The article by Davis, Engberg, Epple, Sieg, and Zimmer (2010) represents one of the recent research efforts from economists in evaluating the impact of gifted programs. It can serve as a worked example of the implementation of the regression discontinuity (RD) design method in gifted education research. In this commentary, we first illustrate the…

In this commentary of "Evaluating the Gifted Program of an Urban School District Using a Modified Regression Discontinuity Design" by Davis, Engberg, Epple, Sieg, and Zimmer, we examine the background of the study, critique the methods used, and discuss the results and implications. The study used a fuzzy regression discontinuity design…

The commentaries in this special issue as well as the articles they address contribute to the knowledge base about advanced learners, how they are identified, and how they are best served. In our Editors' commentary, we have organized our thoughts following the same order in which the commentaries appear in the remainder of this issue. As the…

The purpose of this paper is to proffer a critical perspective about a specific brand of American schools within the larger charter school movement: the Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP). KIPP is currently receiving wholesale acclaim as a radical alternative to public schooling "that works." While KIPP schools ostensibly claim that college…

In this article, the authors provide an overview and critically analyze three successful faculty-developed urban K-12 science outreach programs. They consider a successful outreach program as one that has been sustained for at least five years after initial funding, and has provided empirically-based research findings from the program.…

While many have focused on the program's positive impact on academic achievement, a recent Department of Education evaluation also studied how the program has affected students' educational experiences in other ways, including school safety and school climate. Past evaluations have reported that school safety was an important reason why families…

Critiques the criticism leveled at Milwaukee's (Wisconsin) four-year-old Parental Choice Program, a program designed to open private school choice through a voucher program. It discusses John Witte's reports which criticize the program and how these reports are flawed and inaccurate depictions of the program's progress and impact. (GLR)

The evaluation of a school improvement program for elementary schools (School Effectiveness Training) and for secondary schools (Secondary School Development Program) provided an opportunity to determine if user participation could increase knowledge use. It was hypothesized that program staff participation might be a solution to the dilemma of…

Project SHAL was undertaken in four northern St. Louis (Missouri) schools (Stowe, Hempstead, Arlington, and Laclede) in an effort to introduce key features of effective schools into the educational system. One of the project's major goals was to develop a model for implementing effective schooling procedures that would permit replication of the…

Argues for the development of school-wide reform plans derived from research on individual differences in learning and effective school practices. Data are presented from three urban schools where a systematic school restructuring effort enabled the establishment of strong family-school-community connections and effective and efficient delivery of…

This monograph reviews research and educational reports to examine the state of the art in preservice and inservice teacher education in the urban community in the United States. A review of urban areas in the last thirty years reveals major social and environmental changes, such as population increases, shifts in racial composition, the…

The Chapter 1 program of the Educational Consolidation and Improvement Act would be made more efficient and effective by implementing the following recommendations: (1) improve the targeting of funds; (2) let good educational practice rather than accounting practice shape Chapter 1 programs; (3) establish systems of output accountability for…

In 1985 the Supreme Court ruled that funding school districts for purposes of aiding children at the parochial schools they attend is unconstitutional. Now it is virtually impossible for parochial schools to receive aid. In order for Chapter 1 of the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act to serve all eliglbe children, including those…

Team Lincoln was created to foster collaboration between the university and the school and to provide a program of organized recess activities for 450 at-risk children in grades 1-6. This school-based service learning program is described, and an evaluation of the program is presented including two case studies. (Author/EMK)

This book, divided into three sections, comprises papers delivered at a conference on "Alternative Strategies in Compensatory Education," convened by the staff of the National Assessment of Chapter 1 of the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act and designed to aid Congress in its 1987 reauthorization of Chapter 1. The introduction,…