Identifying and defining practicable school learning environments that effectively promote educational excellence for all students–including those with special needs and academically-at-risk students who have poor prognoses for schooling success–has been the ongoing goal of researchers, practitioners, and policy makers. Recent research and school improvement efforts have led to advances in defining the specific features affecting individual learning, including those variables determining successful programs, practices, and learning environments. Buttressed by recent studies in effective schooling from virtually all areas of research in human development and learning, this paper emphasizes the importance of systematically broadening the data base in the areas of program description and student outcomes as a way of significantly improving programmatic, implementation, and strategic planning efforts in effective schooling.
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