In North Carolina's Charlotte-Mecklenburg school district, superintendent Peter Gorman came up with a new strategy to help save numerous failing schools. In 2008, Gorman announced a district-wide competition, the "Strategic Staffing Initiative" (SSI), in order to identify the most effective principals. The winners of the SSI were chosen based on statistics such as growth in student achievement as opposed to how long the principal had served or how highly their school was regarded.
Gorman then met with the winning principals and offered them the "opportunity" to help turn around a struggling school. The three-year deal would include a 10 percent raise, more freedom from district rules, and the option to bring eight people with them as part of the transformation team.
All the winners accepted and just one year after the initiative started, all seven SSI schools saw a rise in student proficiency on the state test. Read the full article by Pat Wingert at Newsweek online.
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