In this article, the author reviews research from the organizational sciences to develop turnaround policy guidelines that may prove useful for policy makers and educators. The approach is an integrative review of the literature. The author employs a comprehensive process to unpack and make sense of the turnaround literature from the organizational sciences. Strategies appropriate for document analysis and interview data are employed. Insights are captured from the five major research pathways for studying organizational turnaround. Research findings are blended into three policy dimensions, namely, leadership, efficiency, and focus. It is argued that the literature on turning around failing organizations in sectors outside of education provides potential blueprints for recovery activity in failing schools. This is the first systematic effort to mine research in the corporate, not-for-profit, and public sectors to develop policy insights for shaping efforts to turn around failing schools.
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