System-wide Efforts to Improve Student Achievement

Edited by:
Kenneth K. Wong, Brown University
Stacey Rutledge, Florida State University

A volume in the series: Research in Educational Policy: Local, National, and Global Perspectives. Editor(s): Kenneth K. Wong, Brown University.

Published 2006

Strong system-wide support is increasingly being identified as laying an important role in policy efforts aimed at increasing student achievement (Hightower, Knapp, March, and McLaughlin: 2002). Yet current research often views district and other system-wide support as largely governance changes without substantive linkage to school improvement outcomes (Cuban and Usdan: 2003). In this volume we seek to deepen our understanding of the role of school districts and system-wide initiatives through a series of case studies that focus on how school districts and system-wide actors facilitate policy innovation and reform initiatives that are designed to improve student achievement. Through both quantitative and qualitative studies from diverse settings across the country, chapters in this volume examine the role of instructional technology, alternative accountability practices, management and partnership reforms, and school improvement efforts through new incentive and support practices. While challenges remain, these case studies demonstrate how districts support and facilitate school change aimed at improving student achievement.

CONTENTS
“Accountability and the Cognitive Politics of School and Student Failure in Urban High Schools.”, Dorothea Anagnostopoulos and Stacey Rutledge. “Lessons Learned from a Longitudinal Assessment of the New American Schools Scale-Up Phase.”, Mark Berends, Susan Bodilly and Sheila Nataraj Kirby. “When Technology Supports Teachers’ Work: Implementation of Houston’s Teacher Tools Online Initiative.”, Betsy Broyles Breier, Jacqueline Hawkins, Donald McAdams and Kenneth K. Wong. “Reconsidering the Role of Instructional Leadership: Views of Principals on Houston’s Teacher Tools Online Initiative.”, Kenneth K. Wong, Betsy Broyles Breier, Jacqueline Hawkins and Donald McAdams. “State-level Influence on Districtwide Math and Science Reforms.”, Robert Yin and Darnella Davis. “A Cursory Examination of Socioeconomic Integration, Tipping Points and District Policy.”, Anna Nicotera. “The Role of an Intermediary Organization in District Instructional Improvement: Early Experiences and Lessons about the Institute for Learning.”, Julie A. Marsh, Kerri A. Kerr, Gina Schuyler Ikemoto and Hilary Darilek. “What Makes Small Learning Communities Work: Toward Standards for Practice.”, Diana Oxley. “Organizational Alignment within the Department of Defense Dependents Schools: A Course for High Academic Achievement?”, Claire E. Smrekar and Pearl G. Sims. “School District Experience with Supplemental Education Services.”, Gail Sunderman and Jimmy Kim. “Integrated Governance in Trenton Public Schools (NJ): Raising Performance in High Schools.”, Kenneth K. Wong, Jenifer Blaxall Buice and Kyle Cole.