Effective Schooling Practices: A Research Synthesis

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Introduction

This is the third edition of a research synthesis document that was first published by the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory (NWREL) in 1984 and updated in 1990. This edition reflects educational research literature published within the past five years, together with inquiries into topical areas not investigated previously. Like its predecessors, this synthesis cites classroom, school, and district practices that research has shown to foster positive student achievement, attitudes, and social behavior.

The 1984 synthesis featured findings from the now-classic "school effectiveness" research conducted in the 1970s and early 1980s. That research studied effective and ineffective schools and classrooms with similar student populations and identified key differences in their organization, management, curriculum, and instruction.

The 1990 synthesis update retained that information, adding refinements to those earlier findings and results from other areas of investigation, such as questioning strategies, high-needs populations, and professional development for teachers.

This 1995 update augments previous work by identifying (1) additional findings in familiar topical areas and (2) findings on topics of more recent research interest. Among these newer areas of focus are:

Curriculum integration
Alternative assessment
School-based management
Prevention of substance abuse, dropping out, and social disruption
Social and academic resiliency
Higher-level thinking skills
Attitudes and skills for workplace readiness
Intercultural relations and multi-cultural learning.

Inevitably, the revision process also required the deletion of many bibliographic citations that appeared in the earlier versions in order to create space for newer entries. In culling the bibliography, we have attempted to retain classic and seminal reports, while removing many older, less rigorous, redundant, or difficult-to-find items.

The result of this work is that the assertions made in this synthesis are supported by more than 1,000 of the highest-quality and most useful studies and summaries available.

History

Originally, the synthesis was intended primarily as a support piece for schools receiving training in NWREL's Onward to Excellence (OTE) school improvement process. Staff of these schoolsùnow numbering approximately 2,000 across the U.S.ùhave used the synthesis to identify research-based practices that relate to the improvement goals they have set. They then plan, implement, and monitor the use of these practices, drawing upon additional research and the experience of others who have pursued similar goals.

Today, OTE is the best-known and one of the most highly regarded approaches to school improvement in the nation. OTE's success is due largely to (1) its insistence that educational improvement efforts be research based and (2) its provision of a resourceùthis synthesis and its predecessorsùthat makes it feasible for busy school personnel to access and use research.

The widespread, successful use of the syntheses in OTE schools is, of course, very gratifying. Its use, however, has expanded considerably beyond this initial application. The synthesis is also disseminated through NWREL's School Improvement Research Series (SIRS), a growing collection of research summaries and related articles distributed on either a single-purchase or subscription basis. As this edition of the synthesis goes to press, the combined sales of the first two editions total nearly 100,000 copies.

Participants in NWREL's more recently developed district-level strategic improvement process, Creating the Future, are also making use of the synthesis, a practice that can be expected to increase with the growth of that program. Large but undocumented numbers of complimentary copies have been distributed to NWREL's clients and colleagues over the years. And finally, the synthesis has been available since 1990 through the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) system (ED 347 613).

The Effective Schooling Research

The evidence that supports the assertions made in this synthesis come from several different kinds of research investigations. They include:

School effects research: Studies of whole schools undertaken to identify schoolwide practices that help students learn
Teacher effects research: Studies of teachers and students in the classroom to discover effective practices
Research on instructional leadership: Studies of principals and other building leaders to determine what they do to support teaching and learning
Curriculum alignment and curriculum integration research: Examinations of alternative methods of organizing and managing curriculum to determine effective approaches
Program coupling research: Inquiries into the interrelationships among practices used at the district, school building and classroom levels
Research on educational change: Studies to identify conditions and practices that promote significant, durable change in educational programs.

How to Use the Synthesis

This research synthesis describes characteristics and practices identified by research as associated with improvements in student performance. Findings are cited within three sections, each focused on one level of organization: the classroom, the school, and the district. Groups of practices derived from the research have been organized into practice clusters (such as "Teachers Use a Preplanned Curriculum to Guide Instruction") and then into cluster groupings (such as "Instruction" and "Assessment").

