The Comprehensive School Improvement Program (CSIP), which was mandated by New York State to address issues of school reform, was a disappointment both in the way the State conceived the program and in the way it was implemented. CSIP was designed to encourage cooperative planning among teachers, principals, parents, and other school staff to foster school-based decision-making. Schools were mandated to participate in this project if they were designated on the State's Comprehensive Assessment Report list of schools needing substantial improvement in third and sixth grade reading and math scores, as well as attendance. This report reviews the following: (1) the State's responsibility; (2) shortcomings of the Board's implementation of CSIP; (3) description and history of CSIP; (4) description of the CSIP facilitators; (5) results of visits to seven CSIP sites; (6) how CSIP fell short of its theoretical goals; (7) how CSIP's implementation was inadequate; (8) CSIP decentralization; (9) next steps; and (10) recommendations for changes on the state level, the structure of CSIP, and the implementation of CSIP. Appendices include the following: (1) excerpt from section 100.2 of the Commissioner's regulations; (2) CSIP data; and (3) descriptions of the seven CSIP sites visited. (BJV)