In order to track the implementation and measure the impact of Turnaround’s work, we collect data at three different levels: student, classroom and school-wide.

Student

Turnaround seeks to track the extent to which students are connected with services and the extent to which those services result in improved functioning for the students served.  Accordingly, we use various measures of:

• The scope and nature of services received by students;
• The rates of parental consent for services (where required);
• The extent to which recommended services are completed (service persistence and completion);
• Standardized measures of student functioning completed by teachers and outside mental health providers; and
• School records of academic achievement.

Classroom

Turnaround seeks to measure the extent to which classrooms are productive environments for teaching and learning.  We survey both teachers and students and carry out classroom observations.  For classroom observations, we use the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS), developed over 10 years by Robert Pianta and his colleagues in the NICHD Early Child Care Research Network, National Center for Early Development and Learning, and Center for Advanced Study of Teaching and Learning.   CLASS is widely acknowledged to be the “gold standard” in observing teacher-student interactions and assessing the effectiveness of classroom management and levels emotional and instructional support for students.

School-wide

Turnaround seeks to measure the extent to which schools are calm, safe and orderly environments where there is a positive professional community among the adults and students have high levels of academic engagement and achievement.  To measure these, we currently look at:

• Data available from schools and districts, such as:
  • Number of calls by schools for emergency services (911);
  • Levels of student and teacher attendance;
  • Behavioral data;
• Perceptions of staff, parents and students through surveys, interviews and focus groups; and
• Scores on statewide, standardized tests.

 

Measuring School Capacity to Serve High Poverty Communities

Turnaround has been developing a comprehensive approach to measuring the capacity of a school to successfully serve children living in poverty, and to tracking the progress that a school makes towards this goal.  Click here to access a draft document that reflects our current thinking on what any school should be accountable for in creating the conditions for highly successful teaching and learning, and indicators that can be used to track this.