November  18, 2009 Schools are Using Multiple Practices to Improve Student Academic Performance, Especially in High-Poverty, High-Minority Schools, According to GAO  Schools are using multiple instructional practices to improve student academic performance, especially in schools with a high concentration of low-income and minority students, according to a study released by the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) on November 16, 2009.   The three most common strategies to improve student academic performance reported by school principals were: (1) using student achievement data to inform instruction and school improvement; (2) providing additional instruction to low-achieving students; and (3) aligning curriculum and instruction with standards and/or assessments. Furthermore, according to data collected by the RAND Corporation, math teachers in California, Georgia, and Pennsylvania increased their use of certain instructional practices in response to their state tests, such as focusing more on topics emphasized on assessments and searching for more effective teaching methods, and teachers at high-poverty and high-minority schools were more likely than teachers at lower-poverty schools and lower-minority schools to have made these changes.  Some researches suggested that differences exist in the use of these practices because schools with a lower concentration of low-income and minority students might generally be meeting accountability requirements and therefore have less of a need to use these strategies. See also: GAO - Student Achievement: Schools Use Multiple Strategies to Help Students Meet Academic Standards, Especially Schools with Higher Proportions of Low-Income and Minority Students CHHCS News Alert: Rewriting and Reauthorization of No Child Left Behind Can't Wait, According to U.S. Secretary of Education CHHCS Issue Brief: Partnering with Parents and Families to Support Immigrant and Refugee Children at School

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