Change leaders at all levels of the university will need to grapple with both the content and the process of change. This book tackles the question of how universities can lead change from within.

The real reform agenda -- Turning schools around -- Change -- Turning a whole system around.

Nearly one thousand colleges and universities in the United States face major challenges—from catastrophic hurricanes to loss of accreditation to sagging enrollment. What can leaders of such at-risk institutions do to improve their situation? Turnaround gives college and university leaders the tools they need to put their fragile institutions back on a path to success. This comprehensive handbook outlines how board members, presidents, and administrators can identify their institutions' weaknesses, implement plans for improvement, and mitigate existing damage. Turnaround also identifies the legal pitfalls that often accompany institutional change, offering solutions for how to overcome such obstacles or avoid them altogether. Evaluating the experiences of two hundred college leaders, the contributors share such critical information as: • 20 indicators of institutional vulnerability • 10 necessary skills for presidents directing a turnaround • 5 characteristics of institutions that have completed successful turnarounds • 10 lessons of successful turnarounds Featuring candid advice from decision makers who have faced severe challenges, Turnaround is a valuable resource for college and university leaders facing tough times.

LEADING SCHOOL TURNAROUND Leading School Turnaround offers new perspectives and concrete, evidence-based guidelines for the educational leaders and administrators faced with the challenge of turning our low-performing schools around. Using the tools outlined in this groundbreaking book, school leaders can guide their schools to higher levels of achievement and sustained academic success. Based on research conducted in the United States, Canada, and England, Leading School Turnaround addresses in three parts the dynamic context of the turnaround environment, what turnaround leaders do, and the incredible challenges of moving from turnaround to "stay around." Filled with illustrative examples, the book outlines the best practices and behaviors successful turnaround leaders exercise. The authors include detailed information for applying the four main categories of turnaround leadership: direction setting, developing people, redesigning the school, and managing the instructional program. This important resource can help any school leader get their school back on the track to academic success.

This book focuses attention on deans as agents of change using the conceptual framework of "turnaround leadership for higher education" (Fullan and Scott). Drawing on this tramework, case studies of six deans of color are presented. Interrogating the framework through the lens of these individuals is particularly cogent, given their positions as leaders of colleges or schools of education in a variety of institutional settings.

Zimpher, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee.

Developing and updating school improvement plans is an annual ritual for virtually all school principals and their school improvement committees. Still, large numbers of schools continue to produce disappointing outcomes. The authors believe that part of the problem is the result of plans that focus on the wrong targets and that rely on ineffective strategies for improvement. To help principals and their school improvement committees develop and implement plans with a greater likelihood of success, the authors offer a step-by-step process for school improvement planning. They go on to pinpoint specific school improvement goals, including raising reading and mathematics achievement, building robust school cultures, addressing the needs of English language learners, improving instruction, and reducing absenteeism and dropouts. For each goal, a variety of objectives and proven strategies is presented along with sample school improvement plans. The book addresses the differences in planning to turn around a low-performing school, planning to sustain improvements over time, and planning to move a good school to a great school.