For more than half a century concerns about the ability of American students to compete in a global workplace focused policymakers' attention on improving school performance generally, and student achievement in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) specifically. In its most recent form--No Child Left Behind--there is evidence…

The first charter school law was passed in Minnesota in 1991 and with it, a new school reform movement began. After two decades, 41 states and Washington D.C. have adopted charter legislation. This special issue provides an opportunity for scholars to reflect upon the promises and limitations of charter schools and to offer policy advice for those…

The purpose for this study was to use the "KSH analytic framework" as a tool to provide insight into the organizational change process that, when considered, might result in lasting and significant school change. In this qualitative multi-case study of two urban comprehensive high schools, the researcher not only described the initiation and…

This exploratory study describes approaches to improving schools through retrospective, in-depth qualitative case studies. To select schools to be examined, the authors sought to identify Comprehensive School Reform (CSR) schools demonstrating two distinctive patterns of improved student achievement between 2000 and 2005, rapid-improvement (i.e.,…

As someone with a stake in a school district's systems, a person probably does not have all the answers around what is necessary to build an effective interim assessment system. Neither does this workbook. But it is intended to have the right questions. More precisely, this workbook contains the vision, infrastructure, and resource questions…

Building on recent studies of literacy coaches' roles in schools and relationships with teachers, this article provides empirical descriptions of 3 ways that literacy coaches in an urban, midsized East Coast school district described balancing coaching behaviors they identified as responsive (coaching for teacher self-reflection) and directive…

Educators' work is impacted by the political narratives constructed by politicians and legislators. The manipulation of cultural archetypes, including the representations of schools and teachers, in order to create compelling narratives in support of policy is also part of the context within which educators work. The past 25 years have been laden…

With the death last week of Theodore R. Sizer, precollegiate education lost one of its most influential thinkers and a founder of the contemporary movement to improve schools. Mr. Sizer died Oct. 21 at his home in Harvard, Mass., of colon cancer. He was 77. Over his long career, Mr. Sizer was dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Education,…

This article presents Ted Sizer's opening remarks during the Fall Forum in 2000 at Providence, Rhode Island. In his opening remarks, Sizer reviews what the Coalition of Essential Schools (CES) is, and what it is not. CES, he contends, is not a fixed school design but rather, a set of ideas, ideas and conditions and convictions, called principles,…

The authors provide a summary of recent high school reform movements with a focus on preventing high school dropouts. They discuss middle to high school transitions, describing the effect of the transition on students' academic progress and the developmental and contextual changes that occur in adolescents' lives as they move from one institution…

This case study provides a contemporary look at a first year rural high school principal who is on the frontlines of the U.S./Mexico border struggles. Having taken over an underperforming school, this principal--in one year--moved the school accountability rating to Recognized status and is now focusing on the highest or Exemplary status for the…

Higher education institutions are in the battle of a lifetime as they are coping with political and economic uncertainties, threats to federal aid, declining state support, higher tuition rates and increased competition from for-profit institutions. Amid all these challenges, these institutions are pressed to keep up with technological demands,…

The HOPE Foundation (HOPE) commissioned the American Institutes for Research (AIR) to conduct an exploratory study of the implementation and impact of the Courageous Leadership Academy (CLA). In this report, the authors introduce the school reform model, describe the study methodology, present findings for each of the three research questions…

In August 2009, the U.S. Department of Education announced opportunities for states and local educational agencies to vie for $3.5 billion in Title I School Improvement Grants targeted at turning around or closing down chronically low-achieving schools. To qualify for a portion of these funds, school districts were required to implement one of…

The quality of relationships between teachers and students has been associated with academic achievement and performance outcomes for students at all levels of their education. Extensive literature examining characteristics of positive relationships between teachers and their elementary age students exists, but is less abundant in regard to…