Few mental health initiatives for young children have used classroom programs. Preschool-based efforts targeting externalizing behavior could help prevent conduct disorders. Additional benefits may include improved academic achievement and reduced risk for other mental health difficulties. Pro-grams that target multiple developmental domains are…

Now that all 50 states and the District of Columbia are building statewide longitudinal data systems, the next step is to ensure that the information in these systems is used to improve student learning. The Data Quality Campaign (DQC) has identified 10 actions that states can take to ensure that the right data are available and accessible and…

Since the passage of the "No Child Left Behind Act of 2001" (NCLB), the evidence that it is working has continued to grow. Because of this law, teachers and parents are getting the information and help they need to help every child reach his or her best in school--and as a result, student achievement is rising across America. While…

The Pittsburgh Public School District asked the RAND Corporation to monitor the first year's implementation (2006-2007) of Excellence for All (EFA) and provide feedback to district staff, the board, and other stakeholders. The Pittsburgh Public School District leadership developed EFA with the aim of increasing student achievement by improving…

This study examined the impact of 3 2nd-year charter schools (1 elementary, 1 middle, and 1 high school) on student achievement, school climate, and pedagogy. All schools served predominantly African American students in an inner-city district. Using a matched treatment-control student analytical design, charter school enrollees were individually…

In this article, the author relates his experiences leading the building of the School of Engineering within the new University of California (UC) campus of UC Merced. He discusses the goals of the project, as well as the challenges it faced, and concludes with personal lessons for those tasked with similar positions within university building…

If rewards are to be used as a school-reform tool, their formats must be more closely tailored to the organizational characteristics of schools and to the purpose of improving teaching and learning. This paper describes lessons learned from Kentucky's collective incentive system, the Kentucky Instructional Results Information System (KIRIS). The…

The Maryland Middle Grades School Policy Initiative addresses the polices and practices that support improved school and student performance. To document changes in policies and practices, this series of publications entitled "Milestones" was developed. Each publication traces the development, implementation, evaluation, and refinement…

This report evaluates program activities of Chapter 1 and migrant education in North Carolina during 1989-90. Data used in compiling the migrant education report were obtained from local project directors, the Migrant Student Record Transfer System (MSRTS), the Annual Testing Program, LEA monitoring reports, and from instruments and forms devised…

With little attention paid to the way barriers to learning are addressed, many students are unable to take advantage of instructional improvements. During 1998 a nationwide coalition of organizations was established which focused on how to enhance policy cohesion in the area of barriers to student learning. This report provides information for…

Part of a series about research-based programs that show promise for raising student achievement (especially in low-performing schools), this paper describes seven promising reading and language arts programs. Each program shows evidence of high standards, effectiveness, replicability, and support structures. The paper opens with a brief…

This study reports results of the first year of implementation of the Success for All elementary school restructuring program in kindergarten through third grade at Philadelphia's Francis Scott Key Elementary School. Fifty-two percent of the students were from Asian backgrounds, primarily Cambodian, and spoke little or no English at home. In the…

This report presents a description and evaluation of the Nature-Computer Camp (NCC), an environmental and computer science program designed for sixth grade students in the District of Columbia public schools. Among the major components of the program were: planning for administration of operating the camp and for instruction in environmental…

This paper provides a case study of eight magnet schools in Austin, Texas, to illustrate the role of evaluation research in assessing the impact of the magnet school experience on students and parents. After an introduction, the paper describes the history of Austin's magnet schools at the elementary, junior high, and high school levels. Next,…

This document presents an overview of the design and implementation stages of a Spencerport (New York) project, designed to improve the educational program and student learning in each building in the district. The first section describes the project's goal for each building, which is that (1) 95 (or greater) percent of all students should…