The desire to improve student learning is universal, but the knowledge required to do so is not. The High-Performing School is a guide to a research-based improvement process that has been used successfully in schools of all grade levels, sizes, and demographics for almost a decade. The heart of the process is the on-site school review, a cooperative venture between an external review team and a school's administrators, teachers, and students. The team members spend several days at the school, during which time they learn about the state of the overall program by conducting interviews, administering surveys, observing classes, reviewing student work, and examining data reports and other documents. They then use the information they have gathered to evaluate the school's performance on 10 Effectiveness Indicators-descriptions of practices that research has shown to be in place in high-performing schools. Based on this evaluation, they present recommendations for specific steps the school can take to increase student learning and achievement.
Mardale Dunsworth and Dawn Billings, designers of this on-site school review process, summarize the research behind the 10 Effectiveness Indicators and provide the rubrics they have developed for assessing a school's performance on each one. They then give step-by-step instructions for a school review, which are addressed to both the school being reviewed and the team conducting the review. They also provide 60 tools that they have developed for planning and coordinating the review, collecting evidence for the evaluation, and communicating among the many parties involved in the effort to create a high-performing school.