This document summarizes a report on the implementation and impact of instructional strategies to improve students' comprehension skills at three diverse urban secondary schools. While activities and characteristics varied, educators at all three locations were implementing local variations of a school-improvement approach based on the use of the Degrees of Reading Power (DRP) approach intended to help teachers acquire and use comprehension-improvement strategies in the classroom. Following an introduction, the first section describes the program at the ninth-grade School-within-a-School (SWAS) program for low-achieving students in Kansas City, Missouri, high schools. The second section discusses the Elizabeth Barrett Browning Intermediate School 115 in the Bronx, New York (grades 6-8), while the third section deals with Apopka High School (grades 9-12) in the Orange County Public Schools in the Orlando, Florida, metropolitan area. The final section contains discussion and conclusions. It is noted that at all three schools, gains appear to have been made with respect to students' reading comprehension performance on the DRP test; and that emphasis in improvement efforts included substantial staff development, activities to motivate students, and utilization with local variations of an approach the College Board developed to help teachers acquire and implement instructional strategies for enhancing students' comprehension. A glossary of strategies is appended. (SR)