP project?

 What changes, if any, have been made to the leadership standards or job descriptions due to 

the TSLP project? 

 What challenges have you experienced aligning your leadership standards or job descriptions 

with [the TSLP/those of participating districts]? 

5. Tell me about the process of working with [this district/these districts (for development 

providers)/ this development provider (for districts)]. 

 Do MOUs or other agreements exist that describe partners’ roles and responsibilities? How, if at 

all, have these MOUs changed since the project’s inception?

 [If MOU/agreement exists] What were the challenges associated with negotiating 

MOUs/agreements?

 How closely did you think your [district’s, organization’s] vision for the TSLP project aligned 

with those of the other partners?

6. How are responsibilities of the partners divided or shared for...: 

 ...project design and management? 

 ...selection of participants?

 ...curriculum development?

 ...delivery of content? 

 ...assessment of participants? and

 ...ongoing support after placement? 

7. Overall, how is the partnership working out among the organizations involved in this TSLP 

project? 

 What strengths do the different partners bring to the project? 

 Could you provide an example of a situation that showed the strength of the partnership?
Implementation Study of the Turnaround School Leaders Program

Interview Protocol 151

 What challenges has your project experienced in developing and maintaining partnerships? 

How have these been addressed?

Identification of leaders

Topics for this section:

 Recruitment (identification of talent pools of vetted, qualified aspirants)

 Selection (criteria, process)

 Hiring/placement (criteria, process)

8. For a typical participant please describe the entire process from recruitment to placement. 

 Eligibility requirements, recruitment methods, and staff or organizations involved.

 Selection process.

 Selecting candidates from the applicant pool.

 Placing project participants in schools.

9. How do these processes differ from those for leaders of non-turnaround schools?

To what extent has the TSLP project built on previous leadership program pipeline efforts? 

Pre-service development and training of leaders

Topics for this section:

 Supervision

 Professional development (design, content, assessment) 

10. Please describe the training and development your project provides to turnaround school leaders. 

 What skills or competencies does the training emphasize? 

 How did you decide on these particular skills or competencies? 

 How do these competencies relate to district strategies for turning around schools?

 Were the specific strategies of the SIG turnaround or transformation models considered in 

deciding which skills or competencies to emphasize? Why or why not? 

 To what extent does your project involve problem-based instruction? 

 To what extent does your pre-service preparation involve a cohort model for aspiring leaders? 

 To what extent is your pre-service preparation aligned with [the districts’ participating in this 

TSLP grant/your district’s] standards or strategy for school leadership and school turnaround? 

 [If applicable] How did you align your project with district standards or strategies? 
Implementation Study of the Turnaround School Leaders Program

Interview Protocol 152

11. What are the arrangements for on-the-job learning? 

 Is there a residency placement, or do participants carry out project-related assignments in 

their regular jobs? 

12. To what extent does the time to complete your project vary for different aspiring leaders?

 [If time to complete varies] What are the main reasons that the time-to-complete varies? 

13. What positions do participants tend to move into upon completion of the project (within the year 

after completion)? What proportion are teachers, assistant principals, and principals? 

Ongoing support for leaders

Topics for this section

 Mentoring/Coaching (design, content) 

 In-service Professional Development (design, content) 

 Placement and Retention Incentives (design, perceived utility) 

 Leader Evaluation (criteria, procedures) 

14. What types of support do you provide to leaders following placement in turnaround schools? 

 Describe any mentoring or coaching provided to leaders.

 Describe in-service professional development (content, frequency).

15. Do you provide any financial or non-financial incentives for leaders to take or stay in a leadership job 

in turnaround schools? Are any of these incentives performance-based? Please describe. 

 [If incentives mentioned] Have these incentives affected recruiting and retention of effective 

leaders in the turnaround schools?

16. Are participants in the project evaluated differently from other school leaders? If so, how? 

 [If participants are evaluated differently] Could you share an example of the performance 

measures (e.g., professional practice rubric)? 

17. How often do participants get feedback on their performance? 

 What kind of feedback do they get? Could you provide some examples? 
Implementation Study of the Turnaround School Leaders Program

Interview Protocol 153

Program performance

Topics for this section

 Data collection (indicators, procedures, maintenance)

 Assessment metrics (design, use)

 Analysis (responsible parties, methods)

 Results (early themes, dissemination)

 Ongoing improvement

 Adaptations post-applications

 Challenges faced during implementation

18. How, if at all, are project, partner, and district data on candidates brought together into a single 

data system? 