At the end of each practice cluster are lists of sources from the research base which support the practices cited in that cluster. While these are not inclusive of all the reports reviewed in that topic area, they are of high quality, representative of the research base, relatively easy to retrieve, and therefore likely to be useful to those wanting to pursue a given topic in more detail. Full citations may be found in the bibliography at the end of this publication.

The findings summarized here will be of interest to persons exploring or involved in school improvement and restructuring efforts. The synthesis can stimulate discussion of instructional issues, guide the development of appropriate local improvements, and aid in decision making as school improvements take place. When integrated into a locally determined plan for action, these practices can be of significant assistance in the improvement of schools.

A word of caution: This booklet cannot legitimately be utilized as a checklist or instrument for evaluating the performance of individual teachers or principals, nor should it be used as a blueprint for local school improvement. It is not a simple recipe for school improvement, nor is it, in and of itself, a staff development program or a program for supervision.

The experience of those involved in OTE and other school improvement efforts does demonstrate, however, that the findings presented here are useful in helping to develop and actualize school improvement projects that bring about real change for the better. Research and experience both offer the clear and optimistic message that schools do make a difference and that, with an appropriate concentration of will and effort, teachers and administrators can substantially influence student success.

We suggest that readers review the research findings reported here and, based on local decisions and needs, use these findings to formulate processes that can lead to attainment of school goals.

How to Access the Research

Use of the research synthesis frequently leads readers to want to acquire materials identified in the bibliography. While we at NWREL are not able to provide these documents, we have taken steps to make it easier for users to locate them. This edition of the synthesis provides the most complete bibliographic information possible for each source cited, including journal volumes, numbers, months and years. ED numbers are provided for documents available through the ERIC system, and most hard-to-find or "fugitive" citations have been deleted. Finally, those items cited at the end of each practice cluster in the synthesis text have been selected partly for ease of access, and most can readily be retrieved at a county, university, or other well-stocked library.

Journal Articles and Books. These libraries, for example, should have many of the educational journals in which the articles in this bibliography appear. Local library staff can assist users to locate articles from these journals. Articles from journals the local library does not have can often be retrieved through interlibrary loan. Likewise, books cited in the bibliography can either be borrowed from the library or, for users who wish to acquire their own copies, can generally be found, along with price and ordering information, in Books in Print. School-based users are encouraged to contact their instructional media specialists for assistance in retrieving resources.

ERIC Documents. Citations that conclude with an ED numberùthe letters "ED" followed by six digitsùin parentheses refer to materials that have been photocopied and miniaturized on microfiche by ERIC staff. Local librarians can help readers locate the nearest ERIC microfiche collection.

Most documents can also be ordered, in either microfiche or hard-copy form, from: ERIC Document Reproduction Service, DynTel Corporation, 7420 Fullerton Road, Suite 110, Springfield, VA 22153-2852, 1-800-443-ERIC. Costs: Paper copyù$3.85 for each 25 pages or part thereof; Microfiche (each containing 96 pages)ù$0.25 each.

SIRS Materials. Some citations in this bibliography refer to "Close-Ups" and "Topical Syntheses" developed at NWREL. These articles are from NWREL's School Improvement Research Series (SIRS), of which this synthesis is also a part. Hard copy of the different "series" of SIRS materials are available for purchase from NWREL's Document Reproduction Service (contact information below), and some of them are also in the ERIC system. Finally, they are available on the Internet via the NWREL Web site http://www.nwrel.org/scpd/sirs.

Additions to the SIRS materials on the Internet will be made as new documents are published.

