In January 2010, the Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) identified Central Falls High School (CFHS) as one of the state's persistently lowest-achieving schools. The Central Falls School District (CFSD) and the Central Falls Teachers Union (CFTU) considered the transformation model but could not come to an agreement initially around…

This document reports findings of a study that evaluated the implementation model developed for Project SHAL, an "effective schools" reform model. Implemented in 1980 in Area I of the St. Louis Public School District (Missouri), Project SHAL is an acronym for the four original participating schools--Stowe, Hempstead, Arlington, and…

This report details the findings of two surveys designed to investigate the deployment and impact of support staff who have achieved higher level teaching assistant (HLTA) status in England and to assess the impact or effect they are having in schools, along with interview data collected from nine case-study schools. The study sought to: (1)…

A random sample of over 13,000 students participating in 4 of Minnesota's school choice programs during the 1989-90 school year were surveyed in 4 areas: (1) background and family participation; (2) reasons for participating and decision making; (3) sources for program information; and (4) satisfaction/expectations. The survey was performed to…

This project was designed to solicit parental perceptions of Caroline Street Elementary School (Saratoga Springs, New York) in terms of Effective Schools, a method of assessing school improvement. Families (n=334) were asked to provide their perceptions regarding correlational characteristics identified as vital to successful school programs:…

A project developed and tested an Institutional Effectiveness Assessment Guide (IEAG) that incorporated themes and factors identified by Wardlow et al. (1992) as contributing to excellence. An interpretive design was used to enable researchers to gain input and consensus from participants of exemplary institutions regarding the institutional-level…

The 4th and 7th grade Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL) scores for the past several years have indicated that the percentage of students meeting the new higher standards is not satisfactory, although improvement is being shown every year. There are indications, however, that while some elementary and middle/junior high schools are…