Development of a comprehensive reporting system for a school reform organization: The Accelerated Schools Project

Abstract

Given the conflicting research results on the effectiveness of whole-school reform models (Nunnery, 1998; Stringfield & Herman, 1997; American Institutes for Research, 1999; U.S. Department of Education, 2004), there is a need to focus on the evaluation procedures of whole-school reform organizations. Because the ultimate goal is to improve school performance, it should also be a goal of each whole-school reform organization to design a comprehensive data collection system to evaluate each school’s performance. A comprehensive reporting system was developed for a school reform organization, the Accelerated Schools Project (ASP). Using the steps of the research and development process recommended by Borg and Gall (1989), this study: (a) developed a theoretical framework for the reporting system, (b) identified data that should be collected in the reporting system, (c) performed a field test with an expert panel of educational professionals, (d) developed a preliminary form of the reporting system, (e) performed a main field test with principals and coaches in the ASP network, (f) reported field test results, (g) revised the preliminary reporting system, (h) developed a website for the reporting system, and (i) provided recommendations for the completion, dissemination and implementation of the system in accelerated schools across the nation. This study has important implications for both the ASP community and for the entire whole-school reform community. For the ASP community, the reporting system could be used: (a) to collect data in all accelerated schools across the nation (b) as a longitudinal database of information to monitor data on each ASP school, and (c) to generate school summary reports on ASP schools. These data will assist researchers in measuring the effectiveness of the ASP model on student achievement and other important variables. For the whole-school reform community, the method used in this study could be replicated in other school reform organizations to develop a comprehensive reporting system. By providing consistent data for school reform organizations to evaluate the impact of their models on students and schools, educational researchers will be better equipped to understand each model’s impact, and thus will better understand the diverse research results on school reform effectiveness.