 If there is a single system, who administers it? 

 What have been the challenges in integrating data systems and combining data? 

 How are these data used in selecting participants for the TSLP project and placing candidates 

after completion? 

 [If lead agency is not a school district] How do you get access to this data? 

19. Have you used the GPRA indicators to measure project outcomes?

 [If yes] In what ways have they been informative? 

 Have you modified the project to align with the GPRA measures? How? 

20. What other metrics, if any, have you used to measure the outcomes of your TSLP project? 

 How have you used the findings from these metrics to modify the project?

21. How would you describe the strengths and weaknesses of new turnaround leaders in [the districts 

participating in this TSLP grant/your district]? 

22. What are the biggest remaining challenges in [the districts participating in this TSLP grant/your 

district’s] development of turnaround leaders? 

23. What changes have been made to your project since your application? Why were these changes 

made? 

 What challenges have you faced in implementing your original plans? 

 How have you made decisions about adjustments to the project? 

 How have you used data and research evidence to make these changes? 

 How has your thinking about the project overall changed as a result of needing to make these 

changes? 
Implementation Study of the Turnaround School Leaders Program

Interview Protocol 154

Lessons learned 

24. We are interested in any lessons from your TSLP project that might be informative to other states 

and districts. Could you describe examples of strategies that worked well and examples of 

challenges related to the following: 

 Essential features of a beneficial partnership seeking to prepare leaders?

 Recruitment, selection, and placement of leaders?

 Pre-service development and training of leaders?

 Ongoing support for leaders?

 Measuring program performance?

25. After the TSLP grant ends, what will the next steps be for you, the project, and your partners? 

 What steps, if any, will you take to maintain the project work?

26. What steps, if any, has/have participating districts taken to develop a long-term pipeline for

turnaround school leaders? 

 [If respondent describes steps taken] How has the TSLP project contributed to developing a 

long-term pipeline for turnaround school leaders?

 [If no] What could the project have done differently to help develop such a pipeline?
Implementation Study of the Turnaround School Leaders Program

Interview Protocol 155

District Respondent Interview Protocol

Introduction

Thank you for agreeing to talk to me. My name is [NAME], and I work for [ORGANIZATION], one of the 

partner organizations the U.S. Department of Education has contracted with to conduct this study.

This study is about how the Turnaround School Leaders Program (TSLP) is being implemented by 

[PROJECT NAME]. We are talking to a variety of project partners to gain a detailed picture of your 

project. We will be asking about partnerships, identification and recruitment of school leaders, preservice training, ongoing support of school leaders, and program performance.

The interview should take about an hour.

[Have respondent read and sign consent form]

Do you have any questions before we begin?

[Start audio recorder]

Respondent information

1. Let’s just start with some background information. How long have you worked for [insert project 

name]? Would you give me a quick overview of your main responsibilities as [insert respondent 

position]? What other professional experiences have you had in either school leadership or school 

turnaround? 

 Listen for and probe as necessary for connection to TSLP specifically and school leadership and 

school turnaround more generally.

Partnerships between LEAs and partner organizations

Topics for this section:

 Shared Vision (desired leadership standards/outcomes)

 Identification and division of roles and responsibilities

 Authority (memoranda of understanding, “final say”)

2. What leadership standards, competencies, or expected behaviors has your TSLP project identified 

as necessary for turnaround leaders? How did your project identify these standards and 

competencies? 
Implementation Study of the Turnaround School Leaders Program

Interview Protocol 156

3. Think about [the districts’ participating in this TSLP grant/your district’s] current leadership 

standards and job descriptions.

 How well aligned are current leadership standards and job descriptions to district school 

turnaround strategies and the TSLP project?

 What changes, if any, have been made to the leadership standards or job descriptions due to 

the TSLP project? 

 What challenges have you experienced aligning your leadership standards or job descriptions 

with [the TSLP/those of participating districts]? 

4. When you first heard about the TSLP grant, in what ways did you expect that it would support 

your district’s school leadership and school turnaround work? 

 To help you recruit better leaders?

 To help you develop better leaders?

