Project ACHIEVE demonstrates the power of prevention - how a school-wide comprehensive early intervention program can help reduce violence and disciplinary problems in the school while positively impacting student achievement and parental involvement. Research has consistently identified the importance of early identification and prevention of problems before they grow into larger problems-Project ACHIEVE builds on this axiom.

Project ACHIEVE: "Building Strong Schools; Strengthening Student Outcomes"

Project ACHIEVE is an innovative school reform program that has been implemented in schools and school districts across the country since 1990. To date, one or more of its components have been presented to almost 1,500 schools in over 40 states-with the schools ranging from urban to suburban to rural, and from the lowest performing to the highest performing schools in the nation.

Project ACHIEVE's ultimate goal is to help design and implement effective school and schooling processes to maximize the academic and social/emotional/behavioral progress and achievement of all students. Project ACHIEVE has also helped schools to implement effective and efficient problem-solving and strategic intervention processes for students with academic and behavioral difficulties, while improving the staff's professional development and effective instruction interactions, and increasing the quality of parent involvement and engagement.

At its core, Project ACHIEVE is a blueprint that is based on research-proven and empirically-demonstrated effective practices that have been woven together into an implementation process that works. Using the blueprint, schools complete a needs assessment to determine their current needs, the approaches they are using that are working, and the gaps that are preventing them from improving further. Project ACHIEVE is a whole school improvement process that has professional development at its foundation. More specifically, Project ACHIEVE places particular emphasis on increasing student performance in the areas of social skills and conflict resolution, improving student achievement and academic progress, facilitating positive school climates, and in increasing parental involvement and support using components that include:

• Organizational development and strategic planning;
• The referral question consultation problem-solving process;
• Effective school and instructional processes/Effective Staff development approaches;
• Instructional consultation, curriculum-based assessment and measurement, and instructional interventions;
• Social skills training and behavioral interventions;
• Parent training, tutoring, and support through the Parent Drop-In Center; and
• Research, program evaluation, and data-based accountability.

Throughout each of these components, Project ACHIEVE staff maintain a strong commitment to serve all students and provide them with the academic and behavioral support to reach high, yet realistic, academic and behavior standards.