When San Diego Unified Superintendent Alan Bersin agreed to let the Public Policy Institute of California study student achievement here three years ago, he understood the findings might not be to his liking. And while Bersin may question some of the study's conclusions, they should prove useful in fine-tuning his sweeping reform plan, the Blueprint for Student Success.

The study examines student achievement from the fall of 1997 to the spring of 2000, prior to the blueprint's implementation. Even so, elements of the reform were already in place, including literacy instruction and special attention for kids with learning problems. The study provides a baseline from which to measure the blueprint's effect on student achievement.

It found, for example, that while class-size reduction has enhanced reading instruction in the lower grades, especially among students trying to learn English, smaller classes make no appreciable difference as students progress into middle and high school. This dovetails with several studies questioning the cost-effectiveness of this very expensive reform.

As for a correlation between teacher qualifications and student achievement, the study had mixed reviews. It found that teachers with greater degrees of education and experience tend to matter more in the upper grades, while their younger, less-prepared counterparts fared quite well with younger students.

PPIC's most intriguing finding is the extent to which peer-group influence can affect academic achievement. The data suggest that low-achieving students placed in a strong academic setting are generally motivated to do better in class. This certainly is consistent with the strategy that Mary Catherine Swanson pioneered two decades ago with her highly successful Advancement Via Individual Determination.

AVID's progressive philosophy is that nearly all students are capable of excelling in the classroom if challenged to do so. And they do excel – 93 percent to be exact. That's how many AVID students go on to college after completing a rigorous academic regimen, aided by student tutors.

The key to getting underperforming students to succeed is getting them to believe in themselves. And that means getting them up to speed in the basic skill levels. Once these students begin to realize their scholastic capabilities, there is no stopping them. Conversely, the study concludes, poor students who are stuck in mediocre academic environments generally score significantly below their respective grade levels in reading and math.

San Diego Unified's success in narrowing the student achievement gap in the lower grades is largely due to stressing basic skills. It also owes to student mobility: 24 percent of district students opt for a different school other than the one in their neighborhood, nearly double the national average. This would suggest that choice affords poor students an opportunity to break the crushing, self-fulfilling prophecy of failure.