This chapter describes a model for continuous improvement that guides the work of the National Center on Scaling Up Effective Schools, or NCSU. NCSU is a research and development center funded by the Institute for Education Sciences, the research arm of the United States Department of Education. At the core of the Center's work is an innovative…

This article reviews findings from the authors' studies of recovery high schools (RHS), including a 1995 program evaluation of a school in New Mexico (Moberg & Thaler, 1995), a 2006-09 descriptive study of 17 recovery high schools (Moberg & Finch, 2008), and presents early findings from a current study of the effectiveness of recovery high…

This article reports on a first cycle of a larger action research study conducted to determine how Circuit Teams could support School Management Teams of underperforming high schools towards whole-school development. Although it is a mandated requirement by the Department of Education, none of the four schools involved in the study had developed a…

Bethpage Union Free School District in New York is a high-performing district by almost any current accountability measure. Yet administrators and teachers worried that they were not doing enough to prepare their students as critical thinkers for the 21st century. Inspired by the curriculum framework of the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, the…

This policy analysis project is designed at uncovering specific standards that can be utilized by a school district in developing and evaluating their Type II Alternative Schools to ensure high levels of student success within their programs. While there is a substantive body of research in alternative education, there are no universally accepted…

Describes the efforts of the staff of one urban high school in Mississippi to develop and implement a school improvement program based on a school effectiveness model. (FL)

This report contains research findings on student achievement and retention at New York City alternative high schools serving dropouts and potential dropouts. After a summary and introduction, statistics are presented which reveal that alternative schools facilitate positive changes in student performance. Next, reasons for students' dropping out…

This paper describes the positive changes in the organizational climate and the role of the principal in one high school during four years of implementing the Spencerport (New York) Effective Schools/Teaching Project. A gradual increase in the building level commitment of the project has led to a redefinition of leadership to include the Building…

A study of Michigan's Copper Country Intermediate School District was undertaken to identify ways nine small secondary schools with declining enrollments could increase educational opportunities for students by cooperative sharing. The 6-month study included analyzing data on each school, identifying factors which might constrain cooperative…

The text provides information to secondary school principals to assist them in designing and maintaining effective educational programs for severely handicapped high school students, including those who are labeled moderately or severely retarded, multiply handicapped, or autistic. A model of effective program characteristics is followed by a…

This book traces the High Schools That Work program from its inception and reports on practices that are helping schools effectively integrate academic and vocational education. Examples are included to illustrate what can be accomplished. Chapter 1 describes the program's goals, key practices, key conditions, and success. Chapter 2 shows how…