School-Wide Efforts
Quality school-wide reform efforts necessitate a thoughtful, well-informed, and sustained process that includes planning, implementation, and continuous improvement. The articles below describe school features that support effective instruction and provide examples of successful school-wide programs.
This section contains 51 articles.
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Avoiding a Rush to Judgment: Teacher Evaluation and Teacher Quality
Comprehensive methods of evaluating teachers that avoid the typical "drive-by" evaluations can promote improvements in teaching.
Reading Software: Finding the Right Program
With the range and variety of commercial software products on the shelves today, how can an educator or parent choose a program that will most benefit a particular student? Where are product reviews that can inform the decision?
Supporting a School-Wide Reading Initiative with Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment
How can school leaders support school-wide reading initiatives? Here are keys to leading the way in the areas of reading curriculum, instruction, assessment, and motivation.
What Does the Research Tell Us About Teacher Leadership?
This research brief from the Center for Comprehensive School Reform and Improvement looks at what research exists, and what it says about drawing on the skills of experienced teachers to facilitate school improvement.
Position Statement on Student Grade Retention and Social Promotion
In this position statement about student grade retention and social promotion, the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) identifies characteristics of students more likely to be retained; and the impact of retention at the secondary school level, late adolescence, and early adulthood. NASP also provides a long list of alternatives to retention and social promotion.
Teacher Knowledge Matters in Supporting Young Readers
Knowing what teachers know and how they practice is necessary to ensure that there are professionals in every classroom meeting the diverse needs of students. Researchers evaluated case studies from a group of teachers and revealed four different levels of knowledge, indicating that future staff development needs to be differentiated and individualized.
Three Things Research Tells Us about Interventions for Struggling Readers
This article, excerpted from a larger guidance document from the Center on Instruction, looks at what research tells us about helping students who read below grade level, and highlights the following findings: 1) schools must provide varied instructional support, based on the degree and nature of the student's difficulty; 2) it is important for students to learn comprehension strategies, and strategy instruction should be coordinated between literacy specialists and content-area teachers; and 3) more research is needed to prove which instructional improvements are really effective.
More Schools Turn to Extended Days
Hours of test preparation, especially in underperforming schools, has left little time for electives or even some of the un-tested basic subjects. Adding time to the school day and year has helped some schools improve their scores and flesh out their curriculums.
Many school districts have adopted instructional coaching as a model for teachers' professional development. This brief offers guidance on how school leaders can tailor the most promising coaching strategies to the needs of their schools.
Characteristics of Improved School Districts
What are the factors that can improve school districts? This research brief from the Center for Comprehensive School Reform and Improvement reviewed more than 80 research articles that investigated the attributes of schools and districts that have improved over time and found 13 themes or characteristics common to them.
The Role of the School Psychologist in the RTI Process
School psychologists working in districts that use Response to Intervention (RTI) can offer expertise at many levels, from system-wide program design to specific assessment and intervention efforts with individual students.
Creating Positive School Experiences for Students with Disabilities
The school experiences of students with disabilities can be positively or negatively influenced by the attitudes and behaviors of students and staff and by general school policies. School counselors can take the lead in assessing school climate in relation to students with disabilities and initiating interventions or advocating for change when appropriate. This article provides an overview of factors to consider in creating positive school experiences for students with disabilities and suggestions for intervention efforts.
This article discusses the challenges in providing psychoeducational services to the rapidly increasing minority populations in the U.S. and offers a brief elaboration of the role and function of school counselors and school psychologists and how they can meet the mental health and educational needs of this large and growing population.
Teach to the Test? Just Say No
It is possible for educators to make better choices about how and when to teach to the test than the alarmist newspaper articles and editorials would seem to suggest. This article from the Center for Comprehensive School Reform and Improvement aims to help readers think beyond simple compliance with federal law or basic implementation of programs.
School Culture: “The Hidden Curriculum”
Walk into any truly excellent school and you can feel it almost immediately — a calm, orderly atmosphere that hums with an exciting, vibrant sense of purposefulness. This is a positive school culture, the kind that improves educational outcomes.
Key Lessons: What Research Says About Reorganizing School Schedules
Like class size reduction, increasing instructional time has lots of common-sense appeal as mechanism for raising student achievement. But more time in school can be costly. These key lessons summarize the current research on different approaches to organizing school time and schedules, beginning with the obvious question: Does more time make a difference?
Improving the effectiveness of interventions for struggling readers is critical. It requires a school-level system for early identification of 'at risk' students and then providing those students with intensive interventions. This article describes what the Florida Center for Reading Research has learned by visiting Reading First schools that have demonstrated success in reaching struggling readers. School leaders will find ideas described here that can help them successfully meet the unique challenges within their own schools.
Role of Principal Leadership in Improving Student Achievement
The most influential educational leaders are the principal and superintendent, and their leadership is inextricably linked to student performance. This article looks at the basics of good leadership and offers practical suggestions.
Principal as Instructional Leader: Designing a Coaching Program That Fits
Research shows that effective school leaders focus on improving classroom instruction, not just managerial tasks. A natural way for school leaders to take on the role of instructional leader is to serve as a "chief" coach for teachers by designing and supporting strong classroom level instructional coaching. Here's how to selecting a coaching approach that meets the particular needs of a school and how to implement and sustain the effort.
Getting Parents Involved in Schools
Research shows that parent involvement can improve students' behavior, attendance, and achievement. But how can schools foster high-quality, successful parent involvement? The Center for Comprehensive School Reform and Improvement offers some research-based advice and resources to help.