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

Comprehensive School Reform

Research Grants

Comprehensive School Reform Research Grants support independent and rigorous evaluation of widely implemented CSR models. In September 2000, OERI awarded $21 million in grants to six research organizations that will study student outcomes and other changes in schools that have adopted CSR models, as well as the relationship between a school's characteristics and the progress of reform. Their findings will be used to improve the likelihood of CSR's success in districts across the country.

For more information about the Research Grant Program, contact Cheryl Kane at (202) 219-2195, or via email at Cheryl.Kane@ed.gov

THE GRANTEES

American Institutes for Research
The Education Alliance at Brown
Policy Studies Associates, Inc.
RAND
Success for All Foundation
University of Arizona

AMERICAN INSTITUTES FOR RESEARCH, Pelavin Research Center, 1000 Thomas Jefferson Street, NW, Suite 400, Washington, DC 20007
Project Title: National Longitudinal Evaluation of Comprehensive School Reform
Project Director: Daniel K. Aladjem, 202-944-5386, daladjem@air.org
Principal Investigator Becki Herman, 202-944-5449, bherman@air.org
Total Funding: $7,517,910 for 5 years, beginning September 30, 2000
Selected Research Questions:

Which comprehensive school reform models are effective, for whom, and in what situations?
What components cause the greatest effect?
What external supports are important for comprehensive school reform?

Research Components:

The Core Study - This primarily quantitative study will help determine the effects of CSR models on student reading and mathematics achievement in elementary and middle schools and identify components that are most effective for specific populations and situations. It will involve surveys of district administrators, principals, and teachers and analysis of student record data over three years.
The Focus Study - These qualitative case studies of selected CSR schools will involve classroom observations, teacher and administrator interviews, and reviews of documents about the reform effort, student achievement, and school demographics.

Study Sample: Four hundred CSR schools and 400 non-CSR schools - within 22 of the largest districts across the country. The 40 schools that will be analyzed in the focus study are a subset of the core study.

CSR Models Studied: Accelerated Schools, Atlas, Co-nect, Expeditionary Learning/ Outward Bound, Modern Red Schoolhouse, Success for All, Turning Points, Urban Learning Centers

THE EDUCATION ALLIANCE AT BROWN, 222 Richmond Street, Suite 300, Providence, RI 02903-4226
Project Title: Implementing for Success: Analysis of CSR Models
Project Director: Dr. Deborah Collins, 401-274-9548, x260, d_collins@brown.edu; Dr. Jeffrey Eiseman (consultant)
Principal Investigator: Dr. Adeline Becker, 401-274-9548, x245, adeline_becker@brown.edu
Total Funding: $1,109,607 for 3 3/4 years, beginning September 30, 2000
Selected Research Questions:

How do teacher leadership patterns differ across models and schools, and how do these differences affect model implementation and changes in teaching?
How is effective implementation of school reform models and the capacity to sustain them influenced by:
- Conditions in the district and school?
- Strategies used by model providers and by district and school leaders?
- Changes in context?
- The compatibility of the model, district, and school leaders?

Research Components: Teacher questionnaires in year 2 and year 3; site visits to all 90 schools during year 2 and to 20 schools in year 3; teacher shadowing; focus groups; principal questionnaires; review of school data and existing improvement plans; interviews with principals, shadowed teachers, and a sample of central office administrators

Study Sample: Ninety elementary, middle, or K-8 schools in 12 states and the sample will include schools in their first, second, and third year of implementation. To the extent that a model's number of schools provides choices, the sample will vary according to school size, student body composition, and the extent of external funding received to support model implementation.

CSR Models Studied: Accelerated Schools, Co-nect Schools, Modern Red Schoolhouse, Rigby Professional Development, Success for All

POLICY STUDIES ASSOCIATES, INC., 1718 Connecticut Ave., NW, Suite 400, Washington, DC 20009
Project Title: Effectiveness of District Strategies for Comprehensive School Reform
Project Director: Leslie M. Anderson, 202-939-5316, anderson@policystudies.com
Principal Investigator: Brenda Turnbull, 202-939-5324, bturnbull@policystudies.com
Total Funding: $943,822 for 4 years, beginning September 30, 2000
Selected Research Questions:

What district-level policies and actions support or impede implementation of the CSR dimensions? (For example, adequate resources and decision-making authority, alignment of anticipated student outcomes with existing state standards, appropriate incentives for teacher professional development, and the like.)
What other factors (such as background and experience of principals and teachers, school climate) may support or impede implementation of each CSR dimension?
To what extent to districts, schools, and external providers of technical assistance have a shared understanding about the districts' role in supporting the schools' efforts to implement CSR?

Research Components: Assess whether school and student outcomes vary by the degree to which schools implement six specific dimensions of CSR. Methods will include surveys, on-site interviews and classroom observations, and collections and analysis of student demographic and performance data over 4 years.

