Four years after the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), there is a growing sense of urgency among state and local education officials to reduce achievement gaps and help all students meet high standards of learning. This urgency may be greatest among educators at high-needs schools, who must battle long odds to ensure that all students demonstrate proficiency in reading and mathematics by 2014. A recent study by McREL, however, sheds light on how some schools around the country are finding ways to “beat the odds” and meet state standards despite the challenges that come with “high-need” status.  That report, High-Needs Schools — What Does It Take to Beat the Odds?, identified key components of school success and examined how they interact to contribute to success in high-needs schools.

Delving in to the research, McREL defined the four key components necessary for school success and high academic achievement as Leadership, Professional Community, School Environment, and Instruction. A further review of the literature showed that each component was comprised of critical subcomponents:

Leadership: leading organizational change, providing instructional guidance, and establishing shared mission and goals.

Professional Community: teachers collaborating, receiving professional development, and being supported to have influence on school matters.

School Environment: parents involved meaningfully, the school culture focused on academic achievement, a safe and orderly climate, and attention to assessment and monitoring

Instruction: individualized learning, structured instruction with feedback to meet student needs, and challenging opportunities to learn.

This resource guide builds on McREL’s recent report to provide educators with strategies, practices, and tools that can be used to support the instruction, learning environment, and professional climate in their schools. This guide is organized around the specific components of leadership, professional community, school environment, and instruction that were used to structure McREL’s research on high-needs, high-performing schools. For each component, we provide a brief introduction, explanation of the subcomponents, and highlights from McREL’s recent study. For each subcomponent, we have identified key ideas and annotated suggested resources to support the key ideas.

Although  not intended to provide comprehensive research-based evidence supporting the effectiveness of any particular program or practice, the guide does aim to inform educators’ thinking regarding these four components and provide them with resources for making any needed improvements in these areas.