Center on Innovation & Improvement
is a national content center that helps regional centers in their work with states to provide districts, schools, and families with the opportunity, information, and skills to make wise decisions on behalf of students.
http://www.centerii.org/

Best Evidence Encyclopedia
distills evidence from several different research groups on promising practices and interventions in education. It's produced by the federally funded Center for Data-Driven Reform in Education, at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.
http://www.bestevidence.org

Comprehensive School Reform Quality Center
at the Washington-based American Institutes for Research (AIR) posts research reviews on schoolwide improvement efforts and educational service providers.
http://www.csrq.org

Poverty Action Lab
at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in Cambridge, scientifically evaluates anti-poverty programs in developing countries
http://www.povertyactionlab.com

Promising Practices Network
is operated by the Rand Corp., a think tank based in Santa Monica , California. It highlights research-based programs shown to be effective at improving outcomes for children, youths, and families.
http://www.promisingpractices.net

Social Programs That Work
produced by the Washington-based Coalition for Evidence-Based Policy, is a listing of interventions in education and various social science areas that have been evaluated through randomized studies.
http://www.evidencebasedprograms.org

What Works Clearinghouse
financed by the U.S. Department of Education and run by the AIR, contains research reviews and effectiveness ratings on a wide range of educational programs and practices.
http://www.whatworks.ed.gov

WHAT WORKS IN LOW PERFORMING SCHOOLS

Reports / Studies

Hope for Urban Education: A Study of Nine High-Performing High-Poverty Urban Elementary Schools. A report on nine urban elementary schools serving minority children in poor communities tells their stories and discusses how these schools changed themselves into high-achieving schools.
http://www.ed.gov/pubs/urbanhope

Turning Around Low-Performing Schools: a Guide for State and Local Leaders. Unites States Department of Education. Describes some of the strategies that states and districts are pursuing to help turn around low-performing schools; suggests concrete actions that state, district, and school leaders, as well as parents and community members, can take.
http://www.ed.gov/pubs/turning/

Dispelling the Myth: High Poverty Schools Exceeding Expectations. Education Trust. A summary of survey results from 1,200 high poverty and high performing schools, along with a directory of these schools.
http://www.edtrust.org/main/reports.asp

A Closer Look: State Policy Trends in Three Key Areas of the Bush Education Plan - Testing, Accountability and School Choice. ECS, Special Report. Has a detailed discussion on Motivating and Assisting Low Performing Schools.
http://www.ecs.org/clearinghouse/24/19/2419.htm

Resource Guides

Pathways to School Improvement. North Central Regional Educational Laboratory. Provides links and pathways to information on various topics like at-risk students, curriculum, instruction, literacy, learning, etc.
http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs

Organizations and Assistance Centers

Regional Laboratories
http://www.relnetwork.org/

United States Department of Education, National Research and Development Centers
http://www.ed.gov/offices/OERI/ResCtr.html

Council of Great City Schools
http://www.cgcs.org

National Center on Education and the Economy
http://www.ncee.org

Just for the Kids
http://www.just4kids.org

The Business Roundtable
http://www.brtable.org

Education Trust
http://www.edtrust.org

DATA-BASED DECISION MAKING

Organizations and Assistance Centers

National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards and Student Testing
http://www.cse.ucla.edu

Resources

Standards in Practice. The Education Trust
http://www.edtrust.org/main/sip.asp

Data-Driven Decisions. The School Administrator Web Edition. American Association of School Administrators.
http://www.aasa.org/

At Your Fingertips: Using Data To Improve Schools. MPR Associates, Inc. 1998
http://www.mprinc.com/

Collaborative Assessment: Looking at Learning Through Careful Examination of Student Work. Harvard Education Letter, Research Online
http://www.edletter.org/past/issues/1998-ma/collaborative.shtml

Using Data to Improve Schools : A Toolkit. New England Comprehensive Assistance Center, Education Development Center.
http://www.edc.org/NECAC/resources/pubs/toolkit.html

