Evaluation Study of the Immediate Intervention/Underperforming Schools Program of the Public Schools Accountability Act of 1999

Evaluation Study of California's High Priority Schools Grant Program: Final Report

“…In terms of contextual factors affecting schools, this study focused on the district's mediating role in the implementation of the program and school improvement strategies. A strong district effect was found in prior evaluations of the II/USP (O'Day & Bitter, 2003;Bitter et al, 2005), which was reinforced by the variability in the district role in the case studies completed in the first year of this evaluation. As mentioned previously, overlapping school accountability policies, primarily II/USP and CSR, had significant implications for our research design.…”

“…At the same time, analyses of school-and student-level achievement for this evaluation show no meaningful difference between schools participating in the HPSGP and comparison schools. Likewise, two prior evaluations of the II/USP (which was similar in many ways to the HPSGP) found that while the program focused attention on student achievement and low-performing schools, there appeared to be negligible overall impact on student achievement in participating schools (O'Day & Bitter, 2003;Bitter et al, 2005).…”

“…Research on instructional and organizational capacity and on professional development has examined the effects of school characteristics and capacity on student learning (Purkey & Smith, 1983;Levine & Lezotte, 1990;O'Day, Goertz, & Floden, 1995;Newmann & Wehlage, 1995;Mohrman & Lawler, 1996;Williams, Kirst, & Haertel, 2005). As mentioned, prior AIR evaluations of the II/USP Bitter, 2003, andBitter et al, 2005) also contributed to our framework.…”

“…Due to similarities between the HPSGP and its predecessor II/USP, AIR's comprehensive evaluation of II/USP (O'Day & Bitter, 2003) and the II/USP continuation study (Bitter et al, 2005) provide especially useful background information from which to explore the implementation and effects of the HPSGP. Our present study draws from this prior work and the overall research literature on school improvement to support the development of our conceptual framework, data collection instruments, and methodological approach to collect and analyze qualitative and quantitative data.…”

Alignment in Complex Education Systems

“…Several studies point to the importance of district leadership in developing strategies for improvement, helping schools to align curriculum to central standards and assessments, and providing support for low-performing schools (see for example, Bitter et al, 2005;Elmore and Burney, 1997;Hill et al, 2000;Newmann et al, 2001). Districts may also draw on school-level assessment and evaluation data to make decisions as to how to allocate discretionary resources in order to address needs.…”