Until recently, most Maryland schools that were required to restructure did so in the least drastic way possible: hiring a "turnaround specialist," often a retired administrator, to work with the principal.
State officials found that that option was not working and stopped allowing it.
Now, the most popular restructuring option is staff replacement. But a recent report by the nonprofit Center on Education Policy found that requiring all staff to reapply - sometimes called "zero-basing" - can be an extremely disruptive reform, and it doesn't always work.
"You have to be very sensitive to the fact that zero-based staffing may cause a lot of upset teachers the first year, and it may take a while to settle down the atmosphere in the school," said Jack Jennings, president of the center.
The center's report, which studied Maryland schools, concluded that "this type of dramatic and sometimes traumatic change brings its own set of difficulties." At four schools that tried staff replacement, "school staff and administrators reported that the disruption associated with rebuilding school staff was substantial enough to interfere with instruction."
Another nonprofit, Education Sector, has a new report studying inner-city schools in Chattanooga, Tenn., that made dramatic gains. While those schools replaced some staff members, the report found, the teachers who were most successful were veterans who went through extensive professional development.
Jennings said the schools that are most successful at restructuring are those trying multiple reforms at once. Alonso agreed, saying that staff replacement "doesn't address the question of what else needs to happen."
Baltimore City schools have tried staff replacement several times over the years, with mixed results. Kimberly Ferguson, the system's interim school improvement director, said typically about 50 percent of a school's staff is rehired.
"It's hard on the people who have to go through the process, but in the end, I found it makes a difference," Ferguson said.
Annapolis High is among the schools required to restructure this year, but Anne Arundel County education officials voluntarily decided to make the changes a year early. In addition to requiring all staff to reapply, the school instituted a longer work year for teachers and teacher bonuses. It required staff to sign an agreement to stay at the school for at least three years.
