The Cost Effectiveness of Whole School Reforms

This report examines issues related to the cost effectiveness of whole school reform. The first section discusses the development of whole school reform models, criteria for model adoption, and challenges of whole school reform for evaluation. The second section, "Comparing Effectiveness," looks at models for evaluation (experimental, quasi-experimental, and other methods); sampling of schools (selection concerns, bias, and student population differences); school outcomes (differences in goals, values, measurement issues, evaluators, and comparability of effectiveness reports). The third section, "Comparing Cost Data," discusses cost methodology (general principles, early cost study experience, consideration of resource reallocation, and cost recovery). The fourth section, "Conclusions and Recommendations," examines six issues that should be considered to obtain comparability for cost effectiveness purposes. (Contains 66 references.) (SM)