A Decade of Reform: A Summary of Rearch Findings on Classroom, School, and District Effectiveness in Washington State

Foreword

It has been ten years since the passing of the current educational reform legislation in Washington. The process begun in 1993 included, among other things, the identification of new student learning expectations needed for success in the 21st Century, a new measure of those expectations, and an expectation that all students will achieve those standards. More recently, the passing of the federal law commonly known as the "No Child Left Behind Act" has added a new sense of urgency for the reform efforts. At the same time, the expectations for higher academic achievement as measured by the Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL) have been difficult for many schools to meet.

As in most states, educational research in Washington is conducted by a variety of organizations and individuals who share a common interest but often lack any coordinating agency. Several years after the passing of the 1993 legislation a variety of researchers began to examine the effects of the law on Washington's schools using diverse strategies and research approaches. Over the past five years studies have been conducted by the RAND Corporation, the School of Education at Seattle Pacific University, the Center for the Reinvention of Public Education at the University of Washington, and the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, among others. Each of these groups employed different research methodologies, but they all were concerned with identifying the effects of the legislation on public schools in the state and with identifying those changes in school and classrooms that increase student learning. Their findings are dispersed in a variety of individual reports with varying levels of distribution and awareness.

For the past two years researchers at the Washington School Research Center have been pursuing answers to these and other research questions. Through our work with the Just for the Kids data analysis system, the production of technical reports analyzing extant data, and studying successful schools we have attempted to add to the knowledge base of the profession about success in a high standards environment.

The dissemination of our research to educators in a non-technical and useful manner is a significant part of our mission. Toward this end we have presented our findings to a large number of educators in the state. One of the approaches we have taken is to place our research findings in the broader context of other research in the state to show that there is an emerging consistent and coherent picture of successful reform. Educators have responded favorably to this message, and on numerous occasions we have been asked if the contents of the presentations are available in written form to share with their colleagues. Until now, the contents only existed in pieces in various presentation materials and reports. In this report I have attempted to summarize and assimilate the various research findings in one document.

Synthesizing research findings from multiple sources requires a number of decisions and judgments. Most important is determining what questions will be the focus of the review. These are listed in the first section of the report and, I believe, are of the greatest immediate interest to policy-makers and the profession. Research has not and cannot answer all of our questions definitively, but I believe in this instance there is a growing body of evidence that shows that students are capable of higher levels of achievement than many previously thought was possible. In addition, when schools and educators change in certain ways the likelihood of higher achievement is increased dramatically.

Jeffrey T. Fouts, Executive Director
Washington School Research Center
Lynnwood, WA

full report (PDF Download)

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