Prepared by Naomi G. Housman and Judy Bray

The U.S. Department of Education's Comprehensive School Reform (CSR) program and the National Clearinghouse for Comprehensive School Reform (NCCSR) co-sponsored four regional symposia for state and regional leaders of the Comprehensive School Reform (CSR) Program during April and May of 2002. CSR state coordinators from forty-one states, the District of Columbia, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and Puerto Rico attended these meetings. In addition, representatives from ten Regional Educational Labs (RELs) and two Comprehensive Assistance Centers (CACs) were in attendance. (See participant lists, Appendix B.)

These voluntary symposia were designed with several goals in mind. First, the sponsors wanted to provide a forum, primarily for CSR state coordinators, to learn the requirements and overall approach of the CSR Program within the context of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act as newly reauthorized by the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). Clarity on both the letter and spirit of the law is crucial for CSR state coordinators, who have many roles and responsibilities under this new legislation.

The symposia were designed so that the CSR program office could solicit participants' feedback on ways to improve the CSR program guidance, which was still in draft form at the time of the symposia, and to encourage dialogue, sharing and networking among participants. This summary, prepared by NCCSR, highlights the key points of the four symposia, and is organized around the three main agenda items for the sessions:

• A review of the draft program guidance around five key themes.
• A review of the new requirements specific to scientifically based research.
• A review of requirements specific to technical assistance.

Each of the three sections includes a summary of the key points made by presenters, and a brief summary of the comments, questions, and concerns expressed by participants. Because this summary includes references to the program guidance, links to the text of the guidance are embedded in this text. The final program guidance is now available on the CSR website¹.

¹ http://www.ed.gov/programs/compreform/guidance/index.html