Comprehensive School Reform and Student Achievement: A Meta-Analysis
CRESPAR Report # 59, 2002
This report looks at 29 CSR models and analyzes their research bases, is similar to but makes improvement on the 1999 AIR "Educators' Guide to Schoolwide Reform." The selected findings, summarized below, can be found on pages 32-39 of the report.
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Expeditionary Learning, along with Modern Red Schoolhouse and Roots and Wings, were deemed to have "highly promising evidence of effectiveness." The report says that the three models in this category have "positive and statistically significant results from comparison or third-party comparison studies, but did not have research bases as broad and generalized as those of models that net the highest standard" (p.32).
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The report concludes that "the overall effects of CSR are statistically significant and appear to be greater than the effects of other interventions that have been designed to serve similar purposes and student and school populations." In other words, the report concludes that CSR appears to work, at least in comparison to other similar school-wide interventions and programs funded under Title I.
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Another interesting finding is that the strongest effects of CSR begin after the fifth year of implementation. The study found a bump in effect after one year of program implementation, a leveling off of effects in years 2, 3, and 4, and a jump in year-five and beyond. Whether this is due to the effects of the models or the persistence and commitment of the schools that stayed working with the developer could not be determined, but in either case, this finding argues for pushing for longer engagements with schools.
Download the full text of this report in PDF format
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