National Center on Scaling Up Effective Schools (NCSU)

The National Center on Scaling Up Effective Schools (NCSU), located at Vanderbilt’s Peabody College, is identifying practices and policies that make some high schools more successful than others at improving outcomes for low-income and minority students. Once researchers identify these effective practices, they will develop ways to transfer them to other schools in the same systems. The center is working with district leaders and teachers in the Dallas (Texas) Independent School District and Broward County (Florida) Public Schools.

NCSU will focus specifically on effective programs to:

• Improve student achievement in English/language arts, mathematics, and science
• Reduce the likelihood that students will drop out before graduation
• Increase enrollment in advanced courses among traditionally low-performing students

Researchers will:

• Use a combination of interviews, surveys, and observations to discover what effective high schools are doing that contribute to their success
• Collaborate with school district leaders and participants from both the effective and less effective high schools on implementing these successful practices