 To give you access to more resources for turnaround work?

 To support specific turnaround strategies, such as replacing existing principals?

 To build district capacity to develop and support school leaders?

5. How do you think the TSLP project fits or aligns with the district’s broader strategy for turning 

around its lowest performing schools? 

 How does the project fit with or support other district initiatives? 

6. Tell me about the process of working with your partners in the TSLP project. 

 Do MOUs or other agreements exist that describe partners’ roles and responsibilities? How, if at 

all, have these MOUs changed since the project’s inception?

 [If MOU/agreement exists] What were the challenges associated with negotiating 

MOUs/agreements?

 How closely did you think your district’s, vision for the TSLP project align with those of the 

other partners?

 Why do you think the partners decided to join together? Why did your district become a 

partner?

7. Please describe how responsibilities of the partners are divided or shared for: 

 project design and management, 

 selection of participants,

 curriculum development,

 delivery of content, 

 assessment of participants, and

 ongoing support after placement. 
Implementation Study of the Turnaround School Leaders Program

Interview Protocol 157

8. Overall, how is the partnership working out among the organizations involved in this TSLP 

project? 

 What strengths do the different partners bring to the project?

 Could you provide an example of a situation that showed the strength of the partnership?

 What challenges has your project experienced in developing and maintaining partnerships? 

How have these been addressed?

Identification of leaders

Topics for this section:

 Recruitment (identification of talent pools of vetted, qualified aspirants) 

 Selection (criteria, process) 

 Hiring/placement (criteria, process) 

9. For a typical participant please describe the entire process from recruitment to placement. 

 Eligibility requirements, recruitment methods, and staff or organizations involved.

 Selection process.

 Selecting candidates from the applicant pool.

 Placing project participants in schools.

 How do these processes differ from those for leaders of non-turnaround schools?

Pre-service development and training of leaders

Topics for this section:

 Supervision

 Professional development (design, content, assessment) 

10. Please describe the training and development your project provides to turnaround school leaders. 

 What skills or competencies does the training emphasize? 

 How did you decide on these particular skills or competencies?

 How do these competencies relate to district strategies for turning around schools?

 Were the specific strategies of the SIG turnaround or transformation models considered in 

deciding which skills or competencies to emphasize? Why or why not?

 To what extent does your project involve problem-based instruction?

 To what extent does your pre-service preparation involve a cohort model for aspiring leaders?

 To what extent is your pre-service preparation aligned with your district’s standards or 

strategy for school leadership and school turnaround?

 [If applicable] How did you align your project with district standards or strategies? 
Implementation Study of the Turnaround School Leaders Program

Interview Protocol 158

11. What are the arrangements for on-the-job learning? Is there a residency placement, or do 

participants carry out project-related assignments in their regular jobs? 

12. To what extent does the time to complete your program vary for different aspiring leaders?

 [If time to complete varies] What are the main reasons that the time-to-complete varies? 

13. What positions do participants tend to move into upon completion of the program (within the 

year after completion)? What proportion are teachers, assistant principals, and principals? 

Ongoing support for leaders

Topics in this section:

 Mentoring/Coaching (design, content) 

 In-service Professional Development (design, content) 

 Placement and Retention Incentives (design, perceived utility) 

 Leader Evaluation (criteria, procedures) 

14. What supports did your district provide to school leaders before the TSLP grant? 

15. In what ways, if at all, have your district’s systems of leader support, particularly for turnaround 

leaders, changed? What are the likely reasons for any changes? 

 Have there been changes in mentoring and coaching provided by district staff, mentoring and 

coaching provided by outside providers, peer support networks, other professional 

development (i.e., not TSLP-supported), approaches to targeting support for individual leaders?

– Probe for changes in intensity, duration, content, PD provider, release time, etc. 

 What challenges, if any, were encountered in aligning existing supports for school leaders with 

those provided by the TSLP project? How were these addressed?

16. Do you provide any financial or non-financial incentives for leaders to take or stay in a leadership job 

in turnaround schools? Are any of these incentives performance-based? Please describe. 

 [If provide incentives] Have these incentives affected recruitment and retention of effective 

turnaround leaders in the schools? 

17. Are participants in the project evaluated differently from other school leaders? If so, how? 

 [If participants are evaluated differently] Could you share an example of the performance 

measures (e.g., professional practice rubric)? 

