UVA-PLE - Core Partnership - Our Approach in Action

Fired up in Fulton: Benjamin Banneker achieves torrid transformation in complex district
Fulton County Schools district leaders decided in 2014 to take a bold and strategic approach to transforming Benjamin Banneker High School and its feeder schools south of Atlanta. This case study chronicles transformation efforts across the next five years.

Fair Park Turnaround Through Sustainability 
Using his typical recruiting style, Principal Daigle sought out the best and brightest talent from the area and formed his team.

Northeast Elementary School, Farmington, New Mexico 
As the staff reflects on the past, they describe Candace’s arrival as shaking everyone to their core. The urgency was clear, and they had a leader who was willing to do whatever it takes.

Lincoln Elementary School, Ogden, Utah 
Lincoln continues its journey toward becoming the highest performing elementary school in Ogden. After four years of focused reform, Lincoln has advanced from an F to a B (before the shift in cut scores, they had earned an A).

Ocotillo Elementary School, Washington, Arizona 
Distributed leadership and positive behavior incentives were organizing principles for Ocotillo’s new vision, but the focus on tier 1 instruction required transformational change. 

Assessing School Turnaround: Evidence From Ohio 
This study examines 20 Ohio schools that participated in the UVA School Turnaround Program and finds participating schools experienced meaningful improvements in student achievement.

Missouri and Ohio Schools Make Significant Improvement Through UVA Turnaround Program  
This study follows 34 elementary and middle schools in Missouri and Ohio throughout the course of their participation in the UVA School Turnaround Specialist Program.

State-Initiated School Turnaround Strategies: Leveraging the State Education Agency to Drive Meaningful Change  
Eight states partnered with the UVA-PLE School Turnaround Specialist Program to give state education agencies a leadership role in driving, managing and supporting a targeted school turnaround approach.

For more case studies and stories of transformation, Visit Our Research and Resources Page

Partner Spotlight: Visalia Unified School District (CA)
Over more than two decades, 180 districts and 900 schools from 33 states have participated in UVA-PLE. We're honored to work with passionate and courageous leaders investing in collective leadership in order to significantly improve educational outcomes in their communities. Click here to learn about the education leaders we work with and how they've benefited from participating in PLE.

UVA-PLE Overview for our 20th Anniversary
Celebrating two decades of excellence, the UVA-PLE Overview for our 20th Anniversary video encapsulates the evolution and impact of our partnership programs. Reflect with us on a journey of transformative education leadership.

UVA-PLE Partnerships: York City School Districts' Journey to Transformation
Discover the transformative story of York City School Districts through our partnership. This video illustrates the pivotal steps and groundbreaking outcomes of our collaborative efforts.

Laura Toenjes, Superintendent in Kyrene Unified School District, shares the outcomes her schools reached when partnering with PLE.

Creseda Hawk, former middle school principal in Fulton County Schools, GA, discusses the success of her school and what it meant for students.

"The use of case studies to highlight opportunities and challenges in the field of education or get us thinking about those things through a different lens is something we all latch on to."
— Director of School Turnaround, Delaware

"The biggest thing is how much it’s been able to help us focus on areas for improvement identified by the school and what that means for all of us — leaders, teachers, principal supervisors, out to district departments." 
— Deputy Chief Schools Officer, Colorado

"I think their ability to infuse a Fortune 500 mentality into how principal leadership can be managed, can be thought through, can be executed is ideal. I think that’s the strategy that they have in my mind that others don’t, because they take a business model."
— Chief Academic Officer, Colorado

For more testimonials and statements of impact, Visit Our Testimonials Page

We've Helped Groom Leaders at:

• A large school district in Louisiana, where we emphasized the role of differentiated support to develop principals’ leadership capacity.
• A small district in New Mexico, where we worked on driving principals and school teams toward student achievement through the principal supervisor role.
• A midsized district in Delaware, where we worked with district leaders to enhance their ability to engage and incentivize the support of the school board.

We've Helped Revamp Curriculum and Instruction at:

• A small school district in Colorado, where we emphasized the generation and quality control of a viable K–12 curriculum that illustrated the skills on which students would need to demonstrate mastery.
• A large district in Texas, where we worked on generating and deploying scaffolding, onboarding and development strategies for new and struggling teachers to “get to the green” faster.

We've Helped Shift Cultures At:

• A midsized school district in California, where we worked on establishing a culture of high expectations that was reinforced with tangible systems and structures for all.
• A midsized district in Indiana, where we worked on identifying and retaining the necessary services at the district level to support the proliferation of data-driven practice in each school.

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