Two computer simulation models, arrived at by using System Dynamics (a systems analysis method for developing models of dynamic causal structures), have emerged from work on the dynamic differences between schools that are effective and ineffective for initially low-achieving children. One model focuses upon the differences between effective and…

Computer simulation makes it possible for researchers to test the potential effects of alternative school improvement policies. (Author)

An examination of definition, causes, variables, and strategies of implementation suggests the kinds of data necessary for measuring school effectiveness. By focusing on students who first enter school below grade level standards and by understanding that student learning is embedded in a system of key elements or variables that, over time, are…

From a system dynamics perspective, distinctions between organizations and their environments are not objective givens, but hypothetical formulations. Wherever a reciprocal effect of variables is hypothesized, these variables are considered to be inside a single problem system. Everything outside this model system is the environment. To…