The development of this guide was initiated and directed by Nina S. Rees, Deputy Under Secretary of the Office of Innovation and Improvement at the U.S. Department of Education. Sharon Horn was the project manager.

An external advisory panel provided feedback to refine the study scope and prioritize issues to investigate, as well as reviewed and provided feedback on drafts of the guide. The panel consisted of Mike Casserly, Executive Director, Council of Great City Schools; Jeffrey Cohen, President, Sylvan Education Solutions; Steve Fleischman, Principal Research Scientist, American Institutes for Research; Jane Hannaway, Director, Education Policy Center, The Urban Institute; Laura Hensinger, Colorado Department of Education; Frederick M. Hess, Resident Scholar, American Enterprise Institute; and Lana Watkins, NCLB Coordinator, Philadelphia Office, Black Alliance for Educational Options. Drafts of the guide were also reviewed by district staff of the five districts included in the underlying study and by a sample of SES providers working in those districts.

Staff in the Department who reviewed drafts include: Tom Corwin, Michael Petrilli, Cynthia Dorfman, Stacy Kotzin, Meredith Miller, Christie Wolfe, Phil Rosenfelt, Susan Wilhelm, Fran Walter, John Gibbons, Jeff Sims, and Margaret West Guenther.

This guide was written, designed, and based on a report by WestEd.

WestEd is a nonprofit research, development, and service agency committed to improving learning at all stages of life, both in school and out. WestEd has offices across the United States and also serves as one of the nation's ten regional educational laboratories.

WestEd's partner in developing this series of research reports and innovation guides is Edvance. Created by the American Productivity and Quality Center, Edvance is a resource for process and performance improvement with a focus on benchmarking, knowledge management, performance measurement, and quality improve ment initiatives in education.

The five districts cooperating in the development of this guide and the report from which it is drawn were generous with both their time and attention to this project. We would like to thank the district superintendents and the many district staff members who were instrumental in coordinating and participating in the site visits that inform the report and this guide.

Forsyth County Schools
1120 Dahlonega Highway
Cumming, GA 30040
http://www.forsyth.k12.ga.us/
Paula Gault, Superintendent
Melinda Ness, Special Programs Coordinator

Los Angeles Unified School District
333 South Beaudry Avenue, 24th Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90017
http://www.lausd.k12.ca.us/
Roy Romer, Superintendent
John Leichty, Associate Superintendent
Becki Robinson, Program Specialist, Extended Learning

Rochester City School District
131 West Broad Street
Rochester, NY 14614
http://www.rcsdk12.org/
Manuel Rivera, Superintendent
Terry Hofer, Director, Grant and Program Accountability

San Diego City Schools
Eugene Brucker Education Center
4100 Normal Street
San Diego, CA 92103
http://www.sdcs.k12.ca.us/
Alan Bersin, Superintendent
Christiane McPhee, Extended Learning Programs

Toledo Public Schools
420 East Manhattan Boulevard
Toledo, OH 43608
http://www.tps.org/
Eugene Sanders, Superintendent
Lu Lane, Compensatory Programs Director
Cindy Kline, NCLB Facilitator

WestEd
730 Harrison Street
San Francisco, CA 94107
http://www.wested.org/
Glen Harvey, Chief Executive Officer
Nikola Filby, Associate Director, Regional Laboratory Program

Edvance
123 Post Oak Lane, Floor 3
Houston, TX 77024
http://www.edvance.org/
C. Jackson Grayson Jr., Chief Executive Officer
Kristin Arnold, Project Director