First Things First School Reform Initiative Increases Student Achievement in Kansas City

Recent political and public focus has centered on low-performing high schools, where many students fail to graduate and where those who do are often unprepared for the challenges of college and work. First Things First is a comprehensive school reform now operating in more than 70 schools across the country. It includes three central components: small learning communities of up to 350 students and their key teachers; a family advocate system, in which each student is paired with a staff member who keeps the student's family informed about the student's progress; and instructional improvement efforts.

An MDRC study shows that First Things First significantly increased student achievement in Kansas City, Kansas, where the program was launched. Middle and high schools in Kansas City registered increased rates of student performance and graduation, reduced student dropout rates, and improved student performance on state tests of reading and mathematics. These academic gains were sustained over several years. Research results in four districts where First Things First was later replicated — Houston, Riverview Gardens School District in suburban St. Louis, and two districts in Mississippi (Greenville and Shaw) — are less certain: It is not yet clear whether these expansion sites, which had operated the initiative for only two or three years at the time of the study, will achieve the impressive findings produced in Kansas City.

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