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Turning Around Failing Schools
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Turning Around Failing Schools
Leadership Lessons From the Organizational Sciences


August 2007 | 368 pages | Corwin

"This book provides critical understandings on the causes of organizational decline, a comprehensive conception of the turnaround process, and powerful insights for transforming failing schools into the kind we all want for our children."
—Kenneth Leithwood, Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education

"Murphy and Meyers do a first-rate job of mapping the territory of school turnarounds and identifying the options for educators to consider and researchers to investigate."
—Daniel L. Duke, Professor of Educational Leadership and Research
University of Virginia

The guide to successfully restructuring schools in trouble!

This insightful resource integrates research, strategies, and lessons from business, government, and not-for-profit organizations that have transformed their substandard performance into a proactive approach for renewal. The authors provide:

  • A comprehensive overview of the literature on organizational deterioration
  • An in-depth examination of the causes and symptoms of degeneration
  • A two-part model for preventing educational collapse and crafting an effective turnaround
  • A review of the efficacy of educational reform initiatives

This indispensable text is ideal for district administrators, superintendents, policy makers, and individuals with an interest in organizational accountability and meaningful school reform.


 
Preface
 
About the Authors
 
Part I. An Introduction
 
1. A Framework for Understanding Turnaround
 
Part II. Decline and Failure
 
2. Symptoms of Decline
 
3. Causes of Organizational Failure
 
4. Crisis, Consequences, and Dysfunctional Reactions
 
5. Context and Analytic Frames for Turnarounds
 
Part III. Retrenchment
 
6. Getting the Right Leadership
 
7. Diagnosing the Situation and Taking Emergency Action
 
Part IV. Recovery
 
8. Pathways to Recovery: Operational Vision, Efficiencies, and Organizational Processes
 
9. Organizational Work Ethic and Products
 
Part V. Understanding Turnarounds in Schools
 
10. Turning Around Failing Schools: The Landscape
 
11. Turning Around Failing Schools: The Evidence
 
References
 
Index

"Written for educators but drawing on evidence from many sectors, this book provides critical understandings on the causes of organizational decline, a comprehensive conception of the turnaround process, and powerful insights for transforming failing schools into the kind we all want for our children."

Kenneth Leithwood, Professor of Educational Leadership & Policy
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto

"Murphy and Meyers do a first-rate job of mapping the territory of school turnarounds and identifying the options for educators to consider and researchers to investigate."

Daniel L. Duke, Professor of Educational Leadership and Research
University of Virginia

“Chapters cover the basics of educational reforms as they apply in real-world situations, making this an invaluable pick for any administrator or policy maker interested in reform processes.”

California Bookwatch, January 2008
Midwest Book Review
Key features
  • Rather than just offering solutions, Murphy and Meyers explore the root causes behind school failure, an essential component of successful change
  • Includes lessons learned from churches, hospitals, universities, government entities, for profit firms, and non-profit firms that have undergone a turnaround
  • Explores the efficacy of current educational turnaround initiatives

For instructors

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ISBN: 9781452294131

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ISBN: 9781412940979
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ISBN: 9781412940962
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