Reports

Building an Automated Student Record System. National Forum on Education Statistics.
http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2000/building

The Use of Tests as Part of High-Stakes Decision Making for Students. US Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights
http://www.ed.gov/legislation/FedRegister/other/2000-4/121500b.html

Learning to Teach Better by Examining Student Work. Catalyst
http://www.catalyst-chicago.org/12-99/129toc.htm

Software

The Quality School Portfolio. National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing
http://qsp.cse.ucla.edu

Edexplore. Edsmart
http://www.edsmartinc.com

Success Finder. Evaluation Software Publishing
http://www.evalsoft.com/successfinder/aldine2

TEACHER QUALITY, RECRUITMENT, RETENTION & PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Reports/Studies

Leadership for Learning: Redefining the Teacher as Leader. School Leadership for the 21st Century Initiative. Discusses the challenges facing teachers, the push for professionalism, and the strategies for increasing teacher leadership.
http://www.iel.org/

In pursuit of Quality Teaching : Five Key Strategies for Policymakers, Education Commission of the States. Offers strategies regarding: preparation and induction; recruitment and retention; professional development; licensure, evaluation and accountability; and school and district leadership.
http://www.ecs.org/initiatives/Geringer/Geringer%20Initiative%20Final.pdf

Beyond Salaries: Employee Benefits for Teachers in the SREB States. Southern Regional Educational Board. Describes medical coverage, retirement benefits and other benefits to educators in SREB States.
http://www.sreb.org/scripts/Focus/Reports/BeyondSalaries.asp

Special Education in an Era of School Reform. Preparing Special Education Teachers Federal Resource Center for Special Education. Describers what special and general education teachers should know and opportunities for increasing inclusive practices.
http://www.dssc.org/frc/pubs/hardman.pdf

Resource Guides

Education Commission of the States (Teacher Quality - Recruitment and Retention)
http://www.ecs.org

Tools for Educators

Active Learning Practice for School (ALPS). Teach for Understanding website
http://learnweb.harvard.edu/alps/tfu/info1c.cfm

Standards in Practice (SIP). Professional Development developed by the Education Trust
http://www.edtrust.org/main/sip.asp

Ahead of the Class. A Design Handbook for Preparing New Teachers from New Sources, Urban Institute.
http://www.urban.org/education/ahead_of_the_class.html

Principles for Professional Development. American Federation for Teacher's guidelines for creating professional development programs that make a difference.
Http://www.aft.org/Edissues/downloads/ppd.pdf

Organizations and Assistance Centers

North Central Regional Education Lab (NCREL) Professional Development
http://www.ncrel.org/pd/

National Commission on Teaching and America's Future
http://www.nctaf.org

National Staff Development Council
http://www.nsdc.org

Recruiting New Teachers
http://www.rnt.org/

American Federation of Teachers (Teacher Quality Page)
http://www.aft.org/Edissues/teacherquality/index.htm

Center for the Study of Teaching and Policy
http://www.ctpweb.org

Education Trust: Teacher Equality
http://www.edtrust.org/main/equality.asp

Education Commission of the States (See Education Issues: Teacher Quality)
http://www.ecs.org

EXTENDED LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES

Reports/ Studies

Working for Children and Families: Safe and Smart After-School Programs. U.S. Department of Education. Report presents research and examples illustrating the potential of quality of after-school activities to keep children safe, out of trouble and learning.
http://www.ed.gov/pubs/parents/SafeSmart/

Keeping Schools Open As Community Learning Centers: Extended Learning in a Safe, Drug-Free Environment Before and After School. This book outlines the steps needed to successfully convert a school into a community-learning center and lists resources for further information and assistance.
http://www.ed.gov/pubs/LearnCenters/

The Future of Children: When School is Out. Packard Foundation. Provides timely information on major issues related to children's well being.
http://www.futureofchildren.org

