It Takes a City to Raise a Systemic Reform: Early Outcomes from the Say Yes City-wide Turnaround Strategy in Syracuse

The focus of this paper is a systemic educational reform, “The Say Yes City-wide Turnaround Strategy,” designed to involve diverse city-wide partners in improving education and revitalizing the community and city. As an incentive and catalyst for change, college scholarships are offered to every high school graduate in the city. However, the major goal of the partnership is prepare all students for postsecondary education through improved classroom teaching, extended-learning opportunities, and adaptive supports in the academic, social-emotional, and health domains. Specific implementation components, such as the Student Monitoring and Intervention System, after-school and summer programs, communications with stakeholders and public, and pathways to postsecondary and careers, are described in reference to the recent initiation of the City-wide Turnaround Strategy in Syracuse, NY. Expected and early educational outcomes are also examined based on the Say Yes Theory of Change. Keywords: Systemic reform, systemic educational reform, tournaround strategy, social emotional.