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Principal John O'Neill has earned his chops as a turnaround expert. In the past ten years, he has helped turn around two schools in two different states--no mean feat for a man who once struggled in school.

As principal of Forest Grove High School in Oregon, he has presided over a dramatic surge in test scores and graduation rates. In addition, many more low-income students have been signing up for challenging AP courses since O'Neill arrived in 2002. (Read our story about Forest Grove here.)

O'Neill recently told us about his school's journey from mediocrity to distinction. Some big lessons emerge from his story of school turnaround:

• Create a climate of personal attention to student needs.
• Do not remediate. Accelerate.
• Build broad commitment to change.
• Go for early, visible successes.
• Create reforms for the long haul.

Public School Insights: There has been a lot of talk recently about school turnarounds. I understand you have actually turned around two different schools. Is there some kind of a broad prescription, do you think, for a successful turnaround strategy?

O’Neill: I think you need to have a clear plan of action and clear targets that you want to impact. For myself, in the two schools I was at, it was definitely clearly outlined for me what needed to be done in terms of reading and math student achievement.

A New Culture of Personal Attention

Public School Insights: Let’s talk a bit about the kind of school Forest Grove was when you first arrived. It was, by all accounts, not really succeeding.

O’Neill: Academically, yes….What was often prevalent was [the attitude], “Well, we are good enough for the students we serve at Forest Grove.” So there was definitely a culture change that needed to happen to establish higher expectations for student learning and skill level development, with the goal of greater opportunities [for students once they graduate]. We wanted them better prepared to pursue vocational or academic endeavors after school.

Public School Insights: Did [the culture] include any sort of discipline or behavioral problems that got in the way of student learning?

O’Neill: No, actually we have a pretty good group of kids. Tardies were an issue. We instituted hall sweeps, with the expectation that kids need to be in class. But other than that, our student population is a pretty great group of kids.

They did feel, however, that they were a number. [Student population was] over 1500. When I was hired, one of the questions the superintendent had asked parents and students was, what are the existing challenges that students face at Forest Grove High School that we would like to address with the hiring of a new principal? One of [the responses] was that students felt like a number…that [Forest Grove] was getting too large, that they were falling through the cracks, that nobody cared whether they came to school or not. So we instituted quite a few personalization efforts to actively engage and connect kids to the school and at least one meaningful adult.

Approximately 47% of our dropouts were true freshman that did not make [a successful] transition to high school. We implemented the LINKS transition program, which is a national program that pairs a peer mentor—a junior or senior—with an incoming student. [Mentors] make phone calls [to in-coming 9th graders]. They welcome them to Forest Grove High School and explain, “I am your peer mentor. I am here to help. If you have any questions, here is my phone number, e-mail”—that sort of thing.

That greatly enhanced our student population. The very first day [of each school year] we hold a “Frosh Camp” that only freshman and other students new to Forest Grove High School attend. We saw the immediate impact [of the LINKS program], where 100% of the 9th graders showed up that day. Before we’d have 15% not show up.

We also instituted an advisory program, which pairs up students, in groups of 25, with a teacher on campus for all four years of their tenure here at Forest Grove High School. That has been very powerful. They meet biweekly for 30 minutes at a time. They do their forecasting [select their coursework for the next year], they plan and profile, they look at their ACT and SAT results. We do the ACT Explore for 9th graders and the PSAT for 10th graders. They look at their results, right prior to forecasting for their next year, to make sure they are on track to meet their goals. If they want to attend a four-year university, they make sure their course selections line up for that.

We also provide instructional teams, or houses, at the 9th and 10th grade levels, which pair up social studies, science and English teachers with a common planning period. At first [these houses] had 103 students [each], but we were able to reduce that to 75 students per team. These teachers track the academic progress of those students throughout the year. They meet weekly and discuss not only curriculum integration endeavors but also individual student progress, and they provide intervention support [to students] as needed and as quickly as possible.

In the 11th and 12th grades we implemented career pathways or academies. That has been pretty powerful as well for some of our students who chose to participate in that opportunity.

Acceleration, Not Remediation for Struggling Students

Public School Insights: What are other strategies have you used in the turnaround process?

O’Neill: [When starting the turnaround process at my previous school,] we looked for different successful models. We looked at Brazosport, Texas, and then also at some research from Larry Lezotte—Effective Schools, Doug Reeves, Mike Schmoker—Results (especially chapter 4) and Robert Marzano--What Works in Schools, and their work in fostering accelerated student learning.

Particularly of interest [to me is] the high school level. I was intrigued by the double blocking effort—giving additional time for individual students to practice their skills in math and reading in areas where they needed remediation, not necessarily dependent upon class-wide instruction. More of an integrated approach rather than the traditional English or traditional math approach.

