Principals serve as both instructional and administrative leaders in their schools. Their roles and responsibilities vary from managing school compliance issues to facilitating and assisting teachers with their instructional duties. In order to support principals in public schools, district leaders and others are working to build the kinds of…

This report was prepared by the Council of Great City Schools in collaboration with ACT to collect and analyze urban student performance between 2007 and 2011 and to examine student achievement by race and gender. Following is a summary of the study's findings: (1) The total number of ACT test takers increased both nationally and in CGCS districts…

The Council of the Great City Schools has prepared this ninth edition of Beating the Odds to give the nation an in-depth look at how big city schools are performing on the academic goals and standards set by the states. This analysis examines student achievement in mathematics and reading from spring 2006 through spring 2009. It also measures…

In recent years, interest has spiked in data-driven decision making in education--that is, using various types of student data to inform decisions in schools and classrooms. In October 2008, the Council of the Great City Schools and American Institutes for Research (AIR) launched a project funded by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation that focused…

The nation's young Black males are in a state of crisis. They do not have the same opportunities as their male or female counterparts across the country. In order to get a complete picture of the depth of the issues, the authors look most closely at the reading and math achievement of the fourth- and eighth-grade Black males in the large city…

In this study, the authors examined the academic performance of 18 urban districts that participated in the 2009 Trial Urban District Assessment (TUDA) of the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP). The districts participated in grade 4 and grade 8 reading and mathematics assessments. Eleven of these districts also participated in the…

In 2010, approximately 14 percent of all students in the nation were enrolled in the organization's 65 urban school districts out of approximately 15,000 school districts nationwide. In addition, 21 percent of the nation's students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, 26 percent of English language learner (ELL) students and 24 percent of the…

This is an abridged, summary report of selected findings from "Pieces of the Puzzle: Factors in the Improvement of Urban School Districts on the National Assessment of Educational Progress"--a comprehensive study prepared by the Council of the Great City Schools in collaboration with the American Institutes for Research (AIR) and with…

This report summarizes preliminary and exploratory research conducted by the Council of the Great City Schools and the American Institutes for Research on urban school systems participating in the Trial Urban District Assessment (TUDA) of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The study is one of the first large-scale analyses…

This report presents the fifth in a series of polls that ask leaders in major U.S. urban public school systems about challenges they face and expectations for the future. The polls survey board members, superintendents, and other leadership staff. In January 2002, surveys were mailed to Great City School district leaders and senior staff and board…

This report presents the fourth in a series of polls that survey the leadership of U.S. major public school systems about the challenges they face and their expectations for the future. The poll surveys school board members, superintendents, and other leadership staff, as well as representatives of colleges and universities who work with the staff…

This preliminary report marks the first step in the efforts of a task force formed by the Council of the Great City Schools to reduce the gaps in student achievement by race, income, language, and gender. The report is based on data from 48 major urban school districts. A mixed picture has emerged. Some districts are placing their primary focus on…

This monograph is the third in a series of polls of the leadership of America's major public school systems. In addition to surveying board members, superintendents, and other leadership staff, this poll also included urban mayors and representatives of colleges and universities who work with staff and students of the member cities of the Council…

This report examines performance and spending of the New York City Public Schools, distribution of state education aid to the city, and revenues needed by city schools to meet academic standards. The report looks in detail at: student demographic characteristics compared with national data; resources for educating students in New York City…