As Secretary Arne Duncan recognizes, turning around schools that are not doing well is a formidable task. It is also a task about which many ambiguities and controversies swirl. Given all the uncertainties associated with turning around, transforming, and continuously improving schools, it is essential to keep analyzing deficiencies in blueprints and roadmaps guiding policy and practice. Such analyses are especially important with respect to low performing and failing schools. The focus of this report is on how current federal policy and practice mainly tinkers with the need to directly address barriers to learning and re-engage disconnected students. It underscores that the reason for this is that these concerns are marginalized. And the marginalization stems from the two-component framework that dominates school improvement thinking. Appended are: (1) Rationales and Recommended Practices Offered for the Federal Turnaround Models; (2) Details About the Federal Turnaround Models; and (3) Examples of "Content" Arenas for a Component to Address Barriers to Learning. (Contains 5 exhibits.)