The tipping point of transformation: analyzing school reform efforts in low-performing, high-poverty schools

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  • March 21, 2019
Creator
  • Rasberry, Melissa A.
    • Affiliation: School of Education
Abstract
  • In many reform efforts, schools develop strategies for changing discrete aspects of the environment in order to improve student learning. Unfortunately, these efforts often fail because they are attempted within a vacuum and do not account for the impact of the overall school culture. In one southern school district, administrators devised a turnaround plan for five of its neediest schools (i.e. two elementary and three middle schools). Their plan included multiple strategies for reform including teacher and principal recruitment and performance bonuses, staff development programs, additional curriculum resources, and extra personnel. The manner in which this plan was implemented varied greatly across the five schools, although the district provided the same protocol for all to follow. In this study, the reform activities of the five turnaround schools were analyzed through the lens of Futernick's Tipping Point framework to assess the extent to which the components were utilized. Once this initial level of analysis was complete, student achievement data were examined vis-à-vis the schools' utilization of the framework components. Overall, schools with above average improvement on the standardized tests demonstrated evidence of more Tipping Point elements than those with average and below average improvement. These findings support Futernick's assertion that a more robust reform plan is needed to turn around low-performing, high-poverty schools; however, they stop short of substantiating the notion that all nine elements are needed for success.
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  • In Copyright
Advisor
  • Brown, Kathleen
Degree granting institution
  • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
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  • Open access
Date uploaded
  • October 11, 2010

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