Publications

Build System Capacity

First Things First: Creating the Conditions and Capacity for Community-Wide Reform in an Urban School District

This first evaluation of First Things First (FTF) documents the earliest stages of the reform's development and partnership with the Kansas City Kansas school district. The report provides a descriptive account of the collaborative efforts of the schools, the district, IRRE, and the primary funder the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.

Getting Off the Dime: First Steps Toward Implementing First Things First

“Getting Off the Dime” presents IRRE’s evolving thinking about creating the initial conditions and building the capacity to get meaningful reform off the ground.

Exploring the Pathway to Rapid District Improvement

This report, from the Center on Innovation and Improvement, describes a “framework for district capacity building and improvement.” Using case studies of two districts, the report asks how districts can “engage in rapid and sustainable improvement efforts.”

The Implementation Gap: Understanding Reform in High Schools

This book is the product of a series of case studies conducted by a group of leading researchers from the Consortium for Policy Research in Education. The guiding theme examined in the book is the interaction of high schools with school reform models designed and supported by outside technical assistance providers.

Urban Schools Public Will: Making Education Work for All Our Children

First Things First (FTF) is one of three initiatives demonstrating that district-wide school reform is both possible and needed, according to a new book by Norman Fruchter, a nationally recognized expert in educational policy and Director of the Community Involvement Program at the Annenberg Institute for School Reform.