This paper describes the structure and activities of READ (Reading Effectively Across the Disciplines), a pilot initiative to improve students' critical reading skills, disciplinary literacy and academic success. READ employs a multimodal design that consists of faculty training in disciplinary literacy instruction and curricular enhancement,…

Standardized-test scores are increasingly important indicators of school success. But how robust are school-performance ratings when they are based on measures derived from these scores? In my thesis, using data from Houston Independent School District (HISD) and New York State (NYS), I examined the robustness of school-performance ratings across…

A quality improvement system (QIS) is an intentional effort to raise the quality of afterschool programming in an ongoing, organized fashion. There are a number of reasons the QIS is gaining popularity. The main reasons community leaders are drawn to improving quality is that they know that 1) higher quality programs will mean better experiences…

In this article, the author describes how Cato-Meridian, a 450-student rural high school in the New York State, successfully implemented a new cocurricular eligibility policy that integrated after-school activities with student academic accountability. The program created data that drove decisions about student life and student-teacher interaction…

Concept definition and activity description constituted the major focus of implementation proceedings of this outdoor education program designed for a residential school serving secondary students with emotional and drug related problems. Major program objectives were the development of greater academic growth and more positive self-concept for…

The National Center for Restructuring Education, Schools, and Teaching is working with the New York State Education Department to develop an assessment system that addresses both instructional and accountability concerns. The new system is intended to move the state to a system of performance assessments used in the service of ongoing teaching and…