18. How often do participants get feedback on their performance? 

What kind of feedback do they get? Could you provide some examples?
Implementation Study of the Turnaround School Leaders Program

Interview Protocol 159

Program performance

Topics for this section:

 Data collection (indicators, procedures, maintenance) 

 Assessment metrics (design, use) 

 Analysis (responsible parties, methods) 

 Results (early themes, dissemination) 

 Ongoing improvement

 Adaptations post-applications

 Challenges faced during implementation

19. How, if at all, are project, partner, and district data on candidates brought together into a single 

data system? 

 If there is a single system, who administers it?

 What have been the challenges in integrating data systems and combining data?

 How are these data used in selecting participants for the TSLP project and placing candidates 

upon completion?

20. How would you describe the strengths and weaknesses of new turnaround leaders in [the districts 

participating in this TSLP grant/your district]? 

21. What have been the biggest changes in your district in the development of turnaround leaders in 

the past three years? 

 Has the quality of the pool of potential leaders improved?

 Has the quality of the pre-service professional development available for potential turnaround 

leaders improved?

 Has the support provided to newly placed turnaround leaders improved?

 Has retention of effective turnaround leaders improved?

22. How does this project fit into your district’s overall strategy for turning around low performing 

schools?

23. What are the biggest remaining challenges in your district’s development of turnaround leaders? 

24. What changes have been made to your project since your application? Why were these changes 

made? 

 What challenges have you faced in implementing your original plans?

 How have you made decisions about adjustments to the project?

 How have you used data and research evidence to make these changes?

 How has your thinking about the project overall changed as a result of needing to make these 

changes? 
Implementation Study of the Turnaround School Leaders Program

Interview Protocol 160

Lessons learned 

25. We are interested in any lessons from your TSLP project that might be informative to other states 

and districts. Could you describe examples of strategies that worked well and examples of 

challenges related to the following: 

 Essential features of a beneficial partnership seeking to prepare leaders?

 Recruitment, selection, and placement of leaders?

 Pre-service development and training of leaders?

 Ongoing support for leaders?

 Measuring program performance?

26. After the TSLP grant ends, what will the next steps be for you, the project, and your partners?

 What steps, if any, will you take to maintain the project work?

27. What steps, if any, has your district taken to develop a long-term pipeline for turnaround school 

leaders? Do you have a sustainability plan or goals? 

 [If respondent describes steps taken] How has the TSLP project contributed to developing a 

long-term pipeline for turnaround school leaders?

 (If no) What could the project have done differently to help develop such a pipeline?
Implementation Study of the Turnaround School Leaders Program

Interview Protocol 161

Training Partner Interview Protocol

Introduction

Thank you for agreeing to talk to me. My name is [NAME], and I work for [ORGANIZATION], one of the 

partner organizations the U.S. Department of Education has contracted with to conduct this study.

This study is about how the Turnaround School Leaders Program (TSLP) is being implemented by 

[PROJECT NAME]. We are talking to a variety of project partners to gain a detailed picture of your 

project. We will be asking about partnerships, identification and recruitment of school leaders, preservice training, ongoing support of school leaders, and program performance.

The interview should take about an hour.

[Have respondent read and sign consent form]

Do you have any questions before we begin?

[Start audio recorder]

Respondent information

1. Let’s just start with some background information. How long have you worked for [insert project 

name]? Would you give me a quick overview of your main responsibilities as [insert respondent 

position]? What other professional experiences have you had in either school leadership or school 

turnaround?

 Listen for and probe as necessary for connection to TSLP specifically and school leadership and 

school turnaround more generally.

Partnerships between LEAs and partner organizations

Topics for this section:

 Shared Vision (desired leadership standards/outcomes)

 Identification and division of roles and responsibilities

 Authority (memoranda of understanding, “final say”)

2. What leadership standards, competencies, or expected behaviors has your TSLP project identified 

as necessary for turnaround leaders? How did your project identify these standards and 

competencies? 
Implementation Study of the Turnaround School Leaders Program

Interview Protocol 162

3. Think about [the districts’ participating in this TSLP grant/your district’s] current leadership 

standards and job descriptions. 

 How well aligned are current leadership standards and job descriptions to district school 

turnaround strategies and the TSLP project?

