The Outcomes of School Improvement

Abstract

Now we begin the end of our story. What were the ultimate outcomes of the school improvement projects that we have been studying? And what might explain the degree to which a site achieved stronger or weaker outcomes? In this section, we review the six outcomes that we analyzed and explain how the sites fared on them. Then we look at a series of “predictors”— factors in the innovation, the site context, and the implementation process—that might explain why particular outcomes were achieved. Then we proceed in more depth, outcome by outcome, searching for explanations for each one. The reader will encounter what feels like repetition, because the variables we have been discussing so far will be reinvoked in our search for confirmation and integration.