The High Performance Learning Communities project is a joint collaboration between the Learning Research and Development Center at the University of Pittsburgh, Harvard University, and New York City Community School District #2. HPLC was created to investigate the continuous improvement of District #2, an urban schooling success story, where a commitment to instructional improvement through content-driven reform has had notable results. The broader goals of our research include investigating how district leadership has implemented various multiple subject-matter initiatives, what structures are in place to support those initiatives, and what mechanisms have been adopted for continuous improvement. Specific focuses of HPLC research include:

• Examining District #2's Theory of Action;
• Examining District #2's leadership;
• Investigating the specific subject-matter initiatives and their impacts on instruction;
• Exploring the subject-matter initiatives and their relationships with Standards;
• Investigating the results of district-wide reform on student achievement, particularly:
• Student achievement in relation to socioeconomic status and Limited English Proficiency;
• Student achievement in the context of focus literacy schools and their more affluent counterparts;
• The links between District #2 Professional Development and student achievement.

District #2's theory of action is hinged on the belief that learning is a life-long process. The district's overall improvement strategies focus not only on how children learn, but how adults learn as well, emphasizing that each member of District #2 has a role to play as a professional and a learner toward the education of District #2's children. Subject-matter initiatives in the areas of literacy and math have been implemented as the base for the district's content-driven reform. Each initiative incorporates all levels of District #2 into its folds, from teachers to administrators to students. Together, they create a set of nested learning communities with tangible results.

The most recent addition to the literacy and math initiatives is the integration of Standards. The district has built its Standards off of the New Standards Performance Standards, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Standards, and the Institute for Learning's Principles of Learning. District #2 combines all three initiatives in an effort to push the quality of each child's education even further, providing a common language for discussion and improvement that is utilized at all levels of the district.

The High Performance Learning Communities Project gratefully acknowledges the support of the Office of Educational Research and Improvement at the U.S. Department of Education under research contract #RC-96-137002.