Foundations for Success: Case Studies of How Urban School Systems Improve Student Achievement
MDRC for the Council of the Great City Schools
Jason Snipes, Fred Doolittle, and Corinne Herlihy
September 2002

Abstract:


This report examines four urban school districts that have managed to raise academic achievement over the district as a whole. The researchers aimed to answer, among other questions, how district policy, practice, and strategy was connected towards actual changes in learning and teaching in the classroom and how these strategies were used to improve student achievement. The report reviews what worked for these districts and offers priorities and “next steps” for districts attempting reform.