A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

Research-Based School Reform Gets Boost From Obey-Porter

Recent legislation, enacted last year, is providing school districts with competitive incentive grants to implement sweeping reforms that are based on reliable research and effective practices.

Frequently referred to as Obey-Porter, the Comprehensive School Reform (CSR) Demonstration Program was co-sponsored by Rep. David Obey (D-WI) and Rep. John Porter (R-IL). It makes $145 million available to state education agencies (SEAs) which, in turn, can assist up to 3,000 schools with grants of $50,000 (or more) that are renewable for 2 years. A total of $120 million is earmarked for Title I schools.

Designed to raise student achievement by "jump starting" the implementation of research-based, comprehensive school reform models, the legislation identifies 17 specific models but allows schools to adopt other research-based strategies. All approaches, however, must include an emphasis on basic academics and parental involvement.

While the Department's Office of Elementary and Secondary Education is administering the grant program, OERI's regional educational laboratories are playing an important role in assisting states, districts, and schools to implement the CSR Demonstration Program. Activities include:

• convening regional meetings of key players (e.g., SEA and LEA staff and federally funded service providers) to facilitate planning for recruitment and selection of schools that will adopt reform models;
• helping SEAs develop review and selection criteria and evaluation designs;
• sponsoring design showcases where developers discuss their research-based programs with district and school practitioners; and
• preparing and disseminating a Catalog of School Reform Models (http://www.nwrel.org) with basic information on 44 reform models; additional model descriptions will be included over time.

Labs are also disseminating information and hosting workshops to help schools assess their readiness for CSR and to prepare funding applications. In addition, they have expanded their Web sites and created hotlines to provide information on CSR models and contacts, school reform issues, and evaluation strategies. Finally, the laboratories will collaborate in creating databases of critical information on the comprehensive school reform models and on schools implementing reform under this initiative.

Currently, the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory (NCREL) is making available 16 90-minute videotapes, each featuring a program description by a reform model developer. In addition, 2 overview videos feature 8-minute summary interviews with developers. SEAs, schools, and districts may obtain the tapes free (on loan).

For ordering information, visit the NCREL Web site or phone Margaret O'Keefe at 1-800-356-2735, ext. 1062.

[Assistant Secretary Named]

[FIS Update]