Further Information and Ordering

NWREL's School, Community and Professional Development Program (SCPD) has developed the Onward to Excellence process referenced above for use by local schools in applying effective schooling research results to meet school improvement goals. Creating the Future, a program for district-level strategic improvement, is also being used profitably in the Northwest region and elsewhere to improve student performance. For further information about these programs or about the School Improvement Research Series, contact:

Robert E. Blum, Director
School, Community and Professional Development Program
Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory
101 S.W. Main Street, Suite 500
Portland, Oregon 97204
503/275-9629 or 503/275-9615

To order additional copies of this publication, call or write:

Document Reproduction Service
Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory
101 S.W. Main Street, Suite 500
Portland, OR 97204
503/275-9519

FAX purchase orders of $15.00 or more to (503) 275-9489.

Price List:: Single Copy ù $ 5.80
Package of 10 copies ù $45.50
Package of 50 copies ù $211.80

Cost includes fourth-class postage for orders under $15 and UPS delivery for orders over $15. There is an additional 25 percent shipping charge on orders from foreign countries, and foreign purchasers must prepay in U. S. dollars.

Acknowledgments

The original 1984 Effective Schooling Practices: A Research Synthesis was developed by School, Community and Professional Development Program director, Robert E. Blum, and former staff members Jocelyn A. Butler and Ronald Smith. SCPD research specialist Kathleen Cotton prepared both the 1990 and 1995 editions. Eminent researchers from across the country, Onward to Excellence and Creating the Future trainers, and other education professionals provided much valuable input for updating this publication. Researchers who provided conceptual and resource suggestions include: Jerry D. Bamburg of the University of Washington, Douglas Carnine of the University of Oregon, S. Alan Cohen of the University of San Francisco, Harris M. Cooper of the University of Missouri-Columbia, H. Dickson Corbett of Research for Better Schools in Philadelphia, Carolyn Evertson of Vanderbilt University, Michael Fullan of the University of Toronto, Mark Gall of the University of Oregon, Russell Gersten of the Eugene (Oregon) Research Institute, Allan Glatthorn of East Carolina University, Shirley M. Hord of the Southwest Educational Development Laboratory in Austin, Texas, Kenneth Leithwood of the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, Daniel U. Levine of the University of Nebraska, Lawrence Lezotte of Effective Schools Products in Okemos, Michigan, Peter Mortimore and Louise Stoll of the University of London (England), Joseph Murphy of Vanderbilt University, Barbara Nelson Pavan of Temple University, Barak Rosenshine of the University of Illinois at Champaign, and Robert E. Slavin of Johns Hopkins University. Onward to Excellence and Creating the Future trainers who reviewed and provided feedback for this publication include Dave Curry of the Linn-Benton-Lincoln (Oregon) Education Service District, John Deeder of the Reynolds School District (Oregon), and Dean Thompson of the Umatilla (Oregon) Education Service District.

NWREL staff members, some of whom are also OTE or CTF trainers, also provided valuable suggestions for this synthesis update. Those who furnished conceptual and resource ideas include: NWREL executive director, Bob Rath; Bob Blum, Sandy Mossman, Nancey Olson, and Ken Servas of the School, Community and Professional Development Program; Carlos Sundermann and Randy Collver of the Western Regional Center for Drug-Free Schools and Communities; Joyce Harris, Janet Freeman, Carole Hunt, Nancy Huppertz, and Barbara Warren-Sams of the Center for National Origin, Race, and Sex Equity; Tom Owens of the Education and Work Program; Steve Nelson of the Rural Education Program; Don Holznagel of the Technology Program; Patrick Weasel Head of the Indian Education Program; Joan Shaughnessy of the Evaluation and Assessment Program; and Amy Derby of the Science and Mathematics Education Program.

Other NWREL staff whose contributions merit acknowledgment here include: Linda Gipe for her work in design, layout, proofreading, and production; Library/Information Center director Maggie Rogers and assistant Linda Fitch for their extensive and tireless reference work; Patricia Hogan for her bibliographic research; and Karen Risch and Eugene Story for their proofreading assistance.

Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory - Last Revised : 5/26/95

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Date of Last Update: 8/31/01
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