Description:
The Ohio Center for Effective Schools is the national training and dissemination hub for the Effective Schools Process sponsored by the National Center for Effective Schools research and Development Foundation. The Ohio Center for Effective Schools provides a variety of services, seminars, and technical assisstance involving educational reform and leadership to school districts in Ohio and across the United States. (http://oces.effective-schools.org/index.asp)

The Effective school reform process is focused on efficiency and standards, but recognizes that the process and means to achieve the most efficient system will vary from school to school. The acquisition of skills is linked to "holistic learning expectations" necessary for fostering higher level thinking skills. It examines the possibility for making structural and programmatic changes within school systems such as altering time schedules, assigning specialists and support staff, making specific efforts to address the needs of English Language Learners and "non-mastery" students. (http://oces.effective-schools.org)

The Effective Schools model is based on years of research geared toward identifying common characteristics of schools in which students seemed to be attaining levels of achievement higher than their backgrounds or socio-economic status might suggest. From this research the following correlates were established as essential "building blocks" for any Effective School:

1. A Clear School Mission
2. High Expectations for Success
3. Instructional Leadership
4. Frequent and Appropriate Monitoring of Student Progress
5. Opportunity to Learn and Student Time on Task
6. A Safe, Orderly and Productive Environment
7. Positive Home/School Relations

Goal:
"The National Center for Effective Schools is a nonprofit organization which has grown out of more than a quarter-century of work by leading educators and educational researchers in school reform K-12. Its purpose is to bring together the research base, knowledge, and practical expertise of a host of practitioners and researchers into a focused force for positive change in America’s schools."

(Center for Effective Schools statement of purpose, retrieved January 25, 2004 from http://www.effective-schools.com/effective-education/effective-school-governance.asp)

Approach:
The Center for Effective schools individualizes programs for each school based on an analysis of statistical data about student achievement, demographics, and a survey of "stakeholders perceptions" (stakeholders include parents, staff, older students, community members). This is part of Phase I of Implementation: Compiling a Profile. Once a profile has been established and assessed, Phase II, or training, begins. Teachers and administrators learn about the principles and philosophies of the Effective Schools Process, such as research-based curricula and data-driven decision-making. Leadership teams are formed and they begin to set goals for the school as a whole while building the Capacity for change in their school. An Action Plan that lays out strategies and logistical details regarding how to meet those goals is developed. Action plans usually include making curricular changes and altering school infrastructures. The Action Plan leads into Phase III, Instructional Design. Teachers begin making concrete plans for altering curriculum using performance indicators to create curriculum maps and unit plans.

The Academic Data Analysis and Management system (ADAM) was developed by the Ohio Center for Effective Schools for the purposes of monitoring student performance, based on performance indicators chosen by the individual schools. ADAM is a web-based system for organizing all forms of student information from test scores to disciplinary issues. (http://oces.effective-schools.org).

Research:
“Effective” schools are those who have been successful in teaching the adopted curriculum to all students.... These schools have adopted both quality and equity standards. The quality Standard expects the highest levels of performance of every student, and the equity standard assures that a student’s achievement is not a function of his or her gender, economic status, or ethnicity". (http://oces.effective-schools.org/effective-education/effective-school-definition.asp)

Phi Delta Kappa Consultants is conducting an ongoing multiyear study of nearly 14,000 students and 200 teachers from 6 different northern Ohio school districts (2 urban, 2 rural, 2 suburban). The language arts, reading and math scores available from five of the six districts showed overall increases in all grade levels between the years 1996-1998. One of the districts, Elyria City Schools, which has been particularly diligent in its participation in the Effective Schools Process, has schools that have made significant progress. As of 1998, 77 percent of sixth graders from the Cascade Elementary School (where more than half the student body qualifies for subsidized lunch) were passing state proficiency tests as opposed to 61 percent in 1996. In the same school, the percentage of second and third graders half a year below grade level in reading decreased from 30 to 18 between 1996-98, despite increased enrollment of students with learning differences. Another school from the same district, Crestwood Elementary, experienced similar improvements in grades 4,5, and 6 between 1991-98. (www.nwrel.org)

Schools from the Spring Branch School District in Houston, TX have had success with the Effective Schools Process. At the Hollibrook Elementary School where 90 percent of the predominantly Latino student body qualifies for free lunch, third graders made extremely significant improvements between the years 1988-1990 on the Texas Educational assessment of Minimum Skills (TEAMS). The percentage of students mastering the test rose from 77 to 96 in math, from 65 to 86 in reading, and from 58 to 81 in writing. (www.nwrel.org)

The following link leads to a list of "Sources that elaborate on and/or Reformulate the Correlates of Effective Schools." URL addresses for a large number of different research studies are included. (http://oces.effective-schools.org/research-articles/Effective-Schools.pdf)

The Center for Effective Schools shares many characteristics with The Coalition of Essential Schools. Each orginazation examined and conducted research to identify common aspects of successful schools in order to develop their essential set of correlates or guiding principles. There is a certain amount of universality to these principles, various expressions of which can be found in a number of different reform programs (AH).

Costs:
Costs are based on the specific plan agreed upon between the participating school/district and CES. Specific costs depend on the need, size of school/district, and level of involvement. A sliding cost schedule is available based on increased district involvement and/or multiple schools’ participation. Average costs are $70,000-$90,000 per school for a three-year plan. (Retrieved from www.nwrel.org January 6, 2003).