In an effort to provide the best academic opportunities for all students, many high schools create heterogeneous classes by removing existing academic tracks or by offering only 1 level of course. Research has indicated that separating students by ability often exacerbates existing academic inequity; however, mixed ability classes can also create…

Schoolnet is an instructional tool designed to help AISD staff at all levels to improve student achievement. In 2011-2012, the evaluation focused on system implementation.

Four organizations with promising practices in teacher Professional Growth & Support have significantly raised outcomes for low-income students. The charter management networks, Achievement First and Aspire Public Schools, and the two reform organizations, Teach Plus and Agile Mind, have successfully increased student achievement with a…

Students should have exposure to social justice education (SJE) through the content-based curriculum or through cocurricular learning opportunities. This program evaluation study used qualitative data collection and analysis procedures to determine how to best improve the cocurricular SJE program, Lead for Diversity (LFD), which is used in high…

Out of School Time (OST) programs have been shown to promote positive personal, academic and social development (Huang, Gribbons, Kim, Lee, & Baker, 2000; Welsh et al., 2002). The Family League of Baltimore City works with partners to sponsor a range of after-school programs in Baltimore City Public Schools (City Schools) to provide healthy…

This dissertation examined the impact of inclusion on the academic achievement outcome of high school special education students as measured by English 1, biology, and algebra 1 as a function of gender, ethnicity, and years of inclusion. The study also examined the generalizations with confidence that could be made about the use of inclusion…

This publication is a series of in-depth case studies to examine how three programs which serve a disconnected youth population are utilizing data as a tool for continuous program improvement and ongoing accountability. The report features the following programs: (1) Roca, an organization in Massachusetts which engages the highest-risk youth in…

Over the last decade, New York City (NYC) has been the site of a systemwide high school reform effort that is unprecedented in its scope and pace. Since 2002, the school district has closed more than 20 failing high schools, opened more than 200 new secondary schools, and implemented a centralized high school admission process in which…

This report summarizes efforts to develop and pilot test a protocol for collecting information about parent involvement policies, practices, and programs being implemented at the middle and high school levels. The protocol can be used to expand documentation of strategies selected, adapted, and sustained in future years. The study reviewed the…

The purpose of this chapter is to synthesize the results of the studies presented in this monograph and to discuss the implications of those results. The chapter is divided into four sections. In the first section state level assessment as a reform mechanism for high school physical education is discussed in terms of the South Carolina experience.…

City-as-School (CAS), founded in 1972, is a New York City alternative high school with a mission to link students to learning experiences outside the classroom. Since the 1985-86 school year, CAS has received federal funds for the CAS Replication Project, the goal of which is to promote and facilitate the adoption of the CAS model by other sites.…

In March 1996, the Region XI Education Service Center, Fort Worth (Texas), was designated to continue a project implemented in 1990 by the Texas Education Agency to study the overall effectiveness of special education programs. The 1996 project was extended in 1997. This paper reports on the first of three newly planned study components, the…

Background: The states of Maine and Pennsylvania support 1:1 laptop programs in which every student is provided with a personal computer. Many other states, districts, and schools also have full or pilot 1:1 laptop programs. Purpose: As 1:1 laptop programs grow in number and size, more information is needed about the impacts on teaching, learning,…

To determine the effectiveness of special education and transition planning for students with disabilities in Texas, a 6-year study was conducted between 1990 and 1996. Data for the first 5 years were collected, analyzed, and reported by the Texas Education Agency, but the Region XI Education Service Center was designated to complete the sixth…

Since the inception of the School-to-Work Project in 1998, networks members have increasingly viewed credible evidence as critical to both their approaches to program improvement and their strategies for winning and sustaining support and resources. This issue brief: (1) Describes the activities Network members have pursued together during…