Examining Comprehensive School Reform

Urban school reformers for decades have tried to improve educational outcomes for underserved and disadvantaged students, with the assistance of constantly evolving federal and state policies. In recent years, education policies have shifted from targeting individual students to developing universal standards for teaching and learning, and comprehensive school reform (CSR) has emerged as an effective key model. The federal CSR program seeks to support the implementation of comprehensive school reform, especially in high-poverty schools, and to improve efforts to help all children meet challenging academic standards. Schools that receive federal CSR funds must adopt approaches that comply with the No Child Left Behind Act. This book provides a series of studies and reflections on CSR by leading experts in the field.

Daniel K. Aladjem is a principal research scientist at the American Institutes for Research. He is project director for the National Longitudinal Evaluation of Comprehensive School Reform, the largest federally funded study of CSR. In addition to his work on CSR, he has studied several other school reform initiatives, including small schools, school choice and vouchers, and Title I. Dr. Aladjem holds an A.B. (history) and A.M. (education, secondary teaching) from Stanford University. He earned his Ph.D. (public policy) from the University of Southern California.


Kathryn M. Borman is a professor of anthropology and associate director of the David C. Anchin Center at the University of South Florida. She received her doctorate in the Sociology of Education from the University of Minnesota in 1976. Currently, Dr. Borman is working with the American Institutes of Research and the National Opinion Research Center on the National Longitudinal Evaluation of Comprehensive School Reform, directing the focus study of 40 schools in five districts. She served as the editor of the Review of Educational Research and currently is the editor of the International Journal of Educational Policy, Research and Practice.