Resource Guides

A Guide to Successful Public-Private Partnerships for Out-of-School Time and Community School Initiatives. The Finance Project.
http://financeproject.org

Learning Together: The Developing Field of School-Community Initiatives. Institute For Educational Leadership and National Center For Community Education.
http://www.mott.org

Beyond Class Time. Educational Leadership. Vol. 5 8, No. 7. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
http://www.ascd.org

Tools for Educators

Beyond The Bell: A Toolkit for Creating Effective After School Programs. North Regional Educational Laboratory.
http://www.ncrel.org/after/bellkit.pdf

Organizations and Assistance Centers

Americorps
http://www.americorps.org/

Big Brothers/Big Sisters of America
http://www.bbbsa.org

Boys and Girls Clubs of America
http://bgca.org

Children's Aid Society
http://www.childrensaidsociety.org

Voyager Expanded Learning
http://www.voyagerlearning.com/

The Finance Project
http://financeproject.org

Foundation for Excellent Schools
http://fesnet.org

National Institute on Out-of-School Time
http://www.wellesley.edu/WCW/CRW/SAC/index.html

National School-Age Child Care Alliance
http://www.nsaca.org

YMCA of USA
http://www.ymca.net/

Afterschool Alliance
http://www.afterschoolalliance.org

Communities in Schools
http://www.cisnet.org

EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION RESOURCES

Organizations and Assistance Centers

Bright Beginnings Program
http://www.cms.k12.nc.us/

Center for the Improvement of Early Reading Achievement
http://www.ciera.org/

Children's Defense Fund
http://www.childrensdefense.org/

ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education
http://www.ericeece.org/

High/Scope Educational Research Organization
http://www.highscope.org/

Mid-Atlantic Regional Educational Laboratory for Student Success
http://www.temple.edu/LSS/

National Association for the Education of Young Children
http://www.naeyc.org/

National Black Child Development Institute
http://www.nbcdi.org/

National Center for Early Development and Learning
http://www.ncedl.org/

National Child Care Information Center
http://www.nccic.org/

National Early Childhood Technical Assistance System
http://www.nectas.unc.edu/

National Head Start Association
http://www.nhsa.org/

National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
http://www.nichd.nih.gov/

National Institute on Early Childhood Development and Education
http://www.ed.gov/offices/OERI/ECI/

North Central Regional Educational Laboratory
http://www.ncrel.org/

SERVIE Regional Educational Laboratory
http://www.serve.org/Syc

Reports and Publications

Eager To Learn. National Research Council
http://www.nap.edu/

Partnering For Success: Community Approaches to Early Learning Child Care Action Campaign
http://www.childcareaction.org/

School Involvement in Early Childhood. U.S. Department of Education
http://www.ed.gov/offices/OERI/ECI/publications.html

Learning to Read and Write: Developmentally Appropriate Practices for Young Children. National Association for the Education of Young Children
http://www.naeyc.org/default.htm

A Framework for Early Literacy Instruction: Aligning Standards to Developmental Accomplishments and Student Behaviors
http://www.mcrel.org/resources/literacy/ela/

Seeds of Success: State Prekindergarten Initiatives. Children's Defense Fund
http://www.childrensdefense.org/

Financing Child Care in the United States. The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation
http://www.emkf.org/youth_development/childcare2001/index.cfm

New Teachers for a New Century: The Future of Early Childhood Professional Preparation. U.S. Department of Education
http://www.ed.gov/

Early Childhood &Title 1
http://www.ed.gov/inits/americareads/educators_early.html

The Kindergarten Years - National Center for Education Statistics
http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch

School Readiness: Helping Communities Get Children Ready for School And Schools Ready for Children
http://www.childtrends.org/

HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES COLLABORATION

Tools for Educators

Critical Issues: Linking At-Risk Students and Schools to Integrated Health and Human Services, by the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory.
http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/students/atrisk/at500.htm

Healthy Start, a program of the California Department of Education to improve the lives of children, youth, and families.
http://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/pf/hs/

