From the ECS State Policy Database: No Child Left Behind--Consequences for Schools - This policy database—updated weekly—is made possible by your state's fiscal support of the Education Commission of the States....

The Turnaround Challenge: State Strategies for Turning Around Low-Performing Schools and Districts - NASBE recently launched an online tool for state policymakers designed to facilitate discussion and provide insights from some of the nation's education leaders on how states can design coherent strategies to improve their lowest performing schools and districts. The microsite organizes video clips and questions for policymakers in six themes alongisde PowerPoints, publilcations and other materials drawn from a forum convened by NASBE and the Council of Chief State School Officers in spring 2009. (NASBE, September 2009)...

"Diverse Providers" in Action: School Restructuring in Hawaii - The state of Hawaii has chosen to partner with outside organizations in 44 of its 92 restructuring schools and its unusual procurement and accountability frameworks for managing these partnerships offer unique insights to states considering a similar approach. This Outlook looks at the support mechanisms that Hawaii has put in place to facilitate partnerships with these "diverse providers" and at how restructuring schools may have benefited from those arrangements. (Frederick Hess and Juliet Square, American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, August 2009)...

Looking For New Ways to Make Progress: School Restructuring in Maryland, 2008-09 Follow-Up Report - This report describes Maryland's latest approaches to dealing with restructuring schools and other schools in NCLB improvement. (Brenda Neuman-Sheldon and Jack Jennings, CEP, April 2009)...

Top Down, Bottom Up: California Districts in Corrective Action and Schools in Restructuring Under NCLB - This report describes how California is providing direct intervention to improve structures and processes in districts, which is intended over time to improve curriculum, instruction and student achievement at the school level. For districts subject to corrective action under NCLB, the approach is "top down". It is also "bottom up" in that the changes districts make are customized to the needs of that district. (Caitlin Scott and Jack Jennings, CEP, April 2009)...

Expanding Restructuring and Taking on High Schools: An NCLB Follow-Up Report in Michigan - In this follow-up report CEP reviewed restructuring documents, analyzing state test data and interviewing decision makers at the state and local level. They found, among other things: Growth models helpful in elementary and middle schools were not applicable to high schools; more than two-thirds of the Title I schools in restructuring in the state served high school students; and there were obvious benefits from restructuring for elementary and middle schools. (Caitlan Scott, Maureen Kelleher, Jack Jennings and Diane Rentner, CEP, April 2009)...

Managing More than a Thousand Remodeling Projects: School Restructuring in California - Hundreds of California schools have undergone restructuring as a result of failing to meet No Child Left Behind performance targets. In examining these reform efforts, this study drew several conclusions, including: few schools raised test scores enough to exit the restructuring category; schools added additional strategies beyond federal options to raise student achievement; no single federal restructuring approach stands out as more effective; and factors outside of school appear to hamper student achievement gains. (Center on Education Policy, February 2008) ...