The Hillsborough County (Florida) Developmental Writing Program (DWGP) was implemented in grades four to six during the 1983-84 school year. The DWP was evaluated to determine the degree of classroom implementation and program effectiveness. Many instructional innovations resulted from program implementation. Students exhibited improved writing…

Project EPIC (Educational Preparation for Involvement in Careers) was conducted to study the best methods and techniques of infusing career education into the curriculum in five schools with high proportion of low-income children in the Jefferson County School System (Kentucky). The project had five basic goals: (1) provide low income children…

This report describes the effects of Project Graduation Really Achieves Dreams (GRAD) on student progress at three high schools in Houston (the initiative's original site) and at high schools in two other school districts (Columbus, Ohio, and Atlanta, Georgia). MDRC--a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization--conducted a third-party…

When it comes to student support, widespread agreement exists for moving in new directions. It is easy to agree that change is needed. It is harder to agree on what the changes should look like. And, it is even harder to get from here to there. The intent of this paper is to focus the discussion about new directions for student support by…

Teachers and administrators were surveyed to determine the extent to which AP Vertical Teams for English were implemented in schools. Results indicate that even though the goals of the AP Vertical Teams were only partially realized, there was some positive impact on student exposure to Pre-AP instruction and AP courses and student performance on…

The cooperative elementary school model uses cooperation, particularly cooperative learning, as a philosophy for educational change. A 2-year study of the cooperative elementary school model in 2 treatment and 3 comparison schools involving 1,012 students demonstrates positive effects on academic achievement and social relations. (SLD)

In August 1993 the Des Moines (Iowa) community created a new type of neighborhood school by placing an elementary school close to where the parents work, rather than where they live. This school, the Downtown School, serves a diverse community of students, emphasizes parental involvement, and implements current research in education. This report…

Central East Middle School in Philadelphia (Pennsylvania), an urban school with about 45% Hispanic enrollment, and the Center for Research on the Education of Children Placed at Risk are working together to implement a Talent Development Middle School model of schooling. Part of this effort includes use of the Student Team Reading (STR) Program,…

The California Literacy Campaign (CLC) is a statewide, community-oriented, library-based adult literacy program initiated by the California State Library in 1984. A key feature is the latitude given individual sites for developing literacy services to meet the needs of the local population. Two evaluations suggested that current learner progress…

Implementation of nationally developed applied academics curriculum packages at 16 pilot sites in Indiana was evaluated. Settings were urban and rural and included comprehensive high schools and vocational centers. Data were compiled from 8 applied mathematics and 9 applied communication teachers and from 559 students. The primary goal was to…

A Summerbridge program is a comprehensive 2- to 3-year academic program with intensive summer and school-year sessions, year-round counseling, and family advocacy and is followed by continued support through high school. The tuition-free program targets talented students with limited educational opportunities who are taught by a faculty composed…

The Educational Reform Act (ERA) of 1988 reflects the most comprehensive restructuring of education in Britain in this century. This paper discusses the implementation of the National curriculum, the innovation at the heart of the ERA. The first part of the paper offers the views of educational commentators on changes resulting from this law.…

The impact of the School Improvement Through Instructional Process (SITIP) program in Maryland schools was evaluated. The program encourages application of research on planned change to implement one or more of four instructional models: (1) Active Teaching--emphasis on direct instruction, review and discussion of homework, individually supervised…

To assist in local school improvement, Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory (NWREL) has developed an approach in which teams of local educational leaders are made aware of the results of effective schooling research and are trained in the processes of change and improvement. Research reviews have shown specific elements of schooling at the…

During the 1982-83 school year the Spencerport (New York) Central School District began a comprehensive project to study the effective schools research and its implications at all levels of a suburban school system. A leadership planning team (consisting of teachers, principals, and district personnel) participated in a series of workshops and…