The Gateway to a World or Resources for Enhancing Mental Health in Schools, UCLA School Mental Health Project
http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu/

Organizations and Assistance Centers

The Annie E. Casey Foundation
http://www.aecf.org/

Coalition for Community Schools
http://www.communityschools.org/

The Children's Aid Society
http://www.childrensaidsociety.org/

The Kentucky Office of Family Resource and Youth Services Centers
http://cfc.state.ky.us/frysc/

The Finance Project
http://www.financeproject.org/

INCLUSION AND COLLABORATION BETWEEN TITLE I & SPECIAL EDUCATION

Reports/ Studies

Inclusive Practices: What Special Education Has to Offer Whole School-Reform, MOSAIC. An EDC Report Series addresses a number of topics, including outstanding inclusive middle schools, teaching inclusive science through collaboration, universal design, the overrepresentation of students of color in special education and EDC's work in disabilities education.
http://main.edc.org/Mosaic/Mosaic3/toc3.asp

Educating Students with Disabilities in General Education Classrooms. Western Regional Resource Center. This report summarizes research and offers list of resources on inclusive education.
http://interact.uoregon.edu/wrrc/AKInclusion.html

Promoting Success in the General Education Curriculum for High School Students with Disabilities: Instructional Technology, Media, and Materials. Describes the impact of technology and various instructional designs on diverse leaders and offers recommendations for practice.
http://www.academicaccess.org/htmlfiles/reports/tools.pdf

Special Education in an Era of School Reform: An Overview.
http://www.dssc.org/frc/pubs/mclaugh.pdf

Resource Guides

Western Regional Resource Center Inclusion Module
http://interact.uoregon.edu/wrrc/inclusionhome.html

Tools for Educators

Title 1, Part A Policy Guidance, Improving Basic Programs. Operated by Local Educational Agencies U.S. Department of Education, Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, Compensatory Education Programs.
http://www.ed.gov/legislation/ESEA/Title_I/swpguide.html

Criteria for Schools of Authentic and Inclusive Teaching and Learning. Research Institute on Secondary Education Reform (RISER) for Youth with Disabilities.
http://www.wcer.wisc.edu/riser/criteria.html

Organizations and Assistance Centers

RMC Research Corporation
http://www.rmcres.com/

Research Institute on Secondary Education Reform (RISER) for Youth with Disabilities
http://www.wcer.wisc.edu/riser/

Additional Materials

Special Education in an Era of School Reform: Building the Capacity for Standards-Based Reform.
http://www.dssc.org/frc/pubs/Massell.pdf

LITERACY DEVELOPMENT FOR MIDDLE & SECONDARY SCHOOLS

Reports/ Studies

Grappling with the Big Issues in Middle Grades Literacy Education. Keynote Address, National Educational Research Policy and Priorities Board's Conference on Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment in the Middle Grades: Linking Research and Practice, Washington, D.C., July 24-25, 2000.
http://middleweb.com/alvermann.html

Youth at the Crossroads - Facing High School and Beyond. Education Trust. Report analyzes the quality of public education, specifically high school education, 11 years since the National Education Goals were first conceived.
http://www.edtrust.org/main/reports.asp

The Talent Development Middle School Reform Model. Center for Research on the Education of Students Placed at Risk (CRESPAR). Report presents distinctive features of this middle school reform model, early evidence of impact, the instructional programs using this model, along with sample lessons.
http://www.csos.jhu.edu/tdms/

Resource Guides

MiddieWeb - A detailed website exploring the challenges of middle-school reform; extensive resources for educators and parents.
http://www.middleweb.com/

Organizations and Assistance Centers

National Middle School Association
http://www.nmsa.org/

National Staff Development Council
http://www.nsdc.org/

National Resource Center for Middle Grades
http://www.coedu.usf.edu/middlegrades/

Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University
http://www.annenberginstitute.org/

