There are many promising psychological interventions on the horizon, but there is no clear methodology for preparing them to be scaled up. Drawing on design thinking, the present research formalizes a methodology for redesigning and tailoring initial interventions. We test the methodology using the case of fixed versus growth mindsets during the…

The Peer Enabled Restructured Classroom (PERC) is an instructional innovation developed to address gaps in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) in urban high schools. The PERC model changes instruction from teacher led to peer led by bringing peer students into the classroom to lead small-group work. Our study sought to provide…

The authors of this article describe their inquiry into implementation of the writing-focused Common Core State Standards in a co-taught English 9 class in an urban school. They describe instructional moves designed to increase student success with an assignment called the Gift Essay, with particular focus on planning and other organizational…

This study examined how Hispanic students' academic self-concept influences the independent variables of family academic expectations, peer relationships, schoolwork, and student-teacher relationships. A survey was administered to 222 ninth-grade students in Long Island, New York, 99 of whom self-identified as Hispanic. A structural equation model…

Students' engagement and performance in their first year of high school offer strong signals about their prospects for earning a diploma 4 years later. These performance measures can be used to construct "on-track" indicators to measure a school's performance and to identify needs of specific students who are at risk of dropping out.…

This mixed method study explored and analyzed instructional strategies utilized by algebra teachers whose students' coursework culminated in the New York State Regents Examination in Integrated Algebra and for whom 50% of the tested cohort earned mastery level (85 or higher) on the examination. The targeted populations were eighth or ninth grade…

Research shows that summer slide--the loss of learning over the summer break--is a huge contributor to the achievement gap between low-income students and their higher-income peers. In fact, some researchers have concluded that two-thirds of the 9th-grade reading achievement gap can be explained by unequal access to summer learning opportunities…

This article explores the results of a study of Latino youth in New York City public high schools. We propose that the common element among the schools is what we call here "transcaring," an overarching culture of care that allows for the creation of third spaces within school, transcending traditional dichotomies around language,…

This study builds on and informs ecological theory (Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 2006) by focusing on the contextual processes by which individual developmental trajectories can be altered. Ecological theory posits that children are embedded in a nested and interactive set of interrelated contexts beginning with the micro-system (the most…

Over the past decade, national initiatives have shifted States' attention to the challenge of turning around low-performing schools. The lack of consistent, dramatic improvements in the lowest-performing schools reflects the severity of the school turnaround challenge, but also suggests the need to continuously evaluate and refine turnaround…

The U. S. Department of Education has adopted using data for school improvement as one of its major education reform priorities. However, as states, districts, and schools develop new approaches to track academic progress, both accessing and understanding data are often out of reach for average parents. While school leaders and teachers have begun…

This report describes a follow-up qualitative study, conducted in 2006 by the Annenberg Institute for School Reform, of a small group of New York City high schools that were "beating the odds" in preparing low-performing 9th-grade students for timely high school graduation and college going. The 13 schools included two long-established…

Aimed at low-income families in six of New York City's highest-poverty communities, Family Rewards ties cash rewards to a pre-specified set of activities and outcomes thought to be critical to families' short- and long-term success in the areas of children's education, family preventive health care, and parents' employment. The purpose of this…

Over the last decade, New York City has been the site of a systemwide high school reform effort that is unprecedented in its scope and pace. Since 2002, the school district has closed more than 20 failing high schools, opened more than 200 new secondary schools, and implemented a centralized high school admission process in which approximately…

The shift in education reform to a goal of college and career readiness for all students is a change that has been embraced widely across the country. The challenge of designing new policies and programs that could accomplish the goal that all students should graduate from high school with the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed in college…