Access our new “Insights” research series as well previous research and policy briefs about school improvement and AP STEM education.
iiiiinsights   #05

Revisiting The Turnaround Challenge: Lessons From the Field to Advance Pandemic Recovery in Low-Performing Schools

It has long been the case that the nation’s lowest performing schools serve our highest needs students — students who are systemically marginalized by virtue of race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, language, and/or ability. But the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the need to provide dramatically different supports to these schools. Between 2019 and 2022, too many students lost ground academically, and researchers estimate that it will take the average student three to five years to catch up to where they would have been pre-pandemic. To download the Executive Summary highlighting key takeaways, click here.

Key Takeaways:

  • The extent to which a district has established the conditions (time, people, money, and program) for school transformation seems to matter more than the strategies by which conditions change occurs.
  • Those working to transform low-performing schools should focus on strategies for improving conditions that have the greatest likelihood of success in their local context.
  • In addition to time, people, money, and program, district and zone climate should be added to the list of critical conditions to be leveraged or improved. 
  • The benefits of clustering appear related to the use of a spiderweb network model and the establishment of a zone office with the structure and authority to offer streamlined central office support/buffer zone schools. 
  • While resources may significantly improve student outcomes in the short-term, additional resources must be combined with other capacity-building strategies if they are to affect long-term student outcomes in low-performing schools. 
  • School and district leaders and SEA staff would do well to establish a clear focus and align their capacity building efforts to that focus.
iiiiinsights   #04

Fulfilling the Promise: The Potential of Advanced Placement to Improve College Outcomes for Black, Latino, and Low-Income Students

The U.S. economy requires a highly educated workforce. Ninety nine percent of all new jobs created between January 2010 and January 2016 went to workers with at least some college education, and the U.S. government projects that nearly forty percent of jobs will require at least some college by 2028. Yet deep and persistent racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic disparities in college outcomes threaten the country’s ability to meet its workforce needs.
Download PDF
iiiiinsights   #03

Talent Search: Finding the Missing AP® Students in Massachusetts

Download PDF
iiiiinsights   #02

Using Networked Improvement Communities to Accelerate Improvement: Lessons from the Gateway to College Success Network

Download PDF
iiiiinsights   #01

Beyond College Credit – Leveraging AP as an Effective Workforce Strategy

Increasing the number of workers with an education beyond high school, and preferably with a four-year college degree, is an economic imperative and is also critical to give workers and their families greater economic stability and security.
Download PDF