PUBLICATIONS AND REPORTS
Please click on the titles below to download available publications and reports. The publications and reports are also available in hard copy and may be ordered by completing this order form.
Focus
on
Literacy -
Professional Development Audit (2008)
CTAC has released the findings from its groundbreaking audit
of the effectiveness of professional development in literacy provided
by the
Schultz Center for Teaching and Leadership to educators in Duval County
Public Schools (Florida). The audit examined the impact of professional
development on student achievement, teacher and principal perspectives,
and classroom implementation.
Tying
Earning to Learning: The Link Between Teacher Compensation and Student
Learning Objectives (2008)
Student learning objectives have the potential to positively
impact the performance of teachers and their students. This paper
analyzes the
importance of student learning objectives and provides a step-by-step
guide for successfully designing and implementing learning objectives
as a part of compensation reform.
Guide
for Standard Bearer Schools: Focusing on Causes to Improve Student
Achievement (2007)
This guide explains the standards, tools and processes used in
assisting entire school communities to identify and address the causal
factors that affect student and school performance. Using
this process has markedly increased student achievement for all
subgroups in diverse urban districts throughout the nation.
New
Directions in Christina: Accomplishments for Children, Challenges Ahead
(2006)
Demonstrates significant improvement in student learning is
possible
when system-wide reform is the focus. The Christina School District
undertook system-wide reforms to address a persistent pattern of
underachievement and to tighten the achievement gap among groups of
students within the district. The report reveals an unusually high
level of education progress and highlights the successes gained by the
District after a two-year intensive effort to improve education in
their public schools. A comprehensive approach was designed to build
the capacity of the district to make and sustain improvements in
student achievement, strategic management and policy, leadership, human
resource development and management, and stakeholder satisfaction and
ownership. This report details changes in the way the district and
schools aligned instruction with standards, assessed students, managed
data, conducted school planning, and involved stakeholders,
particularly parents, in school improvement.
Parents
as Partners (2005) (Findings and Recommendations)
CTAC has launched a project with the Seattle Public Schools to
strengthen the collaboration of parents, school staff and community
organizations in support of student achievement and school
improvement. This initiative focuses on results for children of
families living in poverty, and non-native English speaking
and ethnic minority families. Using surveys in eight different
languages, CTAC assessed awareness and involvement among a
representative sample of parents in the 47,000-student district as well
as school and district staff. CTAC also interviewed
teachers, school administrators, parents and
representatives of local community-based organizations. Based on the
results, CTAC is guiding a train the trainers process to prepare a
corps of culturally and linguistically diverse school staff,
community organization representatives and parent instructors who will
train others across the district and community to better understand and
assume their roles as partners in school improvement. The project
builds capacity to use the accountability provisions and reporting
requirements of No Child Left Behind for concrete improvements in
student learning and school/community collaboration.
DOWNLOAD HANDBOOK - ENGLISH
- SPANISH
- TIGRINA
- SOMALI
- LAO
- CHINESE
- AMHARIC
Catalyst
for Change: Pay for Performance in Denver Final Report (2004)
Catalyst for Change is the final summative report for the
Denver
Pay-for-Performance pilot that focused on developing a link between
student achievement and teacher compensation. A groundbreaking
longitudinal study of Pay-for-Performance impact on student
achievement, teacher quality, and systemic change. Denver
introduced Pay-for-Performance as a new element in a large urban
district. The pilot was a catalyst for changing the district so
that it could become focused on student achievement in a more
coordinated and consolidated way. A key part of
Denver’s story is how a pilot, with key internal and external
supporters, engendered positive systemic change in a larger
institution.
Catalyst for Change: Executive Summary (Excerpt from January 2004 Final Report)
Catalyst for Change: National Implications (Excerpt from January 2004 Final Report)
Informed
Decision-Making: An Introduction to Student Achievement and Teacher
Data Comparisons (2002)
Many accountability systems are exploring the viability of
using
student achievement results at the classroom level as part
of a new teacher compensation system. For any school district, this is
a considerable undertaking with significant challenges. By addressing
these challenges, a district develops the
ability to achieve a better understanding of current performance and is
far more able to make instructional improvements
which demonstrably benefit students. This report presents
student achievement and classroom performance data from the Denver
Pay-for Performance study in several different comparisons and
discusses the value and applications of each comparison toward the
advancement of the district’s efforts to analyze and use
student achievement data. As interest in accountability continues
to grow, any performance system which attempts to link teacher
compensation with student achievement, and with any other
accountability system that is based on student achievement, will
require reliable ways to examine student achievement at the
classroom level.
