Websites

http://www-leland.stanford.edu/group/ASP/index.html

The Accelerated Schools Project began at Stanford University in 1986 as a comprehensive approach to school change, designed to improve schooling for children in "at-risk" situations. Instead of placing students into remedial classes, accelerated school communities -- staff, parents, administrators, students, district office representatives, and local community members -- accelerate learning by providing all students with challenging activities that traditionally have been reserved only for students identified as gifted and talented.

http://www.aasa-tqn.org

The AASA Total Quality Network is a subscription service that gives you a wealth of information on how to translate quality management principles to systemic improvement of schools.

http://www.aisr.brown.edu/aisr/

The Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University seeks to nurture, promote and sustain a comprehensive, nationwide school reform movement. It bears the name of its principal benefactor, Ambassador Walter H. Annenberg.

http://www.mes.org

The Association for Effective Schools will strive to fulfill it's mission by: delivering professional development activities (to teachers, administrators and others); providing supportive products, resources and services; and recognizing school success. Each of these elements shall be based on research, proven practices and successful processes of Effective Schools.

http://www.win.net/~clsr

The Center for Leadership in School Reform (CLSR) is a nonprofit corporation that provides strategic consultation, training, and technical assistance to schools and school districts committed to improving the quality of the experiences of students in school.

http://www.ces.brown.edu/ces

The Coalition of Essential Schools (CES) is a school reform organization started by Ted Sizer and based at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.

http://www.nea.org/resource/keys.html

What do high-achieving schools have in common? After five years of surveying teachers and school staff -- and analyzing actual student test results from high-achieving schools -- NEA researchers identified 11 "keys" to school quality. The KEYS Initiative.

http://www.naschools.org

The mission at New American Schools is to dramatically improve America's classrooms, schools, and school districts, resulting in higher academic achievement for large numbers of students in America's Public Schools. New American Schools seeks to create schools that embody the best principles and practices of educational excellence, and to make these hallmarks of excellence the norm, not the exception.

http://www.projectzero.harvard.edu/HPZpages/SmartSch.html

The Smart Schools principles for good education, developed by David Perkins and colleagues at Harvard Project Zero, are based on the two guiding beliefs: learning is a consequence of thinking-and good thinking is learnable by all students; learning should include deep understanding, which involves the flexible, active use of knowledge.

http://qemnetwork.qem.org

QEM is a non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C. dedicated to improving the education of African Americans, Alaska Natives, American Indians, Mexican Americans, and Puerto Ricans. QEM seeks an education of the highest quality for all children, youth, and adults. Its underlying philosophy is that ensuring quality education for groups disproportionately underserved by our educational system will free up resources now being used for remedial purposes to the benefit of all students.

http://info.med.yale.edu/comer

The School Development Program is committed to the total development of all children by creating learning environments that support children's physical, cognitive, psychological, language, social and ethical development. Our vision is to help create a just and fair society in which all children have the educational and personal opportunities that will allow them to become successful and satisfied participants in family and civic life.

http://www.ehr.nsf.gov/EHR/ESR/index.htm#6Drivers

NSF's systemic approach holds school systems accountable for sustainable system-wide or systemic outcomes rather than for outcomes of isolated projects by:

4 Emphasizing implementation of curriculum and instruction that meets mathematics and science standards and that leads to rigorous learning.

4 Requiring sites to report annually evidence of sustainable success in changing the system and in improving learning.

4 Requiring NSF to monitor and assist sites closely.

4 Requiring a comprehensive, tested, and research-driven model for changing educational systems and their associated subsystems, such as curriculum, instruction, assessment, policy, and resource allocation.

http://www.sedl.org/change/

The goal of the Leadership for Change Project is to promote leadership and facilitate change among educational professionals in order to foster systems and schools that effectively improve learning for all students, especially those at risk. The project has a three-pronged approach to achieving this goal: research, development and training.

http://www.ncrel.org/ncrel/

Pathways to School Improvement Internet Server offers easy to find, concise, research-based information on school improvement. The Pathways server provides the best information on a variety of categories including: Assessment, At-Risk Children and Youth, Goals and Standards, Governance/Management, leadership, Learning, Literacy, Mathematics, Parent and Family Involvement, Professional Development, Safe and Drug-Free Schools, School-to-Work transition, Science, and Technology.

Publications

Daryl R. Conner, CEO, ODR Inc. Atlanta

Discusses the following eight patterns of how people behave during change and a number of principles for how to enhance organizational resilience:

• Nature of change
• Process of change
• Roles played during change
• Resistance to change
• Building commitment for change
• Relationships between culture and change
• Synergism
• Essential nature of resilience (capacity for change without dysfunction)

http://www.nea.org/resource/perform.html

The National Education Association is committed to developing the highest quality public schools. But knowing where to start and how to move forward on school improvement can be a confusing and complex task. Many Communities these days are talking about the concept of "continuous school improvement," the idea that the work of improving schools is a process that never ends. NEA's new pamphlet, Charting New Frontiers: Creating High Performing Schools suggests ways to translate this principle into everyday school reality.