Southern Regional Education Board
http://www.sreb.org/

National Research Center on English Learning and Achievement
http://cela.albany.edu/

LITERACY DEVELOPMENT FOR STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES

Reports/ Studies

Reading Comprehension Instruction for Students with Learning Disabilities - Executive Summary. National Council for learning Disabilities. Review of research on reading comprehension for students with disabilities with the goal of enhancing current classroom practices.
http://www.ncld.org/research/ncld_reading_comp.cfm

Teaching Expressive Writing to Students with Learning Disabilities - A Research Synthesis. National Council for Learning Disabilities. An executive summary of a report that synthesizes recent findings of research on expressive writing.
http://www.LD.org/research/ncld_writing.cfm

The NICHD Research Program in Reading Development, Reading Disorders and Reading Instruction. A comprehensive overview of the research findings from extensive research on reading conducted by the National Institutes of Health.
http://www.LD.org/research/keys99_nichd.cfm

Intervention Research for Students with Disabilities- Executive Summary. National Council for Learning Disabilities. Study synthesizes research from 272 studies on effects of various forms of instruction intended to improve students academic (e.g. math, reading), cognition (e.g. problem solving) or behavior (e.g. social skills); offers recommendations to teachers and researchers.
http://ncld.org/research/osep_swanson.cfm

Bright Futures for Exceptional Learners: An Action Agenda to Achieve Quality Conditions for Teaching and Learning: Council for Exceptional Children. An Introduction, followed by links to a synthesis of the Findings and to an Action Agenda (what needs to be done to achieve quality conditions for teaching and learning) for the education community:
http://www.cec.sped.org/spotlight/cond/bf_intro.html

Direct Instruction. Council for Exceptional Children. Brief, timely overview on what is DI - for whom, how it works, how practical and effective is it, what questions remain and where one can get more information.
http://www.dldcec.org/ld_resources/alerts/2.htm

Resource Guides

The National Information Center for Children and Youth with Disabilities.
http://www.nichcy.org/

Special Education Resources on the Web.
http://seriweb.com

Links to Technical Assistance centers for Special Education
http://www.ed.gov/parents/needs/speced/resources.html

Tools for Educators

Coordinating for Reading Instruction: General Education and Special
Education Working Together, Special Education Reading Project, Texas Center for Reading and Language Arts
http://www.tea.state.tx.us/special.ed/reading/pdf/coteach.pdf

Organizations and Assistance Centers

U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs
http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/osers/osep/index.html?src=mr

Regional Resource Centers for Special Education.
http://www.rrfcnetwork.org/

New England Comprehensive Assistance Center
http://www.edc.org/NECAC/resources/literacy/l-uselc.html

The Council for Exceptional Children
http://www.cec.sped.org

The National Information Center for Children and Youth with Disabilities
http://nichcy.org

Americans with Disabilities Act Technical Assistance Program.
http://www.adata.org/

LITERACY DEVELOPMENT FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS

Reports/Studies

The Impact of Preference for Accommodations - The Performance of English Language Learners on Large-Scale Academic Achievement Tests. Study investigates the potential role of student preference in the use of accommodations in large-scale assessments and the effects of two test accommodations - providing extra assessment time and reading test items aloud on the standardized test performance of ELL's in seventh grade.
http://www.cse.ucla.edu/CRESST/Reports/TECH524.pdf

Effective Instruction for Learning Disabled or At-Risk English-Language Learners: An Integrative Synthesis of the Empirical and Professional Knowledge Bases. National Council for Learning Disabilities. Study synthesizes relevant research on effective instruction for English-language learners.
http://www.ncld.org/research/osep_at_risk.cfm

Tools for Educators

Assessment: a Development Guidebook for Teachers of English Language Learners. Guidelines to using and developing performance-based assessments that are effective and appropriated for English Language Learners.
http://www.nwrel.org/nwreport/may98/article9.html

Parent Guide to ESL standards for Pre-K-12 students. Aims to help parents and educators understand ESL standards for K-12 children.
http://www.tesol.org/assoc/k12standards/resources/parentguide-1.html

