How teachers and unions feel about turnaround

Teachers often are the targets of turnaround strategies, but in some schools, teachers and unions have taken the lead.

by Ron Whitehorne and Tricia Fussaro

A report authored by Mark Simon, formerly president of the Montgomery County Education Association (MCEA) and now with the Tom Mooney Institute for Teacher and Union leadership, explains how a new superintendent slated the persistently failing school for reconstitution. But the union believed the school had assets that could provide a foundation for a different kind of restructuring and persuaded the administration to try it.

Under the plan, teachers took responsibility for developing the instructional program. Longer hours and intensive professional development were key.

At the beginning, one-third of the teachers voluntarily left. And over a three-year period, the school made dramatic gains. It reached federal achievement goals under adequate yearly progress and posted the biggest improvement in math scores in the county.

Simon believes the current mandate for turnaround provides opportunities as well as difficulties. Unions must “find out how much wiggle room there is” to do turnaround “the right way,” he said. They should argue at both the federal and local levels for forms of restructuring that empower teachers to improve student learning, rather than rely on their dismissal, he added.

In terms of concerns about seniority, due process, and fairness, Simon said these principles should be preserved without “being dogmatic.” He cited as a model Cincinnati, in which the union traded off seniority for a robust site-selection system in which teachers play a central role in hiring.

Another response of teacher unions to the turnaround challenge is the creation of teacher-run schools. In some cities these schools are emerging as a union-supported alternative to privately managed or charter schools. In Boston, the teachers’ union runs a school with two lead teachers replacing the principal as building leader. This school offers more flexibility for teachers and a longer school day. The teachers are members of the union and are paid for working the additional hours.

In Denver, the teachers’ local, an affiliate of the National Education Association, operates a school called the Math and Science Leadership Academy (MSLA), run by a teacher committee and headed by two lead teachers. The K-3 school opened in September and gives teachers the freedom to make their own decisions about how to teach material, in what order to teach it, and how to connect it to relevant community and social issues. At this school, teachers learn from and evaluate one another.

Even though 60 percent of the students are English language learners and 90 percent qualify for free or reduced price lunch, teachers are eager to work at MSLA. The school received 30 applications for each teacher opening.

Taking it to another level

Most turnaround specialists concede that, with the federal push, the effort is entering uncharted waters.

One U. S. Department of Education publication even acknowledges that “the research base on school turnaround practices is limited.” Johnson, from Learning Point, said that it still must be clarified how to set goals and measure the success of turnaround schools.

But with the Obama administration calling for 1,000 turnarounds a year, there will soon be a body of experience that may shed light on what approaches are most effective. Teachers and their organizations will undoubtedly be part of that conversation.