Implementation in a Longitudinal Sample of New American Schools: Four Years into Scale-Up

• Main Authors: Kirby, Sheila Nataraj, Berends, Mark, Naftel, Scott
• Format: Book
• Language: English
• Published: RAND 2001
• Subjects: Academic Achievement; Educational Improvement; Elementary Secondary Education; Longitudinal Studies; New American Schools; Program Implementation
• ISBN: 0833030604; 9780833030603

New American Schools (NAS) initiated whole-school reform in 1991 as a response to school reforms that had produced little change in the nation's test scores. Its mission is to help schools and districts raise student achievement using whole-school designs. NAS is in the scale-up phase of its effort in which designs are being diffused in partnering jurisdictions across the nation. The analysis sample for this study consists of 71 schools. Despite the small sample size, findings show a robust trend. Design implementation increased and deepened over the first 4 years after schools adopted designs. Downturn in implementation was found, however, between the 4th and 5th years. Findings indicate that factors need to be aligned for effective implementation, including strong principal leadership, teachers who support the designs and have a strong sense of teacher efficacy, district leadership and support, clear communication and provision of materials, and design team staff support. Without strong implementation, the promise of these designs to help schools improve is unlikely to be met. Three appendices contain core components of the designs, NAS school sample characteristics, and a table of standard deviations for the core implementation index and its components. (Contains 109 references.) (RT)