Instability caused by the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) completely transformed teaching and learning in schools. Throughout this time, teachers and school leaders have had to find new ways to conduct lessons, assess learning, and maintain relationships with the children in their care. This guide is designed to support teachers and school leaders…

The quality of a school's social environment is critically related to student outcomes, including academic performance, attendance, student behavior, and high school completion rates. New Hampshire engaged in a dropout prevention initiative between 2006 and 2012 that focused on implementation of the multitiered Positive Behavioral Interventions…

Contemporary high school reforms are centered on small school size as an approach to ameliorate disengagement and underachievement of minority and economically disadvantaged students in urban comprehensive high schools. A common strategy is to reconfigure high schools into smaller subunits known as Small Learning Communities (SLCs). Although…

In October 2010, WestEd's Strategic Literacy Initiative (SLI) won an i3 "Validation" grant to scale up and validate the Reading Apprenticeship (RA) model in three core secondary content area classes: U.S. history, biology, and English language arts. SLI's proposal stated two goals. Goal 1: To transform academic literacy teaching and…

High-quality out-of-school-time (OST) programs have a positive effect on youth development, but many cities have found it difficult to address the challenges of expanding and improving the quality of programs offered to underserved and high-need students. In response, The Wallace Foundation sponsored an initiative to help five cities increase…

A case study of a large nonselective urban high school in Baltimore (Maryland) describes the design and implementation of a comprehensive package of school reforms, the Talent Development Model with Career Academies. Qualitative and quantitative evidence is provided on significant improvements in school climate, student attendance, promotion…

Presents a three-year case study of a Chapter 1 Schoolwide Project's (SWP) implementation and effects. The school environment prior to SWP, the program's development, and results are discussed. During the years of SWP status, teacher development, parental involvement, student attendance, and academic achievement all reveal dramatic improvements.…

Too many freshmen students remain mired in the ninth grade, presenting a growing problem for America's secondary schools as they struggle to improve high school completion rates. In an effort to stem the tide of high school dropouts, a southeast Texas suburban school district with five comprehensive high schools engaged in a systemic reform effort…

A study compared the Career Intern Program (CIP) with five other alternative youth programs. (The CIP is an alternative high school designed to enable disadvantaged dropouts or potential dropouts to earn regular high school diplomas, to prepare them for meaningful employment or postsecondary education, and to facilitate their transition from…