In a 2006 report, MDRC comparatively analyzed its evaluations of three comprehensive interventions -- Career Academies, First Things First, and Talent Development -- to identify strategies that address five critical challenges to reform: (1) creating a personalized and orderly learning environment; (2) assisting students who enter high school with…

The Talent Development Middle School model was created to make a difference in struggling urban middle schools. The model is part of a trend in school improvement strategies whereby whole-school reform projects aim to improve performance and attendance outcomes for students through the use of major changes in both the organizational structure and…

In low-performing public high schools in U.S. cities, high proportions of students drop out, students who stay in school typically do not succeed academically, and efforts to make substantial reforms often meet with little success. The Talent Development High School model is a comprehensive school reform initiative that has been developed to…

High school reform has moved to the top of the education policy agenda, commanding the attention of the federal government, governors, urban school superintendents, philanthropists, and the general public. All are alarmed by stubbornly high dropout rates, by the low academic achievement of many high school students, and by the large numbers of…

The Talent Development High School model is an education reform initiative that aims to improve the academic achievement of students in large, nonselective, comprehensive high schools. In operation at 33 high schools in 12 states across the country, the approach encompasses five main features: (1) small learning communities, organized around…