An Ounce of Prevention: Early Identification & Support for Struggling Schools

A school’s failure has often been almost exclusively defined by its students’ end-of-year test results, i.e. how many students are below grade level as measured by the state’s high stakes tests in reading, math, and science. Identifying failing schools at the earliest stages of decline – when they are in distress – provides an opportunity for easier and more rapid improvement than if the issues have been allowed to fester. Applying an early warning system approach to evaluating school data trends may allow school policymakers and practitioners to identify and support schools prior to failure and negative impacts on student learning and outcomes. Read More.