 What changes, if any, have been made to the leadership standards or job descriptions due to 

the TSLP project? 

 What challenges have you experienced aligning your leadership standards or job descriptions 

with [the TSLP/those of participating districts]?

4. Tell me about the process of working with this district/these districts. 

 Do MOUs or other agreements exist that describe partners’ roles and responsibilities? How, if at 

all, have these MOUs changed since the project’s inception?

 [If MOU/agreement exists] What were the challenges associated with negotiating 

MOUs/agreements?

 How closely did you think your organization’s vision for the TSLP project aligned with those of 

the other partners?

 Why do you think the partners decided to join together? Why did your organization become a 

partner?

5. Please describe how responsibilities of the partners are divided or shared for: 

 project design and management, 

 selection of participants,

 curriculum development,

 delivery of content, 

 assessment of participants, and

 ongoing support after placement. 

6. Overall, how is the partnership working out among the organizations involved in this TSLP 

project? 

 What strengths do the different partners bring to the project? 

 Could you provide an example of a situation that showed the strength of the partnership?

 What challenges has your project experienced in developing and maintaining partnerships? 

How have these been addressed?
Implementation Study of the Turnaround School Leaders Program

Interview Protocol 163

Identification of leaders

Topics for this section:

 Recruitment (identification of talent pools of vetted, qualified aspirants) 

 Selection (criteria, process) 

 Hiring/placement (criteria, process) 

7. For a typical participant please describe the entire process from recruitment to placement. 

 Eligibility requirements, recruitment methods, and staff or organizations involved.

 Selection process.

 Selecting candidates from the applicant pool.

 Placing project participants in schools.

 How do these processes differ from those for leaders of non-turnaround schools?

Pre-service development and training of leaders

Topics for this section:

 Supervision

 Professional development (design, content, assessment) 

8. Please describe the training and development your project provides to turnaround school leaders. 

 What skills or competencies does the training emphasize? 

 How did you decide on these particular skills or competencies?

 How do these competencies relate to district strategies for turning around schools?

 Were the specific strategies of the SIG turnaround or transformation models considered in 

deciding which skills or competencies to emphasize? Why or why not?

 To what extent does your project involve problem-based instruction?

 To what extent does your pre-service preparation involve a cohort model for aspiring leaders?

 To what extent is your pre-service preparation aligned with participating districts’ standards 

or strategy for school leadership and school turnaround? 

 [If applicable] How did you align your project with district standards or strategies? 

9. What are the arrangements for on-the-job learning? Is there a residency placement, or do 

participants carry out project-related assignments in their regular jobs? 

10. To what extent does the time to complete your program vary for different aspiring leaders?

 [If time-to-complete varies] What are the main reasons that the time-to-complete varies? 

11. What positions do participants tend to move into upon completion of the program (within the 

year after completion)? What proportion are teachers, assistant principals, and principals? 
Implementation Study of the Turnaround School Leaders Program

Interview Protocol 164

Ongoing support for leaders

Topics in this section:

 Mentoring/Coaching (design, content) 

 In-service Professional Development (design, content) 

 Placement and Retention Incentives (design, perceived utility) 

 Leader Evaluation (criteria, procedures) 

12. Besides providing training and development, what other services do you provide to districts to 

support turnaround leaders after their placement? Which leaders receive services? 

 What is the content of the services provided?

 How is this support coordinated with other service providers (e.g., regular district professional 

development, coaches, or central office consultants)?

 How were the leaders selected to receive ongoing post-placement support?

 How many participate in the ongoing support?

 How frequently do these leaders receive or participate in this support?

13. Do you provide any financial or non-financial incentives for leaders to take or stay in a leadership job 

in turnaround schools? Are any of these incentives performance-based? Please describe. 

 [If provide incentives] Have these incentives affected recruitment and retention of effective 

turnaround leaders in the schools? 

14. Are participants in the project evaluated differently from other school leaders? If so, how? 

 [If participants are evaluated differently] Could you share an example of the performance 

measures (e.g., professional practice rubric)? 

15. How often do participants get feedback on their performance? 

 What kind of feedback do they get? Could you provide some examples?

