(OII) Magnets and School Turnarounds and (OS) Future Ready Leaders

Magnets and School Turnarounds

Focus Group Protocol for Teachers (In-Person)

Public Burden Statement:

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Background questions

• Tell me a little bit about yourself, your position at this school, and how long you’ve been here.

Turnaround Focus

• How do you define a magnet school turnaround? Is a magnet school turnaround different from how you would normally think about a turnaround?

• What changes have you witnessed that serve as evidence that your magnet school was turning around? In other words, can you talk about this school before winning the 2010 MSAP award, as well as after?

• What policies, strategies and techniques were most helpful in the magnet turnaround effort? Did anything make it more difficult?

• What types of resources are in place to sustain the turnaround at this school?

• What types of data guided the turnaround effort? How was it examined in the school?

• What type of support were/are offered to teachers and students to maintain or improve academic achievement?

Magnet Focus

• How was the theme/focus of the magnet school determined?

• Have there been any changes in outreach, transportation and admissions procedures since 2010? If so, how have they impacted the school’s ability to attract diverse families?

• Do you have any students from other school districts enrolling in the school? If so, how does this impact diversity?

Teaching & Training with Diversity in Mind

• Are teachers and/or staff comfortable teaching and discussing issues of race and culture with each other and with students? If so, what are the most effective ways to have these discussions?

• How much and what kind of training have you or your fellow faculty had on diversity-related topics?

• What type of additional diversity-related training would be helpful?

• What, if any, types of efforts are in place to create diverse classrooms?

• How often and in what ways are students tracked by ability within the school?

• What, if any, types of efforts are in place to create diverse groups within classrooms?

• What kinds of instructional approaches are used to foster achievement and promote diversity for diverse groups? Do any stand out as particularly effective?

• What does creating a positive diverse learning environment mean to you?

• What kinds of data are collected to monitor the progress and treatment of diverse student groups?

Culture of Collaboration/Leadership for Diversity

• How diverse is the teaching staff? What type of efforts are there, if any, to recruit racially diverse and/or multilingual staff?

• How are racial disparities related to academic achievement and disciplinary issues addressed by school leadership and teachers?

• How, if at all, is promoting a positive diverse learning environment central to the mission of the school?

Community and Parent Engagement

• How knowledgeable are school personnel about students’ culture, home, and family backgrounds? What efforts are in place to build upon that knowledge?

• Are diverse families actively engaged in the school community? How?

• What kinds of strategies are employed by school personnel to establish engagement with diverse groups of parents?

• What, if any, types of community partnerships are in place to improve both academic and diversity efforts?

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