What's New
Following the CSRQ Center’s release of the CSRQ Center Report on Middle and High School CSR Models, two models made special requests that we provide additional consideration to some evidence that they felt most accurately reflected their evidence of effectiveness and quality. The Center agreed to do so, as part of our service to the education community in presenting the most up-to-date and accurate information. Consequently, based on our further review, information and/or ratings for First Things First and Talent Development High Schools have been modified. All modified sections of our report released in October 2006, are now labeled “Revised November 2006.”
To download CSRQ Center reports, click here.
This updated version of The CSRQ Center Report on Elementary School CSR Models provides a scientifically based, consumer-friendly review of the effectiveness and quality of 22 widely adopted elementary school comprehensive CSR and schoolwide reform models. The updated report offers reviews of an additional 44 studies on the 22 elementary school models, as well as new ratings and model information for some models. Readers may download the complete report or search the CSRQ Reports Database to compare models and download reviews of individual models. This database will also allow you to search models listed in the CSRQ Model Registry.
To download the report or search the CSRQ Reports Database, click here.
CSRQ Center Report on Middle and High School CSR Models: Frequently Asked Questions includes answers to questions that the CSRQ Center often receives regarding the CSRQ Center Reports series. They have been adapted to answer specific questions that readers may have regarding the latest CSRQ Center report on the evidence of effectiveness and quality of 18 widely adopted middle and high school improvement models. However, most answers apply equally well to the CSRQ Center's two previous reports, on 22 elementary school CSR models and 7 Education Service Providers. Altogether, the Center has now rated nearly 50 of the most widely adopted whole school improvement models in the country.
To download CSRQ Center reports, click here.
The CSRQ Center Report on Middle and High School CSR Models provides a scientifically based, consumer-friendly review of the effectiveness and quality of 18 widely adopted middle and high school comprehensive school reform (CSR) or schoolwide improvement models. Readers may download the complete report or search the CSRQ Reports Database to compare models and download reviews of individual models. This database will also allow you to search models listed in the CSRQ Model Registry.
To download the report or search the CSRQ Reports Database, click here.
Seeing Improvement: A Guide to Visiting Schools that Use Effective Whole School Improvement Models and Promising Practices [PDF, 529 KB] was developed in cooperation with the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and is adapted from the AFT’s Seeing Progress: A Guide to Visiting Schools Using Promising Programs. For schools or districts that are considering implementing a whole school reform model and/or promising practice, visiting a school that is using that model and/or practice can be an enormously helpful step in the decision-making process. This guide offers tips and tools to help plan and conduct an effective school visit and can help answer questions about choosing an evidence-based approach and adopting promising practices for school improvement.
Note: To download this Guide, you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader version 7.0 or higher. Click here to download the latest version of Adobe Acrobat reader for free.
Choosing an Education Contractor: A Guide to Assessing Financial and Organizational Capacity [PDF, 512 KB] is a “how-to” guide to provide state or local education agency staff – including state departments of education, school districts, charter school authorizers, or individual schools – with information about the importance of a provider’s financial viability and organizational capacity and with guidance on how to assess these dimensions of contractor quality. The Guide was developed by the Comprehensive School Reform Quality (CRSQ) Center, in partnership with The Finance Project. The guide offers tips and tools to help readers gather information and use it to evaluate potential education contractors’ financial and organizational health. The end goal is to help school system leaders make solid investment decisions.
The CSRQ Center also worked with The Finance Project to develop a detailed series of rubrics and an accompanying training module for use in conducting a more in-depth review and rating of school reform models’ financial viability and organizational capacity. If you are interested in learning more about accessing these rubrics and the accompanying training from AIR and TFP, please feel free to contact us at [email protected].
Note: To download this Guide, you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader version 7.0 or higher. Click here to download the latest version of Adobe Acrobat reader for free.
Questions That Educators Can Ask About the Participation of Students With Disabilities in School Reform and Improvement Models [PDF, 215 KB] is a considerations checklist that can be used by educators to assess the capacity of school reform and improvement models to address the needs of students with disabilities. This checklist supplements the CSRQ Center’s Enhancing Participation guide that offers strategies to enhance the engagement of students with disabilities in school reform models. Educators are also encouraged to use this checklist in conjunction with CSRQ Center Reports that provide guidance on the effectiveness and quality of widely implemented elementary, middle, and high school CSR models and Education Service Providers (ESPs).
Enhancing the Participation of Students with Disabilities in CSR Models [PDF, 508 KB] guide builds off of the CSRQ Center Reports by providing information about specific model features that address the needs of students with disabilities. Enhancing Participation provides educators with suggestions regarding strategies to enhance the engagement and progress of students with disabilities in school reform models. This guide integrates the work of the CSRQ Center with knowledge and resources gleaned through the American Institutes for Research’s work on other national technical assistance centers, such as the Access Center, funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP).
This CSRQ Center Report on Education Service Providers provides a scientifically based, consumer-friendly review of the effectiveness and quality of seven education service provider (ESP) models. ESPs provide a comprehensive approach to whole school improvement, including school administration. Readers may download the complete report or search the CSRQ Reports Database to compare models and to download reviews of individual models.
To download the report or search the CSRQ Reports Database, click here.
The CSRQ Center Report on Elementary School CSR Models provides a scientifically based, consumer-friendly review of the effectiveness and quality of 22 widely adopted elementary school comprehensive CSR models. Readers may download the complete report or search the CSRQ Reports Database to compare models and download reviews of individual models. This database will also allow you to search models listed in the CSRQ Model Registry.
To download the report or search the CSRQ Reports Database, click here.
The CSRQ Center Reports can review only a limited number of CSR models. Some education decision makers may be interested in CSR models, including new or smaller models, that have not yet been reviewed by CSRQ Reports. Thus, the CSRQ Center created the Model Registry so that model developers have the opportunity to share nonevaluative information about models not included in CSRQ Reports.
To submit information to the registry, click here.
To search the registry, click here.
Moving Forward: A Guide to Selecting and Implementing Comprehensive School Reform and Improvement Strategies [PDF, 497 KB] is a component of CSRQ Center's technical assistance services. This train-the-trainer workshop helps educators select, implement, and evaluate comprehensive school reform and improvement models and programs. Moving Forward can be delivered through an interactive workshop that guides participants through a systematic change process. Accompanying the Guide is Training Support Materials [PDF, 278 KB], a packet of tools that educators can use to move through the process of selecting and implementing comprehensive school reform and improvement strategies.
For a flyer about this workshop, click here.
If you are interested in technical assistance services that CSRQ Center staff provide around these materials, please feel free to contact us at [email protected]. We welcome your feedback and suggestions regarding the Moving Forward Guide.
Works in Progress: A Report on Middle and High School Improvement Programs provides readers with brief reviews of the critical issues facing America's middle and high schools, and a survey of approaches-including comprehensive school reform-used to address these challenges. To download the report, click here.
"Before schools and districts invest their scare resources in the products that educational researchers have developed, teachers, administrators, and community members need to become informed consumers of educational research," writes CSRQ Center research director Dr. Toks Fashola in the March 2004 issue of Phi Delta Kappan (PDK). Although the article is available in hard copy only, the following link provides information on how to obtain online and hard copies of all PDK articles.
http://www.pdkintl.org/kappan/khpartic.htm
