(5) identifying previously low-performing schools that have made significant achievement gains, and States and school districts that have been effective in improving the achievement of all students in low-performing schools, which can serve as models and resources;
(6) providing assistance and information on how to effectively involve parents in the school-improvement process, including effectively involving and informing parents at the beginning of the school year about improvement goals for their school as well as the goals for their own children, and reporting on progress made in achieving these goals;
(7) providing States and LEAs with information on effective approaches to school accountability, including the effectiveness of such strategies as school reconstitution, peer review teams, and financial rewards and incentives;
(8) providing LEAs with information and assistance on the design and implementation of approaches to choice among public schools that create incentives for improvement throughout the local educational agency, especially in the lowest-performing schools, and that maximize the opportunity of students in low-performing schools to attend a higher-performing public school;
(9) exploring the use of well-trained tutors to raise student achievement through initiatives such as "America Reads," "America Counts," and other work-study opportunities to help low-performing schools;
(10) using a full range of strategies for disseminating information about effective practices, including interactive electronic communications;
(11) working with the Department of Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), to provide technical assistance to BIA-funded low-performing schools; and
(12) taking other steps that can help improve the quality of teaching and instruction in low-performing schools.
(b) The Secretary shall, to the extent permitted by law, take whatever steps the Secretary finds necessary and appropriate to redirect the resources and technical assistance capability of the Department of Education ("Department") to assist States and localities in improving low-performing schools, and to ensure that the dissemination of research to help turn around lowperforming schools is a priority of the Department.
Sec. 3. School Improvement Report. To monitor the progress of LEAs and schools in turning around failing schools, including those receiving grants from the School Improvement Fund, the Secretary shall prepare an annual School Improvement Report, to be published in September of each year, beginning in 2000. The report shall:
(a) describe trends in the numbers of LEAs and schools identified as needing improvement and subsequent changes in the academic performance of their students;
(b) identify best practices and significant research findings that can be used to help turn around low-performing LEAs and schools; and
(c) document ongoing efforts as a result of this order and other Federal efforts to assist States and local school districts in intervening in low-per-