Study Sample: Fifty schools in five districts across the country that have implemented CSR models over a long period, and an approximately equal number of matched comparison schools

CSR Models Studied: PSA will be choosing schools within districts and not specifying certain models.

RAND, 1700 Main Street/P.O. Box 2138, Santa Monica, CA 90407-2138
Project Title: Proposal for the Evaluation of Comprehensive School Reforms
Project Director: Georges Vernez, 310-393-0411, georges_vernez@rand.org
Principal Investigator: Georges Vernez and Dan Goldhaber, 202-261-5243, dgoldhab@ui.urban.org
Total Funding: $4,631,892 for 5 years, beginning September 30, 2000
Selected Research Questions:

How and why do schools choose particular CSR models?
How much assistance do the model developers provide over time and at what cost?
How well are reforms implemented and sustained over time?
What conditions affect implementation success?
What resources are needed to support the model?
How has the model affected school climate, curriculum content, teaching practices, student test scores and other outcomes?
Do the models have different effects on different types of students?

Research Components: Over 4 years, study reading and math test data supplemented by surveys, interviews of principals and teachers, and one-day, once-a-year site visits to 12 schools. Develop an index of indicators to gauge the extent to which all key components of the selected models have been implemented at a given time and change over time.

Study Sample: Confined to the states of Florida and Texas, which both have statewide assessments and a relatively large number of CSR models employed. Approximately 30 elementary schools for each model in each state and an approximately equal number of matched comparison schools for a total of more than 400 schools. Balance across different types of schools, socioeconomic status, urbanicity and years of model implementation.

CSR Models Studied: Accelerated Schools, Core Knowledge, Direct Instruction and Success for All

SUCCESS FOR ALL FOUNDATION, 200 W. Towsontown Blvd., Baltimore, MD 21204-5200
Project Title: Randomized Evaluations of Success for All
Project Director: Nancy A. Madden, Nmadden@successfulall.net and Robert W. Slavin, Rslavin@successforall.net, 410-616-2330
Total Funding: $6,085,659 for 5 years, beginning September 30, 2000
Selected Research Questions:

How does the Success for All model affect student achievement, attendance, behavior, and other student outcomes?
Is Success for All more, less, or equally effective for different student groups, such as English language learners; high, low, and average achievers; and various racial and ethnic backgrounds?
What are the characteristics and practices of schools whose students make better- or worse-than-average gains?
What policies and practices contribute or detract from successful implementation?

Research Components: Collection and analysis of student data, including language and literacy pretests for all kindergartners and first graders; reading assessments and post-tests for two cohorts; state accountability test scores; writing assessments for students in grades 3-5; attendance records; rates of referrals and placements in special education; and disciplinary referrals. Site visits and evaluations three times a year. Observations by third-party researchers.

Study Sample: Thirty SFA experimental and 30 control schools. Selected schools are those that want to participate in Success for All but can't afford it. They will agree to participate in the study knowing that half of the 60 schools will be randomly assigned to the control group. Those who are assigned to the Success for All groups will receive the program at a substantially reduced cost. (Control schools will be given a substantial cash incentive.) The researchers intend to cluster experimental and control schools in the same districts.

CSR Models Studied: Success for All

UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA, College of Education, P.O. box 20069, Tucson, AZ 85721
Project Title: Theoretical Analysis and Implementation Study of Comprehensive School Reform Programs
Project Directors: Mary McCaslin, 520-621-1906, mccaslin@u.arizona.edu and Thomas L. Good, 520-621-1814, tgood@mail.ed.arizona.edu
Principal Investigators: Jerome V. D'Agostino, Thomas L. Good and Mary McCaslin
Total Funding: $1,042,690 for 3 years, beginning September 30, 2000
Selected Research Questions:

How do the theoretical underpinnings of CSR models compare?
How are CSR models implemented in schools?
How do students in the CSR schools studied fare socially, emotionally, and academically?

Research Components:

Theoretical Analysis: The team has obtained written program materials from 19 CSR models. From its analysis of these materials, along with interviews of project directors and staff development people associated with each program, the team will prepare a taxonomy report that reflects similarities and differences of the CSR models. A second report will emphasize core factors that define the whole set of CSR models and perhaps trigger further research on the functions that may be missing from current programs.
Data Analysis: Focus especially on the fourth-grade "window" (grades 3-5). The researchers will classify dimensions of the CSR models so they can be accurately compared; examine teacher diaries and transcripts from interviews and classroom observations to see how schools interpret and implement the programs; and collect student test scores and diaries, and conduct interviews, to measure student outcomes.

Study Sample: Arizona schools that receive funding from the state to implement CSR will be asked to participate in the study. From this group, 20 schools will be selected and studied, starting before the reforms are implemented. Twenty non-funded schools will be used as a comparison group. The researchers will strive for diversity of CSR models and location (urban, suburban, rural).

CSR Models Studied: May include Accelerated Schools, Audrey Cohen, Coalition of Essential Schools, Roots & Wings, Success for All

This page last modified July 2, 2002 (jw)