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A key lever for improvement in instruction and student support is the data that are available in urban districts. A considerable amount of information now exists about students' academic strengths and weaknesses, and the momentum to build and improve data systems is increasing at a rapid pace. In fall 2008, the Council of the Great City Schools and the American Institutes for Research launched a project funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation focused on understanding and improving the use of interim assessment data as a catalyst for instructional improvement. The overarching goal of this study is to establish principles of "best practice" in using interim assessment data to improve instruction and target support. This report shares findings to date that address the first objective: to document current practices of urban school districts in regard to interim assessments, data systems, and the use of data for decision making. The findings draw from two sources of information. The first source comprises surveys administered in summer 2009 to Curriculum Coordinators and Research Directors in the member districts of the Council of the Great City Schools about their use of interim assessments and data systems. The data from this survey provide a general overview of the state of current practice in using data to inform school- and classroom-level decision making across U.S. urban districts. The second is a set of case studies based on site visits to four selected urban districts between February and April 2010. (Contains 7 exhibits and 2 footnotes.)

School districts have been struggling with the challenges of teaching English Language Learners (ELLs) for decades. Yet few studies have examined strategies for districtwide instructional reform for ELLs. To address this need, the Council of the Great City Schools sought to explore the experiences of large, urban districts with differing levels of success in raising ELL student achievement to shed light on potential strategies for ELL reform. Specifically, the study aimed to investigate the district-level policies and practices, as well as the historical, administrative, and programmatic contexts of school systems that showed growth in ELL student achievement from 2002 to 2006. At the same time, these experiences were contrasted with the experiences of districts that did not show as much growth in ELL achievement during the study period. The results suggest that programming for ELLs has to be collaborative and it has to span the curriculum. Districts need to develop and communicate a clear vision and strategy for ELL instructional improvement, and work to provide schools with the tools, support, and oversight necessary to drive these reforms into the classroom. Appendices include: (1) Members of the Research Advisory Committee; and (2) CGCS Executive Committee Officers and English Language Learners and Bilingual Education Task Force Chairs. (Contains 21 figures.)

The Council of the Great City Schools has prepared this eighth edition of "Beating the Odds" to give the nation another look at how inner-city schools are performing on the academic goals and standards set by the states. This analysis examines student achievement in math and reading through spring 2007. It also measures achievement gaps between cities and states, minorities and whites, and economically advantaged and disadvantaged students. Finally, the report looks at progress. It asks two critical questions: (1) Are urban schools improving academically? and (2) Are urban schools closing achievement gaps? Six major findings about student achievement in urban schools emerged from this study: (1) Mathematics achievement is improving in urban schools; (2) Gaps in math achievement in urban schools appear to be narrowing; (3) Urban school achievement is below state averages in math; (4) Reading achievement is improving in urban schools; (5) Gaps in reading achievement in urban schools appear to be narrowing; and (6) Urban school achievement is below state averages in reading. Research suggests that the number of students in a class affects student achievement. In particular, access to smaller classes has been shown to improve student achievement, while larger classes have a negative effect on student performance. Moreover, the benefits of smaller classes appear to be greater for disadvantaged and minority students. (Contains 8 figures, 4 tables, and 20 footnotes.) [For the 2005-2006 edition of this report, see ED498835. For "Beating the Odds: Assessment Results from the 2006-2007 School Year. Individual District Results," see ED505330.]

The transition between middle and high school is a defining moment for students on whether they drop out of school or progress to graduation. A majority of the students who eventually fail to graduate fall through the cracks during this transition period. This research brief gives several recommendations on how schools and school districts can help students make successful transitions to high school, including: (1) Districts should explicitly target initiatives and interventions at the ninth grade level, addressing both the academic and environmental challenges of transition; (2) Districts need to sustain a system-wide focus on explicit literacy instruction to improve student outcomes in high school; (3) Districts should combine structural changes with meaningful curricular and instructional supports; (4) Although remediation of struggling students can be a useful tool, a challenging academic curriculum may help keep students engaged and yield achievement gains; (5) Districts should develop student-level indicators/tracking systems to help target support and identify at-risk students before they fall too far off track in the transition to high school; and (6) The federal government and private philanthropy should invest in rigorous studies of how to use data and data systems to improve support and instruction, particularly for students making the transition to high school. (Contains 40 notes.)

The lack of sufficient literacy skills is a major factor contributing to poor performance in high school and post-secondary education. Many students, particularly those in urban schools, lack the foundational literacy skills necessary to read and comprehend the academic texts appropriate for high school and beyond. This brief provides a synthesis of the research on adolescent literacy, primarily focusing on policies and practices that can support the development of language skills necessary to access high school content. Authors advocate for leaders in urban education to make academic literacy a fundamental priority in the late elementary and secondary grades, setting explicit, measurable goals for progress in the vocabulary and comprehension skills required to engage academic texts. The report concludes that improving student literacy in urban districts will also require a significant investment of resources to mount interventions and support research on effective strategies, at federal, state and local levels. (Contains 76 notes.)