School Improvement Efforts: Qualitative and Quantitative Data from Four Naturally Occurring Experiments in Phases III and IV of the Louisiana School Effectiveness Study

Abstract

Phase III of the Louisiana School Effectiveness Study (LSES‐III) was designed to provide rich, qualitative and quantitative data on the characteristics of more and less effective schools. Data were gathered on eight matched outlier pairs of schools. Unbeknownst to the authors at the beginning of LSES‐III, four of the eight historically ineffective schools were engaged in school improvement efforts. None of these efforts was guided from the state or district. This serendipity provided an opportunity to observe improvement efforts which were of the “naturally occurring” ‐‐ as opposed to externally developed, mandated or otherwise offered ‐‐ variety. The four projects are described, complete with five year follow‐up data. The efforts are seen as falling along two dimensions: technical changes designed to raise achievement test scores; and efforts focused on a point along a continuum ranging from orderliness to excellence, and designed to raise students’ academic achievement. Comparisons are made to more formally planned school improvement efforts.

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