Organizations and Assistance Centers

Critical Issues - Addressing Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Classrooms. North Central Regional Education Laboratory. Overview, pathways and links to additional information.
http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/content/cntareas/reading/li400.htm

Education Alliance at Brown University
http://www.alliance.brown.edu/

Southwest Educational Development Laboratory
http://www.sedl.org/

Center for Research on Education, Diversity and Excellence
http://www.crede.org/

Language Minority Research Institute
http://lmri.ucsb.edu/

LITERACY DEVELOPMENT FOR ELEMENTARY STUDENTS

Reports/ Studies

Early Literacy Instruction for Children at-Risk: Research-based Solutions. CIERA. Report from a colloquium that examined successful strategies and interventions for preventing reading difficulty.
http://www.ciera.org/

National Reading Panel - Teaching Children to Read. National Institute of Child Health and Development. Panel assessed the status of research-based knowledge, and effectiveness of various approaches to teaching children to read.
http://www.nichd.nih.gov/publications/nrp/smallbook.htm

Start Early, Finish Strong - How to Help Every Child Become a Reader. Dept. of Education. Extensive report on the importance of Reading in the U.S.
http://www.ed.gov/pubs/startearly/

So That Every Child Can Read. NWREL. A review of effective and promising tutoring practices from the 61 America Reads Challenge subcontracts.
http://www.nwrel.org/ecc/steccr/sothateverychild.pdf

Fostering Thoughtful Literacy in Elementary Classrooms. Center for English Learning and Achievement (CELA). In examining teacher practice, this research identified a set of core teaching characteristics that tend to foster thoughtful literacy.
http://cela.albany.edu/newslet/spring00/fostering.htm

Teaching All Children to Read. Southern Regional Education Board. Identifies six central elements to any effort to improve student's reading performance.
link

Beginning Reading. Education Resource Information Center (ERIC). Discusses processes involved in teaching beginning reading.
http://www.ed.gov/databases/ERIC_Digests/ed418515.html

Resource Guides

Resources and Research. Dept. of Education. Informative, extensive resources on reading - Books, Reading activities, Videos, Best Practices, and more.
http://www.ed.gov/inits/americareads/resources.html

Starting out Right - A Guide to Promoting Children's Reading Success. National Academy Press.
http://bob.nap.edu/readingroom/books/sor/

Tools for Educators

The Compact for Reading Guide. Dept of Education. A collection of research-based activities designed to assist children from Kindergarten to Grade 3.
http://www.ed.gov/pubs/CompactforReading/content.html

Resource Kit. Dept. of Education. A guide to help plan and implement community literacy programs for children from birth through elementary school.
http://www.ed.gov/inits/americareads/resourcekit/index.html

Growing a Volunteer Tutor Program. Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory. Tool for surviving the critical start-up year in tutoring programs.
http://www.nwrel.org/learns/

Learning to Read, Reading to Learn. Education Development Center. Most contemporary thinking on teaching reading, and reading research in general.
http://www.edc.org/NECAC/resources/literacy/l-uselc.html

Organizations and Assistance Centers

Center for the Improvement of Early Reading Achievement
http://www.ciera.org/

Center for English Learning and Achievement
http://cela.albany.edu/

Southern Regional Education Board
http://www.sreb.org/

New England Comprehensive Assistance Network
http://www.edc.org/NECAC/rsn/

RESEARCH FOR EDUCATION AND LEARNING

Mid-Continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL)
http://www.mcrel.org/

McREL's "Changing Schools" quarterly newsletters
http://www.mcrel.org/topics/changingSchool.asp

NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL CENTER

Career Academics
http://www.ncacinc.org

First Things First
http://www.irre.org/ftf

Project Graduation Really Achieves Dreams (Prodject GRAD)
http://www.projectgrad.org

Talent Development
http://www.csos.jhu.edu/tdhs/