This colloquium offered researchers, policymakers, and practitioners a unique opportunity to meet and discuss the use of rigorous, evidence-based research as a tool for answering questions about how to improve low-performing high schools. During the day and a half of sessions on January 23 and 24, 2004, participants discussed issues and challenges that affect evaluation studies and research activities related to high school reform. In true colloquium format, it was the involvement of all participants that helped shape the agenda, moved the conversation forward, and laid a foundation for ongoing exploration of the issues.

The collaborative discussion will be a springboard for national conferences in 2005 and 2006 that will include a broader group of experts. These events will showcase emerging findings from current research studies of various high school reform initiatives, and they will aim to fuel the field’s momentum for using rigorous evidence to improve policy and practice. By the end of the third conference, concrete policy recommendations may be formulated pertaining to strategies that show the most promise in raising achievement at the high school level.