States that received federal waivers to the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act were required to implement reforms in designated "Focus Schools" that contribute to achievement gaps. In this study, we examine the performance effects of such "differentiated accountability" reforms in the state of Louisiana. The Focus School reforms…

In West Africa, advisory services for family farms have been promoted to better address producers' needs. The paper aims to show that these services can be understood as a system whose functioning is strongly determined by the financing mechanisms, the governance mechanisms put in place, the quality of human resources delivering advice, and the…

Two recent studies by Biancarosa et al. and by Saunders et al. have finally demonstrated that "job-embedded, sustained professional development" can significantly improve student achievement. But there's a catch. In both studies, effective professional development (PD) strategies were successful only under certain circumstances or only in some…

This evaluation study provides descriptive information about the implementation and outcomes of the 21st Century Community Learning Centers (CCLC) program in West Virginia, from September 2012 through May 2013. The report draws on information from online surveys of directors of 30 CCLC programs and from school teachers for 4,102 participating…

Museums for America (MFA) is the largest IMLS grant program for museums; it supports institutions by investing in high-priority, high-value activities that are clearly linked to the institution's strategic plan and enhance its value to its community. MFA grants situate projects within a framework of meeting three strategic goals: engaging…

In the fall of 2009, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation funded a three-year project proposed by the International Baccalaureate (IB) to demonstrate the feasibility of increasing the participation of minority students and students in poverty in its Middle Years Programme (MYP) and Diploma Programme (DP) in selected school districts in the…

Technical assistance (TA) has long been a standard, overarching strategy for assisting, states, agencies, family members, and practitioners with building capacity for service and system change initiatives. But, what is meant by the term "technical assistance"? What is known about the technical assistance strategies that are likely to…

This research reveals the type of support that is imperative for principals working with external agents in low-performing urban schools as required by federal and state legislation. Nine principals, in four urban districts, two aided by one external agency and seven aided by another, were followed in year-long case studies. Mixed methods for data…

In fall 1997, Congress approved funding to implement Comprehensive School Reform Demonstration (CSRD) programs, primarily in Title I schools in high-poverty areas. This digest explains CSRD and what it might mean to rural schools. Since 1965, Title I has provided resources to at-risk children in lower-income schools. Changes in 1988 and 1994…

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLBA) requires districts with schools that have not met state performance goals for 3 consecutive years to offer their low-income students supplemental educational services (SES), such as tutoring, if these schools receive Title I funds. SES are provided outside of the regular school day by a state-approved…

This study evaluated the national network of Technical Assistance Centers (TACs), which provides technical assistance in evaluation and program improvement to state and local educational agencies responsible for implementing programs under Chapter 1 of the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act (ECIA). The U.S. Department of Education…

Four problems underlying the delivery of technical assistance in Elementary Secondary Education Act (ESEA) Title I evaluation are discussed: (1) the dual missions of facilitating the implementation of the Title I Evaluation and Reporting System and of facilitating the local use of evaluation information frequently require tradeoffs between…

The Center for Vocational, Technical, and Adult Education (VTAE) Staff Development Workshops and Services project was designed to provide technical support and training to selected VTAE personnel in techniques for implementing equity programs, establish a statewide advisory committee to develop a long-range plan for infusing sex equity concepts…

This final report describes the PEERS (Providing Education for Everyone in Regular Schools) Project, a 5-year collaborative systems change project in California to facilitate the integration of students with severe disabilities who were previously served at special centers into services at regular schools and the integration of students in special…

This paper, written by the director of the Documentation and Technical Assistance Project (DTA), reviews lessons learned from this project for enhancing problem solving capacities of urban schools, and assesses some of the reasons that the project was terminated ahead of schedule by the National Institute of Education. In the first chapter the…