Pathway
to Results: Pay for Performance in Denver (2001)
This report presents findings based on the halfway point of
the Pay for
Performance pilot program with the Denver Public Schools. At the
mid-point of this program, the Pilot was very much in
the critical phase of seeking to fully and fairly test the powerful
concept – is Pay-for-Performance a viable and
effective strategy for the Board of Education and the Association to
use to accomplish their goals? This report contains CTAC’s
analyses, findings, and mid-point recommendations, and provides the
necessary foundation for the mid-course adjustments made to the
pilot.
Myths
and Realities: The Impact of the State Takeover on Students and Schools
in Newark (2000)
After several years of state intervention and at a time of
transition
of district leadership, the Community Training and Assistance Center
conducted a comprehensive study of the impact of the
state take over on students and schools. This report presents
CTAC’s findings, analyses and recommendations based
upon that study.
Advise
and Consent: A Study of Collaborative Decision-Making in Denver
(1999)
The Community Training and Assistance Center was contracted by
the
Denver Public Schools to study the effectiveness of Collaborative
Decision-Making, Denver’s strategy for
site-based management and community involvement. This report reveals
survey and interview results and presents recommendations in five areas
of CDM involvement that are designed to increase the
satisfaction of participants by clarifying and aligning expectations
roles, responsibilities, and lines of authority.
Winning:
How to Advocate for Public Education (and Get What Your District Needs)
(1998)
Offers field-tested strategies by drawing from the insights
and
experiences of those who have led their districts step by step, to
victory. This 124-page manual provides a detailed look at the
requirements for building advocacy capacity within a school district.
It is intended for use by school leaders and board
members as well as others who want to organize and build community
coalitions that will win public and political victories for
education. Each chapter provides practical steps for
developing a focused advocacy campaign and for building a constituency
for reform efforts over time.
Best
Practices in School to Work: Lessons Learned (1998)
Presents findings and recommendations from leading
School-to-Workinitiatives throughout the country. This report serves as
a critical starting point, presenting the directions and strategies for
educational and corporate leaders to consider as they
design and launch a School-to-work system that responds to the unique
needs of their communities and regions.
The
Challenges of School to Work: A Regional Assessment (1998)
Evaluates the efforts of a regional strategy for developing
and
coordinating school to work efforts. This study identified and examined
existing practices, assessed the prospects for success of
the regional School-to-work system and suggests strategies for
developing and implementing such a system.
Planning:
A Manual for
Refugee
Organizations (Bi-lingual manual in English and Vietnamese) (1990)
This practical manual on organizational planning grew out of
CTAC's
four-year project to help refugees create and manage
organizations to help their communities. 51 pages in English plus 62
pages in Vietnamese.
Elder
Power: How to Set Up and Run an
Advocacy Group (Bi-lingual in English and Spanish) (1986)
This practical manual on how to set up and run an advocacy
group grew
out of CTAC's three-year Elder Leadership and Advocacy Project. This
project demonstrated that elders from different racial,
cultural, and language backgrounds, primarily low income, can get
together and makes their lives better. In some
societies, elders are treasured for their wisdom and leadership. In our
society that emphasizes youth, elders are often
portrayed as weak and feeble, with the result that elders - especially
low-income elders - may lose confidence and let others do
for them what they should be doing for themselves. While isolation
makes people feel powerless, organizing helps elders to
be strong and genuinely capable. 44 pages in English plus 44 pages in
Spanish.
What
You Need to Know: A Manual on
Developing Youth Leadership (1985)
This manual is an outgrowth of CTAC's multi-cultural
leadership
training project for urban youth from Asian,
African-American, Creole, Haitan, Hispanic, Portugese, and White
cultures. The training program developed skills needed for youth
leadership on both school and community issues. 79 pages.
These reports resulted from CTAC's project to help build the capacity of the Houston community as a whole to meet the challenges of the HIV epidemic. The project focused on replacing funding-driven fragmentation and territoriality with collaborative planning and service delivery that focus on the needs of affected populations, and on the community's programmatic and administrative ability to meet those needs. Based on intensive technical support and assistance to the Houston, Texas HIV/AIDS community, CTAC developed these two publications as a resource for policy makers, government administrators, community-based providers, funders and consumers interested in developing effective collaborative partnerships to address HIV/AIDS:
HIV/AIDS
Funding Streams and Planning Groups (2000)
A comparative view of programs, structures and decision-making
processes that can be used as a base for guiding future HIV/AIDS
collaborative partnerships.
Strengthening
Houston's Response to HIV/AIDS (2000)
Provides analyses and makes recommendations for creating a
more
responsive and collaborative HIV/AIDS care and prevention system.