Introduction: About the National Longitudinal Evaluation of Comprehensive School Reform and the Lifecycle of Comprehensive School Reform

The range of activity related to comprehensive school reform (CSR) is impressive. Thousands of schools have implemented CSR models over the past decade using either self-developed models or externally developed models. In September 2000, the U.S. Department of Education awarded a grant to conduct the National Longitudinal Evaluation of Comprehensive School Reform (NLECSR). This article describes the background and basic design of the study. It also summarizes and synthesizes the major findings of each article in this issue.