Commitment to one another, determination to prove stereotypes wrong, and a strong belief in the power of education are the core values at San Ysidro High School in San Diego, California. The school serves 2,364 students in one of the poorest communities in the country. The community celebrates its predominately Mexican-American heritage and…

Consistent, excellent teaching is the single greatest factor in improving student achievement over time. School leadership is the second. Excellent teaching and strong leadership require deliberate, ongoing professional learning. In working with high-poverty school systems over time, the following basics emerge: (1) time; (2) content; (3)…

Upon arriving at his newly assigned school as a principal of Visitacion Valley Middle School, Jim Dierke discovered that his office was furnished with only a card table and a folding chair. The school is located in a high-crime, high-poverty area on the southeast side of San Francisco. When Dierke arrived, the expectation for student success was…

From the beginning, those planning UC Merced hoped to create a different type of research university. The campus was intentionally placed in the San Joaquin Valley, a region of California with high poverty, low educational attainment, and great ethnic diversity. With the educational needs of the region in mind, one among many of the innovations…

Describes results of study of five high-poverty districts' successful efforts to improve academic achievement: Adline Independent School District (Texas), Chula Vista Elementary School District (California), Kent County Public Schools (Maryland), Minneapolis Public Schools (Minnesota), and Providence Public Schools (Rhode Island). Focuses on…

A 1986 collaboration between a Fort Worth community group and middle school evolved into a network of 32 alliance schools in 1992-93. Aided by improvement-minded parents, community leaders, and educators, the alliance now has 100 schools in disadvantaged Texas communities. Community involvement contributes to improvements in conditions and…

Although Fort Pitt Elementary School used to be the lowest achieving school in the Pittsburgh area, reading scores and discipline are dramatically improving, thanks to the Independent Research Project for fourth- and fifth-grade students. (MLH)

This essay explores the fluctuations in and short-lived nature of urban school reform through a study of the Education Action Zone (EAZ) programme of Britain's New Labour government. Using the notion of civic capacity as a theoretical framework, the essay looks at this reform from the perspectives of its government proponents, critics outside of…

The Results-Based Education Model is an outcomes-based program that unifies instruction, learning, and assessment while building in the greatest possible margin of student success. Delivery is via thematic, integrated, performance-based instructional units. This article explains how R-BEM transformed an impoverished school district in South Bronx,…

The Omaha Teacher Corps Project has developed a comprehensive evaluation plan involving not only concrete data but individual behavior as well. Its evaluation program consists of seven levels of evaluation: inputs, activities, participation, reaction, learning, practice change, and end result. (Six exhibits illustrate the logistical matters…

Explains how Texas overcame limited educational funding and demographic disadvantages and became one of the highest-performing states in the nation in elementary-school achievement. It describes how educators found innovative ways to raise achievement when they were given the freedom to experiment while being simultaneously held accountable for…

Addresses the concern of educational adequacy: the availability of properly financed and managed accelerated-education programs that produce high minimum educational outcomes for disadvantaged students. Offers 11 specific educational policy and organizational elements that can be implemented to "remedy" educational inadequacy by courts in…

Evaluates a five-year university-school partnership/dropout prevention program involving Fordham University's Graduate Schools of Education and Social Services and five New York City public schools with substantial minority populations. Results show that absenteeism declined significantly, child care conditions improved modestly, self-esteem…

This series of newspaper articles evaluates North Carolina's schools and establishes a relationship between the state's rural poverty and low student achievement levels. Test scores in 1988 are consistently low in all but four of the poorest rural counties. Small schools are disappearing from rural areas. Large schools can offer students more…