The Appalachian Rural Systemic Initiative: A Report from the Field

Authors

Mark St. John, Jerry Accurso, Samantha Broun, Elizabeth Horsch, Michael Howard, Heather Mitchell, Katherine Ramage, Inverness Research Inc.

Purpose

For the past four years we at Inverness Research Associates have served as external evaluators of the Appalachian Rural Systemic Initiative (ARSI). In this role we have made annual site visits to observe firsthand the districts, schools, teachers and students involved in the work of ARSI. This evaluation report examines the progress of a sample of the school districts with which the Appalachian Rural Systemic Initiative has been working for the past several years. This report is divided into four major sections.

• In the first part of the report, A Summary of Findings, we present a brief summary of the major accomplishments and remaining challenges of ARSI at two levels: in terms of building the local district capacity for reform, and in the quality of classroom instruction.
• In Appendix A, we detail the ways in which ARSI has contributed to the capacity of rural Appalachian districts to initiate and sustain their own process of improving mathematics, science and technology education.
• In Appendix B, we describe in detail our study of the quality of classroom instruction in ARSI districts.
• Finally, in Appendix C, we include the ARSI Framework instrument which we used in our study.

Intended Audience

Science and Mathematics Educators, Teachers, Reform Leaders, District Administrators, and general public.

Disclaimer

Any and all errors are claimed by the authors of this document, Inverness Research

Date published

April 2000

Distribution Policy

Inverness Research Inc. grants permission to print and distribute copies.

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DOWNLOAD SELECTIONS

The Appalachian Rural Systemic Initiative: A Report from the Field (pp. 16)

ARSI: A Report for Field - Appendix A (pp. 26)

ARSI: A Report for Field - Appendix B (pp. 15)

ARSI: A Report for Field - Appendix C (pp. 45)