Building Family and Community Demand for Dramatic Change in Schools.

building family and community demand for dr amatic change in schools About the authors dana brinson is a senior consultant with Public Impact. She has conducted research and analysis on a wide variety of education issues, including educational philanthropy, school improvement and turnarounds, disconnected youth, talent assessment and selection, and charter schools. Ms. Brinson leads project teams and conducts critical fact-finding through interviews, literature reviews, site visits, and other qualitative methods. Ms. Brinson previously worked as a special educator at a Boston-area public school for teens with behavioral and emotional challenges and learning disabilities. She is a summa cum laude graduate of West Virginia University and holds a master’s degree in history from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. lucy steiner is a senior consultant with Public Impact. She researches and consults on a variety of critical education issues, including teacher and leader policy, school restructuring, charter school policy, and teacher professional development. Ms. Steiner both conducts her own work and leads project teams to deliver research, training, and consulting. Her work often provides a bridge between district leadership, school leadership, and instruction. A former high school English teacher, Ms. Steiner holds a master’s degree in education and social policy from Northwestern University, and a B.A. with highest honors from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Impact. The authors would also like to thank the many individuals from community-based organizations, urban school districts, school turnaround organizations, charter school operators, faith-based organizations, and philanthropic foundations interviewed in this research. Public Impact’s mission is to dramatically improve learning outcomes for all children in the U.S., with a special focus on students who are not served well. A national education policy and management consulting firm based in Chapel Hill, NC, Public Impact is a team of researchers, thought leaders, tool-builders, and on-the-ground consultants working with leading education reformers. Public Impact encourages the free use, reproduction, and distribution of this paper for noncommercial use. We require at-tribution for all use. For more information and instructions on the commercial use of our materials, please contact us at www. D espite decades of efforts to improve failing schools, too many students still attend chronically low-performing schools. In these schools, district and school-level efforts have fallen far short of the dramatic changes necessary to effect significant, quick, and sustained improvements. The history of failed school reform efforts is characterized by a cycle of …