Leadership Skills and Practices to Successfully Turnaround Persistently Low-Performing Schools in the Northeastern Region of the United States

Persistently low-performing schools across the United States are tasked with meeting state benchmarks and address the needs of their students. Every developed country has had to address the issues surrounding declining graduation rates, state benchmark results, and schools identified as underperforming. These schools have made attempts to engage in school improvement efforts. However, without the right leadership in place, these efforts are destined to fail. Griffin and Green (2013) states, the "principal is the key to a school's successful transformation" (p. 79). A federal practice guide reviewed research and "suggest that not every principal is capable of turning around schools and that a 'turnaround leader' has a different mindset and approach than other school principals" (Clifford, 2013, p. 52). Bridges (2016) established a framework on transitional phases that leaders must help individuals through to initiate and manage change. In alignment with the work of Bridges, this grounded theory, qualitative study, is designed to understand the leadership skills, qualities and characteristics needed to successfully turnaround persistently low-performing schools in the past 10 years. Participants of the study consisted of twelve K-12 school principals in the Northeastern region of the United States, excluding New York City. Data for the study was collected through interviewing principals who fit the following criteria: served as a K-12 principal in a persistently low-performing school and transformed the school to success in student performance in accordance with state testing standards or benchmarks in turnaround schools in urban areas of the Northeastern region of the United States, excluding New York City. The accountability metrics, turnaround history, and contact information of these schools were retrieved from their state website. Utilizing 11 open-ended questions and a concise interview protocol, these principals shared their perspectives on the essential skills that a leaders must possess to build capacity and transform persistently low-performing schools. The study revealed the following findings: 1) Participating principals perceived their role as change agents in the turnaround process. 2) Participants of the study believed that there were distinct leadership skills and qualities that attributed to the effectiveness of principals who were able to transform persistently low-performing schools. 3) The participants leveraged the role of professional development and training in helping them to build capacity and contribute to turnaround efforts in their schools. 4) Participants implemented specific changes and strategies to facilitate success in school improvement efforts. Based on the findings of the study, four conclusions were made: 1) Principals perceive themselves as change agents and understand that leadership plays an integral role in the school turnaround process. 2) Forging trusting relationships with key stakeholders have played a pivotal role in helping turnaround principals move their agendas forward. 3) Participants of the study believe professional development and leadership training positively contributed to turnaround efforts in their schools. 4) Implementation of targeted strategies helped principals to turnaround persistently low-performing schools. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]