The Data Must Speak (DMS) Positive Deviance research aims to improve the equity and quality of education through the use of data by studying the practices and behaviours of 'positive deviant' schools -- schools that outperform others despite operating in similar contexts and with equivalent resources. The analysis aims to inform practical…

Charter schools were developed, in part, to serve as an R&D engine for traditional public schools, resulting in a wide variety of school strategies and outcomes. In this paper, we collect unparalleled data on the inner-workings of 35 charter schools and correlate these data with credible estimates of each school's effectiveness. We find that…

Uses data from ethnographic study in two Quechua-speaking communities of Puno, Peru, to explore schooltime spent in other-than-academic endeavors. Documents uses to which schooltime is put in these communities, and then seeks to account for observed uses of time in terms of ethnographically derived insights as to social, cultural, economic, and…

This handbook reviews findings from the research literature on effective schools to ascertain their relevance to Language Arts instruction, and to guide school administrators in their efforts to improve instruction for limited English speaking (LEP) students. The following chapters are included: (1) Introduction; (2) Principal as Instructional…

Improving student achievement hinges on adopting effective, research-based learning practices and activities. These include parent involvement, graded homework, direct teaching, aligned time on task, tutoring, cooperative learning, mastery learning, and teaching of learning strategies. Three high-achieving schools are profiled. (MLH)

The Michigan Department of Education with assistance from the Educational Testing Service has compiled the results of valid educational research studies on specific topics into a report to be used as a guide for developing effective schools. It is intended for use by practitioners to help bridge the gap between educational researchers and…

This report by Wyoming's Blue Ribbon Committee on Quality Education focuses on four basic recommendations through which student preparation could be improved. First, the elementary, secondary, and college curriculum in the state needs to be better defined and integrated. Second, educational processes must make more effective use of available…

Effective schools provide at-risk students with a community of support that encourages school membership and educational engagement. This study describes effective dropout prevention programs, develops a generalizable, theoretical framework for understanding the relationship between at-risk students and their schools, and suggests local and state…