Program performance

Topics for this section:

 Data collection (indicators, procedures, maintenance) 

 Assessment metrics (design, use) 

 Analysis (responsible parties, methods) 

 Results (early themes, dissemination) 

 Ongoing improvement

 Adaptations post-applications

 Challenges faced during implementation
Implementation Study of the Turnaround School Leaders Program

Interview Protocol 165

16. How, if at all, are project, partner, and district data on candidates brought together into a single 

data system? 

 If there is a single system, who administers it?

 What have been the challenges in integrating data systems and combining data?

 How are these data used in selecting participants for the TSLP project and placing candidates 

upon completion?

17. How would you describe the strengths and weaknesses of new turnaround leaders in the districts 

participating in this TSLP grant? 

18. What are the biggest remaining challenges in the participating districts’ development of 

turnaround leaders? 

19. What changes have been made to your project since your application? Why were these changes 

made? 

 What challenges have you faced in implementing your original plans?

 How have you made decisions about adjustments to the project?

 How have you used data and research evidence to make these changes?

 How has your thinking about the project overall changed as a result of needing to make these 

changes? 

Lessons learned 

20. We are interested in any lessons from your TSLP project that might be informative to other states 

and districts. Could you provide examples of strategies that worked well and examples of 

challenges related to the following: 

 Essential features of a beneficial partnership seeking to prepare leaders?

 Recruitment, selection, and placement of leaders?

 Pre-service development and training of leaders?

 Ongoing support for leaders?

 Measuring program performance?

21. After the TSLP grant ends, what will the next steps be for you, the project, and your partners? 

 What steps, if any, will you take to maintain the project work?

22. What steps, if any, have participating districts taken to develop a long-term pipeline for leaders 

for turnaround schools?

 [If respondent describes steps taken] How has the TSLP project contributed to developing a 

long-term pipeline for turnaround school leaders?

 [If no] What could the project have done differently to help develop such a pipeline?
Implementation Study of the Turnaround School Leaders Program

Focus Group Protocol — Placed Leaders 166

Protocol 1: For Aspiring Leaders

Introduction

Thank you for agreeing to participate in this focus group. 

My name is ________________________________, and I work for ___________________________, 

one of the partner organizations the U.S. Department of Education has contracted with to conduct the 

study. 

This study is about how the Turnaround School Leaders Program is being implemented by <insert 

Project Name>. We are using these focus groups to hear from people like you being trained as 

turnaround leaders through the project. 

We will be asking about how you were recruited and selected for the program, the training and support 

you received, and what aspects of the program you think should be continued or changed. 

The focus group will take no more than 60 minutes. 

[Read the focus group consent form and obtain verbal consent from every participant, including consent 

for audio recording]

To make sure everyone has a chance to be heard, and to maintain confidentiality, we ask that you follow 

these ground rules:

 Everyone should speak, balance their air time, and take turns. 

 Discuss the questions as a group, responding to each other and not just to the facilitators. 

 Don’t be afraid to raise contrasting viewpoints, even if most participants appear to agree with a 

statement. 

 The facilitators may ask for examples, as well as a show of hands to indicate agreement or 

disagreement with statements made by others. 

 Please do not discuss or repeat the comments made by your fellow focus group members 

outside of the focus group. 

Do you have any questions before we begin?

[Start two audio recorders]
Implementation Study of the Turnaround School Leaders Program

Focus Group Protocol — Placed Leaders 167

Respondent Information

1. We would like a quick snapshot of who you all are. Please tell us your first name, current position, 

and the previous positions you have held.

[Note whether participants were previously school leaders and note years of experience]

Identification of Leaders

Topics for this section:

 Recruitment and selection (criteria, process) 

 Hiring/placement (criteria, process) 

2. Why did you choose this program to become a turnaround leader?

3. Think about the process you went through to be recruited and selected for this program. What is 

your opinion about that process? Was it a good or bad way to recruit and select turnaround 

school leaders? Why? 

 How could the process be improved? 

Training of Leaders

Topics for this section:

 Training (design, content, assessment)

 Mentoring/coaching (design, content) 

4. Thinking about the training you received, what skills and aspects of turnaround school leadership 

does your program focus on the most (for example, using data or building school culture)? 

5. [If program uses a cohort approach, ask:] Did you find working in a cohort of aspiring turnaround 

leaders useful or not useful? Why or why not?

 How did the cohort work together? 