We looked at different approaches [for how to do that]. One was Accelerated Reader, which we implemented and used at my last three schools—two high schools and a middle school—with a lot of success. [AR] allows students to read at their…instructional level, not their frustrational level and not too easy reading. We saw rapid results with that.

[When double blocking,] we identify students coming in from the middle school who [fell short of or barely] met the state standard in 8th grade. We prescribe the math and reading workshop [as a required elective] when they enroll, their very first semester, and as students pass the state assessment, they are allowed to transfer to an elective of their choice the following semester.

Public School Insights: It sounds like you are keeping these kids with the mainstream while giving them extra help. Is that right?

O’Neill: Absolutely. We want to make sure they still have [exposure and access to the traditional curriculum]. Yet we also give them that double dose at their own instructional level with the goal of rapidly accelerating their skill acquisition levels in reading and math so that they can catch up and achieve the 10th grade reading and math standards as quickly as possible.

There’s definitely a light at the end of the tunnel for the kids. The external motivation for them is to pass the state assessment. [If they do,] they receive a pass right then—because our state test is on-line—from their teacher to the counselor to change their schedule for the following semester. Other students see that and it motivates them.

Also, we don’t collapse sections as the numbers decrease from one semester to the next. So there is some external motivation for the teacher to have as many students as possible achieve that level of learning by the end of first semester. They will have smaller class sizes during the second semester and a lot more individualized impact on those learners still in those elective courses.

Building Broad Commitment to Change

Public School Insights: You mentioned earlier that one of the big things you had to change when you first arrived at Forest Grove in 2002 was climate and the sense of expectations. Did this mean that you had to make a clean sweep of teachers? How did you actually begin that work?

O’Neill: It was kind of a coalition of the willing. First of all, I had outstanding support from our district superintendent, Mr. Jack Musser. He hired me to bring about higher academic success for our student population. He saw the strides we made down at my former school and he wanted those replicated if at all possible. So I had a lot of support in these efforts not only from the school board but also from the superintendent.

When we put forth the reading and math workshop during year one, we [had to identify] who the workshop teachers were going to be. We were able to look for the characteristics that would support the program, ideally teachers who believe that all students can learn and be successful. Teachers who take personal accountability for those students and their growth in learning and skill acquisition. Teachers who are eternal optimists who, again, believe all kids can learn and given the right support can be successful, and that it’s their individual job to find out what support that entails and provide it to the students.

I was fortunate and I had two teachers, one reading and one math teacher, on campus who really responded well to this opportunity when I broached it with the staff. They voiced interest in being the reading workshop and math workshop teacher.

The success that they had that first year with our 9th grade group of students…The turnaround that we had with 9th graders, almost catching our 10th graders in terms of academic performance, really spurred the school board and superintendent to provide an additional teaching allocation to fund the 10th grade intervention. Once we did that, we saw scores dramatically increase for those students who needed two years worth of intervention.

As a result, success breeds success, and support. We enjoyed greater support. For instance, our school board asked, what other ways can we help support our school improvement efforts at the high school? So we added a team [of teachers], and we reduced class size from 103 students to 75 students per house, which provided a more personalized learning environment and greater support for those students in the early formative years at the high school level—the 9th and 10th grade years.

Public School Insights: You mentioned the coalition of the willing…Was it a strong coalition at the beginning that helped begin the work of the turnaround?

O’Neill: We had to make a case that change was needed. For some, it has always been “good enough”—this is just Forest Grove and we do well enough for the kids that want to go on to college.

There wasn’t the disaggregation of data to analyze student achievement across the board in all subgroups. Once we provided that data, it was a call to action for several of our teachers….

We have biannual school improvement retreats. We tried during the first year to hold school improvement meetings either during our leadership team meeting time, which would be an hour and fifteen minutes before school started, or after-school. We would never get [far in the process], because people were rather territorial regarding their programs and departments.

So what we did was use a smaller learning communities grant—we received $50,000 that first year—to go away from the high school. We went over to the Oregon coast and spent two days there. We brought all our department chairs; our local school committee members—those are elected parents; our building site counsel representatives, who are in charge of looking at our professional development endeavors year to year and who include parent, teacher and classified staff representatives; two school board members; a district office administrator; and the entire school site administrative team.

[At these retreats,] we take a look at current school data—everything from attendance rate to drop out rate to reading and math performance to annual yearly progress by subgroup. Then we do a program-by-program review of all our school improvement programs. We identify any gaps that programs don’t necessarily address, and then we outline our school improvement goals on how to fill those gaps.

