Tuesday, November 29, 2005

Study Rates 22 Widely Used Comprehensive School Reform Models

To: National Desk, Education Editor and Reporter
Contact: Larry McQuillan, 202-403-5119; Louise Kennelly, 202-403-5817
WASHINGTON, Nov. 29 /U.S. Newswire/ -- A new guide using strict scientific criteria to evaluate the quality and effectiveness of 22 widely adopted comprehensive elementary school reform models rates 15 as "limited" to "moderately strong" in demonstrating positive effects on student achievement.
The American Institutes for Research (AIR) report was produced by AIR's Comprehensive School Reform Quality (CSRQ) Center, a multi-year project funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education. The CSRQ Center Report on Elementary School CSR Models builds on AIR's pioneering work in conducting consumer-friendly research reviews, including An Educators' Guide to Schoolwide Reform issued in 1999, and its current work for the What Works Clearinghouse.
"Our purpose in providing ratings is not to pick winners and losers but rather to clarify options for decision-makers," said Steve Fleischman, a managing director for AIR who oversaw the study. "This report is being issued in the hopes that the information and analysis it provides contributes to making research relevant in improving education."
Collectively, the reform models reviewed serve thousands of mostly high-poverty, low-performing schools nationwide. The review includes such well known models as Success for All, Accelerated Schools, Core Knowledge, America's Choice, Direct Instruction, School Renaissance, and the School Development Program.
AIR researchers conducted extensive reviews of about 800 studies and other publicly available information to rate the models in five categories of quality and effectiveness, including their ability to improve student achievement and to provide support to schools that allowed the model to be fully implemented. The CSRQ Center review framework was developed in consultation with an Advisory Group composed of leading education experts and researchers, and is closely aligned with the requirement for scientifically based evidence that is part of the federal No Child Left Behind Act.
Of the 22 reform models examined, Direct Instruction (Full Immersion Model), based in Eugene, Ore., and Success for All, located in Baltimore, Md., received a "moderately strong" rating in "Category 1: Evidence of Positive Effects on Student Achievement."
Five models met the standards for the "moderate" rating in Category 1: Accelerated Schools PLUS, in Storrs, Conn.; America's Choice School Design, based in Washington, D.C.; Core Knowledge, located in Charlottesville, Va.; School Renaissance in Madison, Wis.; and the School Development Project, based in New Haven, Conn. Models receiving a "moderate" rating may still show notable evidence of positive outcomes, but this evidence not as strong as those models receiving a "moderately strong" or "very strong" rating.
Eight models earned a "limited" rating in Category 1: ATLAS Communities and Co-nect, both in Cambridge, Mass.; Different Ways of Knowing, located in Santa Monica, Calif.; Integrated Thematic Instruction, based in Covington, Wash,; Literacy Collaborative, from Columbus, Ohio; National Writing Project, in Berkeley, Calif.; Modern Red Schoolhouse, based in Nashville, Tenn.; and Ventures Initiative Focus System, located in New York, N.Y. The "limited" rating indicates that while the CSRQ Center found some evidence of positive effects on student achievement, much more rigorous research and evidence needs to be presented on the model to fully support its effectiveness.
Seven CSR models received a "zero" rating in Category 1: Breakthrough to Literacy, from Coralville, Iowa; Comprehensive Early Literacy Learning, in Redlands, Calif.; Community for Learning, based in Philadelphia, Pa.; Coalition of Essential Schools, located in Oakland, Calif.; Expeditionary Learning, based in Garrison, N.Y.; First Steps, in Salem, Mass.; and Onward to Excellence II, located in Portland, Ore. A rating of "zero" means that evidence was found to provide a rating for this category, but none was of sufficient quality to be counted as reliable evidence.
None of the 22 models earned a "no" or "negative" rating, which indicate that a model has no evidence available for review, or strong evidence demonstrating negative effects in a given category or subcategory, respectively.
Consumers can visit the CSRQ Center's website (http://releases.usnewswire.com/redir.asp?ReleaseID=57255&Link=http://www.csrq.org) to download the entire report, individual model profiles, or to search the online database to perform side- by-side comparisons of the models reviewed by the CSRQ Center. The report is also available on the AIR website, http://releases.usnewswire.com/redir.asp?ReleaseID=57255&Link=http://www.air.org.
About CSRQ Center
The Comprehensive School Reform Quality Center (CSRQ Center, http://releases.usnewswire.com/redir.asp?ReleaseID=57255&Link=http://www.csrq.org) is funded by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, through a Comprehensive School Reform Quality Initiative Grant (S222B030012), and is operated by the American Institutes for Research (AIR, http://releases.usnewswire.com/redir.asp?ReleaseID=57255&Link=http://www.air.org).
About AIR
The American Institutes for Research (AIR) is an independent, not-for-profit organization that conducts behavioral and social science research on important social issues and delivers technical assistance both domestically and internationally in the areas of health, education, and workforce productivity.
http://releases.usnewswire.com/redir.asp?ReleaseID=57255&Link=http://www.usnewswire.com/
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/© 2005 U.S. Newswire 202-347-2770/

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