"Head of the Class: A Quality Teacher in Every Pennsylvania Classroom" makes recommendations for how state policy can increase and support Pennsylvania's supply of qualified teachers. The report emphasizes that quality teaching is key to student achievement and that the state must act to ensure the presence of a qualified teacher in every Pennsylvania classroom at all times.

When the Reform Board of Trustees of the City of Chicago adopted the Design for High Schools in 1997, the Chicago Public Schools had been actively involved in school reform for nearly a decade. It was generally believed, however, that reform efforts had taken hold more thoroughly in the elementary schools than in the secondary schools. The Design was intended to spur change in the high schools by increasing both academic press and personalism. To establish a viable research agenda and prepare for a program of research on Chicago public high schools, the Consortium organized a conference, "Research on High School Reform Efforts in Chicago," at the University of Chicago's Gleacher Center in March 2001. The conference brought together a group of scholars and educators who, mostly independent of one another, were studying Chicago's public high schools, including the Design's efforts to improve them. The volume presents these authors' papers, which document the results of reforms during the late 1990s at the district, school, and departmental levels. The conference and the compilation were made possible by the support of The Chicago Community Trust.

When the Reform Board of Trustees of the City of Chicago adopted the Design for High Schools in 1997, the Chicago Public Schools had been actively involved in school reform for nearly a decade. It was generally believed, however, that reform efforts had taken hold more thoroughly in the elementary schools than in the secondary schools. The Design was intended to spur change in the high schools by increasing both academic press and personalism. To establish a viable research agenda and prepare for a program of research on Chicago public high schools, the Consortium organized a conference, "Research on High School Reform Efforts in Chicago," at the University of Chicago's Gleacher Center in March 2001. The conference brought together a group of scholars and educators who, mostly independent of one another, were studying Chicago's public high schools, including the Design's efforts to improve them. The volume presents these authors' papers, which document the results of reforms during the late 1990s at the district, school, and departmental levels. The conference and the compilation were made possible by the support of The Chicago Community Trust.

When the Reform Board of Trustees of the City of Chicago adopted the Design for High Schools in 1997, the Chicago Public Schools had been actively involved in school reform for nearly a decade. It was generally believed, however, that reform efforts had taken hold more thoroughly in the elementary schools than in the secondary schools. The Design was intended to spur change in the high schools by increasing both academic press and personalism. To establish a viable research agenda and prepare for a program of research on Chicago public high schools, the Consortium organized a conference, "Research on High School Reform Efforts in Chicago," at the University of Chicago's Gleacher Center in March 2001. The conference brought together a group of scholars and educators who, mostly independent of one another, were studying Chicago's public high schools, including the Design's efforts to improve them. The volume presents these authors' papers, which document the results of reforms during the late 1990s at the district, school, and departmental levels. The conference and the compilation were made possible by the support of The Chicago Community Trust.

During the 2001-02 school year, Chicago Public Schools officials contracted with the Grow Network to provide supplemental reporting of student test results to parents, teachers, and school administrators. The Grow Network provides a variety of resources, including individualized, printed score reports for parents; classroom-level reports for teachers; and school building reports for principals. CPS engaged the Grow Network as part of its efforts to improve data access and develop greater capacity for "data-driven decision making" in schools.

This report is one of a series of special topic reports developed by the Chicago Annenberg Research Project. It discusses an important reason why schools involved in multiple improvement initiatives do not always improve their students' achievements. It introduces the concept of instructional program coherence and presents new evidence that students in Chicago elementary schools with stronger program coherence show higher gains in student achievement. The report suggests ways in which school leaders, school improvement partners, and policy makers can act to bring about the instructional coherence that will reward their school improvement efforts.

During the 2001-02 school year, Chicago Public Schools officials contracted with the Grow Network to provide supplemental reporting of student test results to parents, teachers, and school administrators. The Grow Network provides a variety of resources, including individualized, printed score reports for parents; classroom-level reports for teachers; and school building reports for principals. CPS engaged the Grow Network as part of its efforts to improve data access and develop greater capacity for "data-driven decision making" in schools.

More than 101,000 students, teachers, and principals across the Chicago public school system participated in the Consortium's 2003 Improving Chicago's Schools survey. Students told us about their school experiences, attitudes, and activities. Teachers and principals told us about instruction in their classrooms and their professional development experiences, and answered our questions about the conditions under which they work. This information about where a school is and how it is developing can help the school assess its progress and plan for the future. Torvalds is the pseudonym for a representative CPS school.