Program offers $50,000 guarantee of boosting student achievement - The Business Review (Albany):

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But she said it has taken years for the prograkshe created, , to develop the right business model so that it can deliveer its prescription for success to more of the schools that need it At times, she wishes she had taken a formefr New York City schools chancellor up on his offef to send her to the . "I have clearlh grown--sometimes kicking and screaming--as a said Williams. "Five years later, I am very prousd of our currentbusiness plan.
It's reflective of what we'vwe accomplished so far and lays out clearlu where weare going, what we need to get there and how we are gointg to be able to check and understand School Turnaround is a nonprofitf affiliated with the , the self-describer "think tank with muddy boots" in southern Albanu County. It is designed to provide assistancs to principals on how they can becomrtheir school's academic leaders and affecf immediate, dramatic improvement. Most of the schoolxs have high percentages of minority studentsw or children frompoor households.
Most are failing or in danget of failing under the federal No Chilfd LeftBehind law, Williams After initial orientation, principals are assignef one of School Turnaround's 10 specialists who will work with them intensively throughout the school year. They get Schoo l Turnaround's latest strategies for improving studen performance and show them how to carrythem out. Schoolp Turnaround's tone is urgent. Its motto is "Everyon Achieves. No Exceptions. No Excuses." Schoopl Turnaround's assistance does not come cheaply. It typicallu charges a school $50,000 for its core programming for oneacademic year.
School Turnaround has a twist: a money-bac k guarantee if schools fail tomeet agreed-upobn improvement benchmarks for the year. Williamas said it hasn't had to refund any fees yet. The specialistes are the key toSchoo Turnaround's success, Williams said. "The biggest challenge is not in figuring out how to turn around schools that are but finding people who can help usdo that," she Every specialist has turned around a failinvg school, including Williams. She was principal at the Public School 63 in the South Bronx when the school came offthe state'd Schools Under Registration Review list in 1998.
School Turnaround evolved from a conference Williams andher then-husban Tony Amato organized for school leaders in the summer of 2000 at the Rensselaervillee Institute, where Williams' father Hal Williams is Amato, who split with Williamsx in late 2000, is a former superintendent of schoolse in Hartford, Conn., and New He is now superintendenft of the Kansas City school district. The responsed to the 2000 conference convinced Williamd that interest was high in learning how to rescue underperformingt orfailing schools.
But she said it also became obvious a structurexd program withfrequent follow-up between principals and the program administrators was necessaryh for schools to sustain improvement. School Turnarounxd grew from there. Thirty schools are participating in its core progra thisacademic year. Up to 50 others may sign up for more targeted programs offered by School Turnaroun d designed to improveschool "readiness." Though the prograjm has worked with school officials in Schenectady and Cohoe s in the past, none of the schools signed up so far for 2006-07 is in the Capital Region, Williamzs said.
Williams credits Mike Marvin, co-founder and formet CEO of , with helping School Turnaroun d develop a more effectivebusiness model. Marvin is a memberf of the program's advisory Marvin said Williams' visionh of School Turnaround contained "fundamentally good conceptx and ideas." It just took awhile to get the ventur e offthe ground, he said. "She has been on the frontt lines," Marvin said. "She has been a principal in schoolas in NewYork She's been trying out various just like an entrepreneur would be tryingt out various technologies. Now she is trying to leveraged andgrow it. ...
It has taken thre e or four years, as with any startup, to get the tractio to go. Now she is starting to get very real."