Remember comprehensive school reform? That was the popular Clinton-era initiative that provided federal grants to help schools put in place tested, off-the-shelf improvement programs, such as Success For All and Direct Instruction. The program didn't get much attention under the Bush administration. President Obama, likewise, hasn't made it part of his call for turning around chronically low-performing schools.
Now comes this "tweet," picked up yesterday from aoakes4 at the Center for Comprehensive School Reform and Improvement, a federal technical-assistance center based in Washington and run by Learning Point Associates:
"heads up, team, that our center closes sep 30, due 2 end of ed dept funding - site & materials will b archived tho - we had gr8 5 year run!"
A sign of the times?
The Center is/was a terrific resource for serious reformers, innovators and entrepreneurs. Too bad that Congress did not renew its annual appropriations for FY 2010. With so much focus on transformational innovation, the need has never been greater for easily accessible knowledge about what works. Hopefully we can bring it back with even greater dimensions next year.