Seventeen Chicago Public Schools are undergoing a special kind of transformation known as a turnaround. The turnaround program is an effort to fix schools that have chronically low performance levels and show insufficient improvement through other means. The process involves serious changes such as firing the staff, forcing them to reapply for their jobs and installing new administrative leadership. Journalist Sarah Karp, deputy editor of the education news magazine Catalyst Chicago, followed Marshall Metro High School, on the city’s West Side, through its first year in the turnaround program. She discussed her findings with Eight Forty-Eight. They can also be found in the latest edition of Catalyst In Depth.

Music Button: Chris Joss, “He Got The Shakes”, from the album No Play No Work, (ESL)