Proceedings from a forum held to discuss results from a five-year study of low-achieving schools in six states are summarized in a new publication from the Center on Education Policy.
Held in December of last year, the forum focused on a study by the Washington-based center of 48 schools that were being forced to restructure under the federal No Child Left Behind Act. The schools are in California, Georgia, Maryland, Michigan, New York, and Ohio.
The study concludes that: no single strategy is guaranteed to improve a struggling school; schools that successfully restructured used data to make decisions about teaching and grouping students; replacing staff members could either help or hurt schools’ improvement efforts; and some schools need more time or information to capitalize on the same strategies that worked for other schools.
The report includes responses from a federal education official, state education leaders, and educators who worked in the schools being restructured.