6. How was your progress assessed during the course of your training?

7. Have you received feedback with suggestions for how you could improve? 

 What types of suggestions did you receive? What types of support did you receive in those 

areas? 

 How has this support helped? 
Implementation Study of the Turnaround School Leaders Program

Focus Group Protocol — Placed Leaders 168

8. Thinking about all the support and training you have received since beginning training to become 

a turnaround leader. What has been the most useful? Please explain.

 What has been the least useful to you? 

9. In what areas of your work would you like to receive more support?

10. In what areas could the quality of support be improved?

11. What incentives have you received for participating in the program or do you expect to receive for 

taking on or staying in a leadership role in a turnaround school?

 Have these incentives influenced your decision to participate in the program? 

Lessons Learned

12. If you were asked to redesign the process, what would you change? What would you keep the 

same?

13. Would you recommend this path to another aspiring turnaround leader?

 Why or why not? 

This concludes the session. Thank you for your participation!
Implementation Study of the Turnaround School Leaders Program

Focus Group Protocol — Placed Leaders 169

Protocol 2: For Placed Leaders

Introduction

Thank you for agreeing to participate in this focus group. 

My name is ________________________________, and I work for ___________________________, 

one of the partner organizations the U.S. Department of Education has contracted with to conduct the 

study.

This study is about how the Turnaround School Leaders Program is being implemented by <insert 

Project Name>. We are using these focus groups to hear from people like you who have been trained as 

turnaround leaders through the program. 

We will be asking about how you were recruited and selected for the program, the training and support 

you received, and what aspects of the program you think should be continued or changed. 

The focus group will take no more than 60 minutes. 

[Read the focus group consent form and obtain verbal consent from every participant, including consent 

for audio recording]

To make sure everyone has a chance to be heard, and to maintain confidentiality, we ask that you follow 

these ground rules:

 Everyone should speak, balance their air time, and take turns. 

 Discuss the questions as a group, responding to each other and not just to the facilitators. 

 Don’t be afraid to raise contrasting viewpoints, even if most participants appear to agree with a 

statement. 

 The facilitators may ask for examples, as well as a show of hands to indicate agreement or 

disagreement with statements made by others. 

 Please do not discuss or repeat the comments made by your fellow focus group members 

outside of the focus group. 

Do you have any questions before we begin?

[Start two audio recorders]
Implementation Study of the Turnaround School Leaders Program

Focus Group Protocol — Placed Leaders 170

Respondent Information

1. We would like a quick snapshot of who you all are. Please tell us your first name, current position, 

and the previous positions you have had.

[Note whether participants were previously school leaders and note years of experience]

Identification of Leaders

Topics for this section:

 Recruitment and selection (criteria, process) 

 Hiring/placement (criteria, process) 

2. Why did you choose to participate in the Turnaround School Leaders Program? 

3. Think about the process you went through to be recruited and selected for this program. What is 

your opinion about that process? Was it a good or bad way to recruit and select turnaround 

school leaders? Why?

 How could the process be improved?

Training of Leaders

Topics for this section:

 Training (design, content, assessment) 

 Mentoring/coaching (design, content) 

4. Thinking about the training you received, what skills and aspects of turnaround school leadership 

did the training focus on the most (for example, using data or building school culture)?

5. [If program used a cohort approach, ask:] Did you find working in a cohort of aspiring turnaround 

leaders useful or not useful? Why or why not?

 How did the cohort work together?

6. How was your progress assessed during the course of your training?

7. Have you received feedback with suggestions for how you could improve?

 What types of suggestions did you receive? What types of support did you receive in those 

areas? 

 How has this support helped? 
Implementation Study of the Turnaround School Leaders Program

Focus Group Protocol — Placed Leaders 171

8. Thinking about all support and training you have received since beginning with this project, what 

has been the most useful? Please explain.

 What has been the least useful to you? 

9. In what areas of your work would you like to receive more support?

10. In what areas could the quality of support be improved?

11. What incentives have you received for participating in the program or for taking on or staying in a 

leadership role in a turnaround school?

 Have these incentives influenced your decision to participate in the program? 

 To continue as a leader of a turnaround school? 

Lessons Learned

12. If you were asked to redesign the process, what would you change? What would you keep the 

same?

13. Would you recommend this project to another turnaround leader?

 Why or why not?

This concludes the session. Thank you for your participation!