We can get through that entire process in two full days. And, most importantly, we build the buy-in and support necessary [to achieve these goals]. Our last, culminating activity is to review the school improvement goals that the retreat generates and to reinforce [attendees’] role as our school’s stakeholder representatives in supporting those goals and building consensus with the people that they represent. That has been extremely effective in moving forward rapidly.

Public School Insights: You have representatives of parents and other community members involved in this process. Have you found it challenging to get the level of community buy-in you need in the turnaround process?

O’Neill: It was a little challenging at first, but looking back on it I would say that [only] 1% of parents were concerned about students taking the mandatory elective classes for the workshops.

The vast majority of parents wants the best education possible for their kids and saw the value of their students reading, writing and math problem-solving, so there wasn’t much backlash from the community about establishing higher expectations. The superintendent and I would meet with those parents that were concerned. But we held fast, saying these are the expectations and no, you cannot opt out of them.

We had again a very supportive school board that, said “You know what? We expect this for all our kids, and we want a literate community of learners to graduate from the high school.” So they held fast.

Three or four years after that, the board asked again, is there anything you need in terms of support? I [asked for Board policy on these expectations]. So it’s not just that the principal and the superintendent say you have to take these classes, or you have to attain these higher levels of expectations, but it’s the board’s expectations. They did it immediately for us.

So again, success breeds success and support. And it’s very important to get those quick wins and build off them, and to have a vision of where you need to go next to impact more students.

Public School Insights: There is some debate about whether a school looking to turnaround has to wipe the slate clean and start from scratch with an entirely new staff, or whether it’s possible to build a community of supporters and people who buy-in who can move a vision forward.

O’Neill: I think that each school is unique. I definitely had a handful of teachers who were close to retirement and set in their ways and did not see the need to change. In all fairness to them, these are dedicated people who put 20, 30 years into the school site, and they truly cared about it. But they did not see the call to action. The paradigm had shifted under them, in terms of mastery for all learners, and it caught a few off guard.

But I truly believe that all teachers want success for their students, and when their students are successful, there is a lot of pride that they are in term successful. They want that level of success.

Sustaining Success

Public School Insights: How do you sustain the work? I am sure you’ve encountered, like anyone else, turnarounds that five years down the road are a little less impressive than they were when they started.

O’Neill: Absolutely. That is a challenge.

With our math and reading workshops, our two stars who started out for us…One retired and one moved back to his hometown in Eastern Oregon. So the challenge for us is continuing that level of excellence in those programs and the fidelity of those programs in terms of delivery—that’s key. It is a constant professional development endeavor, but you just have to remain focused on the end result—students gaining the skills they need to be successful.

I have a running tally. I am looking at it right now in my office on my chalkboard, which overlooks my desk. It shows how many students are in the workshop classes, how many are out, what percent that makes up, how many seats are impacted for first semester. Anybody walking into my office knows that is a priority for us. People respect what you inspect, and if you let up at that at all…I could see some slippage occurring.

Public School Insights: Do you think that there is enough of a culture in the school now that those who have worked with you could sustain the vision if you left the school?

O’Neill: I have been asked that question before, and I would say yes, at this school. Yes. I have an outstanding school administrative team—some very, very capable assistant principals. One in particular definitely has the full vision. She has been my curriculum/instruction person for the last six years, and she could easily continue this on if she were selected as principal to follow up.

However, if you bring in someone from the outside who has different experiences—I’m not sure. It would be a challenge. My former school site did slip back when I left, and that was disappointing. And they’re continuing to struggle.

So I don’t know. My desire is yes, absolutely, it will continue. I know that’s the real telling feature of a good leader—that it does continue after you leave. So that is the goal.

Replicating Success

Public School Insights: I have one final question for you. You are in the rather unique position of presiding over two turnaround stories—two schools that have actually changed their cultures and worked much better. Does this give you insight into how people all around the country can make the same kinds of changes you were able to make? We know every school is different.

O’Neill: I am thoroughly convinced that the school improvement efforts we have taken on at my former school and at my current school are replicable at just about any site. I didn’t invent these strategies, I borrowed these strategies from effective schools elsewhere….

So my belief is yes, this is definitely replicable. And we have had a number of high schools within Oregon that have implemented programs similar to what we have done that have met AYP and had significant growth.

I think the key is, at the very highest level, a superintendent and school board members that want the very best for their students and their community, and are willing to take a potential backlash in establishing a commitment to higher levels of expectations for all students. If you have that firmly in place, I think that is half the battle.

Photo courtesy of the Forest Grove High School website.