A growing number of school districts are using early warning systems in their strategy for improving rates of student on-time graduation. The study used student-level data and a five-step process to identify the most accurate indicators of students’ failure to graduate from high school on time.
Many schools hoping to infuse practices with research have encountered challenges, and Battle Creek Public Schools’ experience implementing literary instruction grounded in research is no different. These challenges can serve as lessons for other education leaders, as AIR expert Kerstin Le Floch describes in this In the Field piece. ...
The Clark County School District (CCSD) requested AIR and Gibson Consulting Group conduct an educational and operational efficiency study. The study identified areas that the district should focus on to increase efficiency and effectiveness in its programs and services through district-level interviews, extant data review, and a comparative district analysis. ...
Amarillo Independent School District’s federally funded Vision 2020 Virtual Learning Strand grant program provides funding to increase participation in the Texas Virtual School Network. The primary goal of Vision 2020 was to provide staff development and technology-based resources and support aimed at increasing the district’s technology content knowledge as well ...
Better schools help make better communities and improve students’ chances of success. But what does research tell us about what works in school improvement? Explore what our researchers are learning about turning around struggling schools.
The Plan, Do, Study, Act Process is central to the improvement of instructional routines. Watch one of the Better Math Teaching Network members in real time and in a real classroom setting introduce the Plan, Do, Study, Act, or PDSA, process.
AIR is studying the ways in which schools provide opportunities for students to acquire complex knowledge and deeper learning skills. Funded by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the study examines the impact of these opportunities on how students develop five dimensions of deeper learning: mastery of core content, critical ...
Over the past three decades, charter schools have become the most popular form of school choice, especially in urban school districts. Using data from Florida, this study investigates the degree to which differences in teacher quality explain the effectiveness of charter schools.
Over the past decade, a number of reform efforts have aimed at reducing the size of the learning communities in the nation’s schools. This paper describes the framework underlying our evaluation design of a large-scale, multifaceted school reform initiative and identifies some of the methodological challenges inherent in work of ...
While evidence is mounting about school-level programs and policies that contribute to increased high school graduation rates, little attention has been paid to the role that districts can play in creating conditions for and supporting higher graduation rates. This study chronicles the Stockton Unified School District's response to high schools ...