Less than 25 percent of college students who take any developmental education courses earn a credential within eight years. Over the past three years, the six states in the Developmental Education Initiative have developed and enacted unprecedented changes in policy and practice in an effort to reverse these dismal outcomes. "Ahead of the…

The Developmental Strategies for College Readiness and Success Resource Guide was produced by the Education Commission of the States and the Southern Regional Education Board for the "Countdown to 2015: Developmental Strategies to Advance Readiness in the Common Core Era" convening held April 21-23, 2014 in Charlotte, North Carolina. The…

Interest in setting high educational standards is at the forefront of many school reform programs in the United States. States' pursuit of high standards can be advanced through implementation of programs such as High Schools That Work ("HSTW"), which emphasizes high expectations and rigorous academics for all students, including Career…

During the 2008-2009 school year, faculty members at New Fairfield (CT) Middle School examined relevance and student engagement in relation to student achievement. Subtle clues indicated that students were not fully engaged in their learning: many students did not relate their classroom experiences to their personal reality or to their vision of…

This report presents the results of a 5-year study conducted by governors and other state and local policymakers on education reform. It is intended for a general audience and offers advice on what it takes to implement comprehensive school reforms. The document elaborates on five lessons learned in implementing comprehensive school reform: (1)…

Comprehensive school reform involves changes in every aspect of school operations, from classroom instruction to school governance. Some schools develop their own reform approach from within. Others seek assistance from without, particularly from organizations that have developed coherent, research-based approaches, or school-reform models. For…

This catalog describes 44 school-reform models. It was prepared for the U.S. Department of Education in direct response to the Comprehensive School Reform Demonstration program. The catalog's purpose is to aid schools, school districts, and states as they investigate external models that can be incorporated into comprehensive school-reform…

This publication examines education stakeholders' initial responses to the Comprehensive School Reform Demonstration (CSRD) program in six states in the North Central region of the U.S. Created by Congress in 1997 to help raise student achievement in public schools, the CSRD program is a multi-year initiative that provides financial incentives to…

This document lists the 16 characteristics that help integrate comprehensive program planning into the regular school program and other family-support systems. The 16 characteristic arose from a review of research on effective afterschool programs and interviews with active program sites. The characteristics are as follows: climate for inclusion;…

Chris Barbic, a Teach For America corps member, started Project Youth Engaged in Service (YES) in 1995. He wanted to offer his former elementary-school students an alternative to the low-performing middle schools they otherwise would attend. Since then Barbic has led a high-energy team of educators in refining a comprehensive approach to helping…

Researchers conducted case studies of Ninth Grade Success Initiative (NGSI) grants to gain a greater understanding of issues facing large numbers of at-risk students, many of whom, despite potentially receiving services as early as kindergarten, still reach ninth grade unprepared to succeed academically in high school. Case studies focused on NGSI…