Study of School Turnaround

The Study of School Turnaround (SST), funded by the U.S. Department of Education, examines the implementation of the School Improvement Grants (SIG) program, authorized under Title I section 1003(g) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) and supplemented by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). The School Improvement Grants (SIG) Program is targeting $3.5 billion over the next three years toward the goal of turning around the nation’s lowest performing schools. This five-year study, conducted by AIR and its partners, aims to answer questions about how the grants are implemented and what changes they bring about in the targeted schools by following the experiences of case study schools for three years from the point at which they receive their SIG funding.

The English language learner (ELL) sub-study of the SST follows the experiences of a subset of case study schools with high proportions of ELLs, exploring issues specifically related to ELLs in schools that receive SIGs. This sub-study documents over time the interventions models, approaches, and strategies adopted and implemented by SIG-funded schools with high proportions of ELL students. Through site visits, interviews, and teacher surveys, it explores teacher and leader capacity with regard to meeting the needs of ELL students, professional development regarding ELLs, instructional approaches for ELLs, and involvement of ELL parents.