Out-of-School Time Policy Commentary #10: Rethinking the High School Experience: What's After-School Got to Do With it?

With high school reform now a front-burner issue, districts and communities cannot afford to have high school after-school on the back burner. In this commentary, we focus on how and why the high school reform and after-school movements need to be woven together to produce a solid system of learning opportunities and developmental supports designed to help all young people prepare for the future

Parallel leadership: a clue to the contents of the 'black box' of school reform

The concept of parallel leadership that is introduced in this article derives from a five-year research project that was first reported in IJEM in 1997. Parallel leadership represents a relationship between teacher leaders and principals that is grounded in the values of mutual trust, shared directionality and allowance for individual expression. It appears to provide a leadership foundation upon which successful school reform can be built. Thus the lid of what Hallinger and Heck have called the 'black box' of school reform may have been prised open

Midwest approaches to school reform

Education ; Middle West

A Democrat Against Democracy

A look at the role Democrats played in the formation of Philadelphia's (now defunct!) School Reform Commission

Changing Urban High Schools

This report chronicles a Cross City Campaign working meeting co-sponsored by the Annenberg Institute for School Reform

Family Engagement and Education: A Research Scan and Recommendations

In September 2012, The Heinz Endowments asked the Annenberg Institute for School Reform (AISR) at Brown University to conduct a research scan of family engagement, leadership, and organizing work related to education happening in Pittsburgh, as a part of the Endowments' larger work in supporting families as important stakeholders in their children's education. Annenberg's goal was to produce a well-researched scan and analysis of the family engagement and organizing for school reform landscape in Pittsburgh and to provide recommendations for viable funding strategies to support family engagement and organizing capacity building. Research questions for the scan included:1. Given the overall context of school reform efforts in Pittsburgh, what are the opportunities and challenges for influence from community-based parent leadership and organizing?2. What community-based organizations with a current or potential focus on equitable education reform exist in Pittsburgh?3. What is the capacity of each organization to engage in parent/family leadership and organizing work to influence school reform?All of the work completed for this report was done from September 2012 through April 2013. More specifically, data was collected from November 2012 through February 2013. Thus, new developments and changes related to what is reported here that have occurred since the spring of 2013 are not reflected in our data, findings, analysis, or recommendations.What follows is an overview of the methodology and conceptual framework driving the design and analysis of our scan research, a detailed summary of what we learned about the landscape for family engagement and leadership in Pittsburgh Public Schools (PPS), a scan of current community-based organizations' (CBOs) work and capacity for supporting family engagement and leadership, and recommendations of potential strategies for cultivating family engagement and education organizing in Pittsburgh

Expanding Access and Opportunity: The Washington State Achievers Program

Evaluates outcomes of Gates' initiative to expand access to college for low-income students through school reform, mentoring, and scholarships. Examines student demographics, college readiness, enrollment and persistence, student loans, and experience

Securing a College Prep Curriculum for All Students

Presents a case study of community organizing for school reform by Los Angeles' Community Coalition: how its intergenerational campaign for college preparatory classes shaped leadership development, district policy, school capacity, and student outcomes

Lessons in Early Learning: Building an Integrated Pre-K-12 System in Montgomery County Public Schools

Analyzes lessons and strategies from successful efforts to integrate districtwide early learning as part of pre-K-12 school reform, including full-day kindergarten, standards-based curricula, consistency, and parental and community involvement

Reforming Public School Systems Through Sustained Union-Management Collaboration

Presents case studies of sustained collaboration between teachers' unions and management in school reform; common elements in initiating events, strategic priorities, supportive system infrastructure, and sustaining factors; and lessons learned