In this article, the author examines the links between high stakes testing policies, school organization processes, and instructional practice using data from a study of K-5 and K-8 schools in Chicago. He argues that although the policy environment penetrates the classroom, this penetration is partial--stronger on some aspects of instruction than…

Few decisions by a school district are more controversial than the decision to close a school. School staff, students and their families, and even the local community all bear a substantial burden once the decision is made to close a school. Since 2001, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) has closed 44 schools for reasons of poor academic performance or…

The Effective Schools Pilot Project, conceived in fall 1983, was designed to improve selected schools by focusing resources to assist six elementary schools in developing strategies for self-assessment and renewal through participatory decision-making. Phase I of the project (1983-1984) resulted in a set of research-based school improvement plans…

Analysis of the available data suggests that New York's elementary and secondary schools, taken as a whole, compiled a good record of achievement during the 1982-83 school year. Three kinds of test data were analyzed. One was the result of a study which involved the collection of scores on three commercially available standardized tests: the…

The Dallas Independent School District presents longitudinal trends in achievement test scores of students tested in each of its subdistricts from 1976 to 1982. Forms 5, 7, and 8 of the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills were administered. What the quasi-longitudinal and cohort-longitudinal test scores together affirm is that median scores have…

This report offers a tabulation of the reading and mathematics outcomes for schools in the Kansas City, Missouri, school district during the 1990-1991 school year under Effective Schools funding. Two tables present school district summary data according to grade and level of schooling. These tables list the number and percentage of schools that…

This year the Center on Education Policy (CEP) analyzed data on the achievement of different groups of students in two distinct ways. First, it looked at grade 4 test results to determine whether the performance of various groups improved at three achievement levels--basic and above, proficient and above, and advanced. Second, it looked at gaps…

One approach to identifying effective schools defines effectiveness in terms of student achievement in reading, mathematics, and language usage. Exceptional school achievement is indicated by performance above or below the level expected if students were merely to maintain their previous rate of growth. Regression analysis is used to compute…

Previous studies, while not suggesting that all preschool programs will bring lasting benefits, demonstrate that early education can change the course of children's lives, especially children from disadvantaged backgrounds. This study dealt with early childhood education and school success, evaluating the effect of preschool attendance on reading…

This paper highlights measurement issues faced when attempting to assess and interpret results of a school improvement project. Based on the assumption that to measure effectiveness, one must measure a wide variety of school factors, the paper presents a broad perspective on measurement problems and dilemmas in analyzing norm-referenced test data…

In April of 1986-87, the School Board approved a student assignment plan which returned most elementary students to their neighborhood schools, creating 16 predominantly minority schools with many students from low-income families. To assure the quality of education in these schools, a 5-year plan was developed. This report summarizes results in…

This report presents a formative evaluation of the first year's program of Trailwoods Environmental Science School, a magnet elementary school in the Kansas City School District in Missouri. The school serves students in grades kindergarten through grade 5 and began operation in the fall of 1990. The report focuses on the implementation of the…