This policy report presents key findings from WestEd’s five-year study of the Comprehensive School Reform program (CSR) and the agency’s related study of the subset of CSR schools that made notable improvement under the program. The first set of findings relates to implementation and outcomes of the CSR program; the second set relates specifically to the CSR schools that achieved dramatic turnaround.

In identifying the policy implications for future turnaround efforts in the United States, the author also draws from a third, related study of how four other countries—Australia, Canada, England, and New Zealand—have been addressing the same challenge.