Northwest Regional Comprehensive Center

Mass Insight's School Turnaround Group recently released a publication providing districts with a fundamentally different organizational structure through which to execute school turnaround. The District Turnaround Office (DTO) is a new internal unit within a Local Education Agency (LEA) that manages and coordinates all district turnaround efforts. The DTO streamlines support from multiple offices, rather than creating additional bureaucracy, and ensures that low-performing schools are prioritized not only in talk but in action. This publication includes 1) an explanation of the DTO structure and functions, 2) detailed examples of DTO-like structures in five urban districts, and 3) key findings to inform this work in other districts.