The following review of the literature addresses the topic of comparing high performing, high poverty, and low performing, high poverty elementary schools. The United States academic status, school reform, standards in elementary schools, adoption of reform and standards, instructional strategies, and summary and conclusion are presented.
The United States falls behind other countries with regard to educational performance in mathematics and science scores. There is a concern and efforts to ensure that U.S. schools are not left behind in academic status (Liebmann, 2003). Weckstein (2003) reported that implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act results in schools being academically assessed for accountability. High-quality educational services must be provided to students and parent involvement affects this process.
Desimone (2002) reported on the history of United States academic status and resulting school reform. In 1983, A Nation at Risk, by the National Commission on Excellence in Education, reported on the poor educational status of the United States. This was met with a response that called for increased standards and regulations in education and increased core requirements. These early efforts focused on changing teaching practice with designs for reform such as Accelerated Schools, the School Development Program, the Coalition of Essential Schools, and Success for All. These programs changed policies but did not improve teaching or learning. Following this, efforts to improve education focused on increased relationships between schools and families, needs of special needs students, how to attract and keep effective teachers, and how to restructure roles of the teachers to make them more effective.
A third wave of school improvement efforts included the comprehensive school-wide reform (CSR). This effort resulted in literature which identified the following characteristics of successful schools: sh...