America's Choice

32 Court Street Suite 2200 Brooklyn, NY 11201	Telephone:	(718) 422-0708
	Fax:	(718) 422-0621
	E-mail:	aborthwick@ncee.org
	Website:	http://www.ncee.org

Program Description

Focus Area	Age Group
Whole School Reform America's Choice (AC) is designed to ensure that every student "is successful on state and local assessments and prepared for college." It complies with the requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and focuses on 5 key tasks: (1) standards and assessments (2) aligned instructional systems (3) high-performance management, leadership, and organization (4) professional learning communities (5) parent/guardian and community involvement. AC has designs for elementary, K-8, middle, and high schools.	Research reviewed here is for grades K-8

Focus Area

Age Group

Whole School Reform
America's Choice (AC) is designed to ensure that every student "is successful on state and local assessments and prepared for college." It complies with the requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and focuses on 5 key tasks:
(1) standards and assessments
(2) aligned instructional systems
(3) high-performance management, leadership, and organization
(4) professional learning communities
(5) parent/guardian and community involvement. AC has designs for elementary, K-8, middle, and high schools.

Research reviewed here is for grades K-8

Research Description

Outcomes where Tests were Significant

In Plainfield, NJ, students in grades 4-6 whose teachers reported higher levels of AC implementation, showed significantly greater learning gains (from 1999-2000) on state assessments, than those whose teachers reported lower levels of AC implementation.

Also in the Plainfield study, students in grades 4-6 whose teachers reported that they were well-prepared to teach AC writers' workshops, showed significantly higher writing achievement, than those students whose teachers were not adequately prepared.

In Duvall County, Fl., after one year of implementation, 4th graders in 10 AC schools significantly out-gained those in district schools (not using AC) in writing achievement.

Also in the Duvall County study, 4th graders in large AC schools performed significantly higher in math achievement, than those in non-AC schools.

Again in Duvall County, achievement gaps between white and minority students were significantly smaller in AC schools than in non-AC schools.

Outcomes where Tests were not Significant

In the Duvall study, 8th graders made greater gains in writing achievement in AC schools than in non-AC schools.

*Research Category*	1	Large scale, externally reviewed research
*Design*	Quasi- Experimental	The Duvall County study used non-AC district comparison groups. The Plainfield study did not.
*Multiple Studies*	Yes	Studies were conducted nationally.
*Sample Size*	>50	In Plainfield, there were 114 teachers and 1572 students in 10 schools. In Duvall County, there were 23,000 4th and 5th graders, and 20,000 7th and 8th graders.
Valid/ Reliable Instrument	Yes	Standardized achievement tests and state assessments were used in all studies reviewed.
*Results*	Mixed	Several significant as well as non-significant findings were reported.
*Published*	No	There have been no published studies to date.
*Follow-up Data*	Yes	All studies reported longitudinal data over several years.
*Award*	N/A	There is no mention of any award in the information reviewed.