Starting Fresh in Low-Performing Schools Series

Starting Fresh in Low-Performing Schools, a 2006 series of five booklets covering strategies for dramatic interventions to turn around schools, was prepared for the National Association of Charter School Authorizers. The series encapsulates concepts, practices, and lessons of effective authorization and oversight of charter schools to help guide restructuring of schools that are not meeting the performance requirements under the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act, as reauthorized by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.

The following booklets are available:

• A New Option for School District Leaders Under NCLB: Identifies the need for a new beginning at a school and the context for reform and describes the options of initiating a charter school or hiring an outside school manager.
• Engaging Parents and the Community: Highlights strategies for bringing key stakeholders to the table and the challenges involved.
• Selecting the Right Providers: Covers issues such as empowering and selecting an education provider, performance contracting, and governance models.
• Establishing the Right Relationship Terms: Addresses types of education services providers, legal structures, and strategies for accountability.
• Empowering Teachers: Describes the characteristics of empowered teachers and how to address the impact of fresh starts on teacher contracts and the roles and strategies for change and communication.