Principals’ Perspectives on Turning Around Failing Urban Middle Schools: A Study of Change in Two Schools

Principal leadership plays an important role in the achievement of students. However, extant school reform literature notes that there is a shortage of highly qualified principals prepared to turn around failing schools, putting many students at risk. A multi-site qualitative case study was utilized and data was collected from two urban middle school principals through semi-structured interviews, observations and the collection of documents. This study examines how two urban middle school principals in the state of Tennessee, who have been successful in turning around a school, articulate their process and strategies for change. The method used in choosing the site and participants for this study was purposeful sampling. To identify these schools and participants, the Tennessee Department of Education’s website was utilized to identify failing schools in urban areas, known as priority schools and focus schools. This research will add to the literature about the practices of successful school leaders in turning around failing schools through Kotter’s (2012) leading organizational change lens. Findings from this study may lead to solutions for the problem of the turnaround principal shortage and present strategies to be used in turning around a failing school.