Strategies to Support Comprehensive Reform

The survey asked public school principals about the use of a number of specific strategies in support of comprehensive reform to provide a picture of how seriously involved schools were in education reform. The strategies listed were the following:

• A strategic plan for enabling all students to achieve to high levels of performance;



• Professional development to enable staff to teach the content students are expected to learn;



• Instructional materials such as textbooks that expose students to the content they are expected to learn;



• Innovative technologies such as the Internet and telecommunication-supported instruction that expose students to the content they are expected to learn;



• Adaptations so that all students (specifically: limited-English proficient students) are expected to achieve to high levels of performance;



• Adaptations so that all students (specifically: students with learning disabilities) are expected to achieve to high levels of performance;



• Assessments that measure performance against the content students are expected to learn;



• Assessments that are used for school accountability and continuous improvement;



• Parent involvement activities that help parents work with their children to achieve to high levels of performance; and



• Restructuring the school day to teach content in more depth.

For these same strategies, principals also indicated the three for which they most needed information.

Most principals reported that their schools were active in these areas, but only about 1 in 10 said their schools were implementing all 10 strategies to a moderate or great extent. These findings also hold across different types of schools (appendix table B-6 (Part 2). Elementary schools principals (72 percent) were more likely than middle school (50 percent) and high school (42 percent) principals to report that their schools are implementing parent involvement activities (Table 1 and appendix table B-6).

Eighty-four percent of principals reported that their schools had professional development to enable staff to teach the content students are expected to learn, while 41 percent reported they need more information on this topic. This finding can be compared to the 76 percent who reported that most or all of their teachers are ready to set or apply new high standards of achievement for their students.

Overall, about three-quarters of public school principals (76 percent) reported that their schools use assessments of student performance matched to their content standards to a moderate or great extent, and 79 percent reported using assessments for school accountability (Table 1 and appendix table B-6 (Part 2). About two-thirds of all principals (66 percent) reported that their schools express these performance assessments in terms of students meeting specified levels, such as advanced, proficient, and novice (Figure 5 and appendix table B-8). Elementary school principals (69 percent) were more likely than high school principals (57 percent) to report that their schools express their assessments in these terms.

Principal reports of use of assessments generally coordinate with their reports of use of content standards. For example, the 78 percent of principals who reported using content standards in all subjects matches well with the 76 percent who claimed to use assessments matched to the standards. However, 32 percent reported needing more information on matching assessments to content standards. This figure appears high, considering that 76 percent reported they currently match assessments to their content standards. Forty percent or more of principals reported that they needed information on each of the following strategies: using innovative technologies such as the Internet and telecommunication-supported instruction that expose students to the content they are expected to learn (43 percent), professional development linked to the standards (41 percent), and parent involvement activities (40 percent) (Table 1 and appendix table B-7, Part 2, Part 3).

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