There is pressure—from all angles—for high schools to reform, but schools that rush into the latest trends may not see lasting results. How reform strategies are carried out is as important (and some argue, more important) as the reforms themselves. Across the country we are seeing a convergence in thought and action around specific high school reform strategies. We also are seeing wide variation in the fidelity with which those strategies are being implemented and, consequently, an uneven impact on student learning. This website is designed to support and strengthen high school reform efforts by offering practitioners, policymakers, and researchers best practices and implementation guides for specific reform strategies.
 
The site was created under a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to the Urban Institute. Dr. Nettie Legters (Johns Hopkins University) and Dr. Becky Smerdon (Academy for Educational Development, then of the Urban Institute) were awarded the grant to conduct a field scan for extant tools that could be used to inform and study high school reform implementation. When they discovered that these tools were limited in existence and scope, they, together with Research Associate Kristine Early, began to compile, analyze, and synthesize existing literature on reform strategies to create their own. This website represents one year of work in this vein. The result is a set of modules designed to provide common definitions, essential components, research summaries, and implementation indicators for 25 established and emerging high school reform strategies. 
 
The High School Reform Strategy Toolkit would not have been possible without the assistance of our outstanding advisory panel members, who offered valuable insight into the direction of this piece; the reviewers, who suggested additional research and made substantial improvements to the module prototypes; Sheri Ranis at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Jane Hannaway at the Urban Institute who provided invaluable support and feedback; and Serena Lei and Tammi Butler at the Urban Institute, whose editing and administrative assistance kept the project moving forward. For a full list of acknowledgements, click here.   
 
Answers to Your Questions on this website
 
Why did you create another website on educational reform?
 
There are many well-researched websites on educational reform. However, there are fewer in the area of high school reform, which has been a less prominent focus for researchers and practitioners. Websites that do discuss high school reform tend to focus only on a few reform areas or support a particular reform model. These websites have plenty to offer, and many of them supplied information for our modules. We have had the good fortune of benefiting from such work.
 
This website is different because it gathers what is known from across a broad spectrum of high school reform strategies and offers an entry point for users interested in implementing and evaluating those strategies.    This site aspires to provide a central library of knowledge about high school reform that includes research, resources, and best practices.
 
We know we’re not there yet. This site is a work-in progress, covering just 25 of the initial 100 common reform strategies we identified. Although each module has been well researched and covered in depth, we want and need to dig deeper and continue adding to our knowledge base. This website was created in only a year, which means we were limited in what we could read and write and who we could talk to. However, using the resources available, we sought out the latest research, talked to some of the most influential and experienced reformers and researchers in the field, and aimed to create a useful product for researchers and practitioners.
 
We hope that with your support and feedback, and opportunity for continuous improvement and update, this site can be the “go to” place for information about high school reform.
 
How is this website organized?
 
This website is organized into two sections: (1) the Toolkit and (2) Research and Resources.
 
The Toolkit
 
The toolkit covers 25 common reform strategies, which fall into six dimensions of reform: organization; curriculum and instruction; assessment; student academic and social supports and incentives; staff supports and incentives; and family, community, and industry incentives. In each dimension, users can learn about specific strategies, scan the research, and identify available resources that support implementation. An interactive tool also allows users to compare strategy implementation with best practices to determine areas in need of improvement and further investment.
 
Research and Resources
 
The Research and Resources section links to an annotated bibliography that includes the literature we relied on in the creation of this website. We hope that, with continued funding, we will be able to add to this catalogue, especially since new research is being conducted and published every week. The Research and Resources section also includes a map that links to policy and research organizations, model developers, and technical assistance providers who support high school reform. These “reform support organizations” have influenced our work and may be a source of additional information and expertise to our users.
 
 
Who will this website help?
 
This website is designed for use by practitioners and researchers and should be
consumed slightly differently by each.  
 
 How will this toolkit help me if I am a practitioner?
 
See the toolkit for information on common reforms that may work in your school or district. Check out the latest research on each reform, read about the best practices for implementation, and print off and use the checklist to guide you as you implement or evaluate reforms. Remember, this toolkit only serves as a guide. We encourage you to look to the sources (research, guides, and reform support organizations) in our Research and Resources section to find additional support in reforming your high school.
 
How will this toolkit help me if I am a researcher? 
  
This toolkit provides a definition of each reform strategy, enabling researchers to speak a common language and to indentify true instances of reform. The toolkit connects you to research and resources on the reform strategy, providing a simplified way for you to gather information to support your evaluation. Finally, the implementation checklist is easily adaptable to fit your evaluation's needs and can be modified to allow evaluation within sites and across sites, of general reform or implementation of reform models, and in other ways to support your work.
 
How will this toolkit help me if I am a policymaker?
 
Before making any policies regarding high school reform, it is important to a) understand the goal of reform, b) understand which reform strategies may lead to said goal, and c) the effort and resources it will take for constituents to successfully implement chosen reform strategies. The toolkit informs all three areas and can be a helpful resource to you as you plan and evaluate reform-related policies.     
 
What are the "dos" of using this website?  
 
Do use this toolkit to learn more about high school reform strategies, including essential features of those strategies, evidence of effectiveness, and what indicates strong implementation of those strategies.
 
Do realize that comprehensive school improvement likely requires the integration of many of the components listed in this toolkit.    
 
Do click on the words highlighted in blue. They will take you to more information on that topic.

 

Do look at the Research and Resources section for more information. You’ll find guides, news articles, and research on the areas of reform covered in this toolkit.
 
Do use the questions in the “Implementation Checklist” to guide evaluation of a reform component.
Don’t be hesitant to modify items to suit the needs and contexts of your particular study or reform effort.
 
Do make sure that you have the support of the district, school administration, teachers, parents, students, and community before attempting to implement a reform component. Without this support, reform efforts are likely to fail.
 
Do conduct a needs assessment to make sure the reform is appropriate for your school.
 
Do secure the resources necessary to carry out a reform successfully. To effectively implement reform, schools must commit time, funding, and personnel. Reforms may also require additional resources, such as partnership with an outside agency (business, community organization, and postsecondary school), space, transportation, etc. The information in each module should give you a general understanding of the resources necessary to achieve strong implementation of the reform strategies covered in the toolkit.
 
Do create a plan for reform that incorporates know-how, technical support, and formal evaluation.