Over the past half-century, billions of dollars have been spent across the nation on efforts to transform low-performing public schools -- most of them urban, most of them low-income, and most of them disproportionately enrolled with students of color -- into models of success. It hasn't worked. The failure of attempts to remedy the state of urban…

Madison Park Technical Vocational High School in Boston is attempting a turnaround and has been for decades. In 2016, after having been designated a Level 4 school by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), a stamp that branded it "underperforming," school officials created a plan they began…

In today's era of increased accountability and standards-based reforms within the United States educational system, Community Partner Organizations (CPOs) can offer essential support to teachers, schools, and districts. CPOs have the potential to have a positive impact in urban schools in particular, where high-stakes testing and accountability…

A recent report offers a how-to guide for reform advocates interested in removing communities' democratic control over their schools. The report explains how these reformers can influence states to use the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) Title I school improvement funds to support a specific set of reforms: charter schools, state-initiated…

This report is an evaluation of the Investing in Innovation (i3) program, a tiered-evidence grantmaking initiative at the U.S. Department of Education. The program's primary purpose is to support the development, testing, and scaling of field-initiated programs for high-need students in K-12 education. This report reviews the program's early…

Implementation of multi-tier system of supports (MTSS) has grown rapidly in Kansas and is a key strategy for turning around low-performing schools in the state. MTSS is designed to improve outcomes for all students by instituting system-level change across the classroom, school, district, and state. Such systemic change is accomplished by…

The Apollo 20 Program is a "turnaround" initiative with an emphasis on improving student performance in math. The key strategies of the turnaround initiative include having effective principals and effective teachers on the campus, more instructional time, using data to drive instruction, creating a campus culture of high expectations,…

Background: While current investments in school improvement occur in the context of the worldwide economic downturn, in the South African context, there is in addition widespread disparity in education provision and attainment related to pre-democracy race-based patterns. Despite the education sector receiving the largest national annual budget…

In 2010-2011, the Houston Independent School District (HISD) launched the Apollo 20 Program in four high schools and five middle schools in the district as a "turnaround" initiative with an emphasis on improving student performance in math. The key strategies of the turnaround initiative included having effective principals and effective…

The study reviewed in this report examined the effects of Philadelphia's "Renaissance Schools Initiative" on students in K-8 schools after one year of implementation. Schools were selected for participation based on their School Performance Index (SPI) at the start of the 2010-11 school year. The SPI rates every school in Philadelphia…

In 2010-2011, the Houston Independent School District (HISD) launched the Apollo 20 Program in four high schools and five middle schools in the district as a "turnaround" initiative with an emphasis on improving student performance in math. The key strategies of the turnaround initiative included having effective principals and effective…

If less time in the classroom is a cause of poor student performance, can adding more time be the cure? This strategy underlies a major effort to fix the nation's worst public schools. Billions of federal stimulus dollars are being spent to expand learning time on behalf of disadvantaged children. And extended learning time (ELT) is being proposed…

Public-school students in the world's largest city, Shanghai, China, are academically outperforming their counterparts across the globe and becoming the talk and envy of education experts worldwide. Using an innovative partnering approach that matches successful schools with low-performing schools, Shanghai has valuable lessons to teach on turning…

Race to the Top's success ultimately must be measured by its long-term impact on student learning. Because simultaneous change in multiple systems takes time, it is too early to make that determination of success now. However, it is not too early to learn from the positive achievements of and challenges faced by Race to the Top states. This report…

Race to the Top's success ultimately must be measured by its long-term impact on student learning. Because simultaneous change in multiple systems takes time, it is too early to make that determination of success now. However, it is not too early to learn from the positive achievements of and challenges faced by Race to the Top states. This…