Comprehensive School Reform

In this project, CSE draws on its own and other resources at EDC to provide technical assistance to the management of the Presidential Award program. Every year, that program honors exceptional science and mathematics teachers from every state. CSE facilitates the program’s work in several ways. Staff connects the project with national science and mathematics leaders who take a role in the awards process.

The PALMS project seeks to increase the number of Latino students who pursue education beyond high school. Through high-quality materials, such as Tools for Latino Family Outreach: Supporting Student Success in the Middle Grades and Beyond, the project equips school and community leaders to work effectively with Latino families and students. In September 2006, PALMS began working with Helen Tyson Middle School (Springdale, Arkansas) and Hommocks Middle School (Larchmont, NY) to document how leaders at these schools use the tools to develop replicable parental outreach models.

The Urban District Collaborative, a consortium of EDC, SRI, Bay Area Research Group, Policy Studies Associates, and mathematics directors from nine urban school districts, has built a National Math Directors Network to focus on the collection and use of evidence in shaping district policies on teachers’ instructional practice. The network convenes regular seminars and provides support for district-based research and evaluation.

In the 1990s, HHD, together with World Health Organization (WHO), developed the Rapid Assessment and Action Planning Process (RAAPP) for School Health, an approach and package of tools—research instruments, training strategies, data analysis, and action planning techniques—to assess and strengthen a country’s capacity to deliver school health programs. Since 1999, RAAPP has been used in Indonesia, Nigeria, and, most recently, in India.

EDC is developing, field-testing, and evaluating a comprehensive K–5 mathematics curriculum designed to address two challenges. First, the curriculum provides a learning-by-doing model of professional development, allowing teachers to gain a more profound understanding of fundamental mathematics through the natural course of their daily work. Second, it provides high-quality mathematics content and pedagogy for districts that want to change but need additional help and districts that have tried and rejected other models of reform.

Schools to Watch, which was based at EDC from 1997 to 2005, is now an independent organization. Visit the Schools to Watch Web site for current contact information.

ATLAS Communities is now an independent organization based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Visit the ATLAS Communities Web site for current contact information.

This project designs, produces, and tests two professional development modules on early algebra: one on generalization and one on functions. The modules are part of Developing Mathematical Ideas (DMI), a series designed for elementary and middle-grades teachers. DMI seminars support teachers’ learning about mathematics and about children’s mathematical thinking. Five modules have already been produced, on themes of arithmetic, geometry, and data. The modules on early algebra complete this program, providing teachers with the background they need to prepare students for later study.