Describes the U.S. Department of Education's new Comprehensive School Reform Demonstration program which gives schools, especially Title 1 schools, the opportunity to compete for funds to sustain comprehensive and coherent reform. Explains the differences between comprehensive reform and programmatic approaches to school improvement, and examines…

With the lowest per capita income in the nation and a higher dropout rate than any other state, Mississippi is struggling to remediate deeply entrenched educational problems. Despite a statewide education reform effort that predated the national movement, educators are finding a century of poverty and illiteracy difficult to reverse. (AF)

Improving education outcomes is vital for achieving convergence with GDP per capita levels in Western European countries and for reducing income inequality. While some education outcomes are favourable, such as the low secondary-school drop-out rate, others have room for improvement: education achievement is below the OECD average and strongly…