MSP News: Research on Small High Schools
July 7, 2010
NEWS IN BRIEF
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NEW IN LIBRARY
A. "Transforming the High School Experience: How New York City's New Small Schools Are Boosting Student Achievement and Graduation Rates," Howard S. Bloom, Saskia Levy Thompson, Rebecca Unterman, MDRC, June 2010.
B. "Small High Schools at Work: A Case Study of Six Gates-Funded Schools in New York City," Academy for Educational Development, February 2010.
C. "Approaches of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation-Funded Intermediary Organizations to Structuring and Supporting Small High Schools in New York City," Eileen Foley et al., prepared by Policy Studies Associates, Inc., February 2010.
D. "New York City's Changing High School Landscape: High Schools and Their Characteristics, 2002-2008," Janet C. Quint, Janell K. Smith, Rebecca Unterman, and Alma E. Moedano, MDRC, February 2010.
DETAILS BELOW
NEW IN LIBRARY
A. "Transforming the High School Experience: How New York City's New Small Schools Are Boosting Student Achievement and Graduation Rates," Howard S. Bloom, Saskia Levy Thompson, Rebecca Unterman, MDRC, June 2010.
Taking advantage of lottery-like features in New York City's high school admissions process, this study provides rigorous evidence that new small public high schools are narrowing the educational attainment gap and markedly improve graduation prospects, particularly for disadvantaged students.
MSPnet Location: LIBRARY>>Ed Change & Policy
http://hub.mspnet.org/index.cfm/20849
B. "Small High Schools at Work: A Case Study of Six Gates-Funded Schools in New York City," Academy for Educational Development, February 2010.
"AED conducted a case study of six public high schools in New York City as part of a multifaceted evaluation of a small schools initiative funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Through surveys, interviews, and focus groups, we gathered information and opinions from the schools' principals, teachers, support staff, and students. We also conducted observations of classes and meetings to gather data about practices related to such vital matters as personalization, classroom instruction, college preparation, and staff collaboration.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation initiative tapped the expertise of intermediary organizations that provided direct supports to schools. An important part of this case study, then, was to explore how the intermediaries supported schools and how school personnel perceived the intermediaries' interventions.
Guided by the research literature on effective school and classroom practices, the case study looked for evidence of the following practices associated with student success: intermediary support, personal and academic support, effective instructional practices, and college preparation."
MSPnet Location: LIBRARY>>Ed Change & Policy
http://hub.mspnet.org/entry.cfm/20850
C. "Approaches of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation-Funded Intermediary Organizations to Structuring and Supporting Small High Schools in New York City," Eileen Foley et al., prepared by Policy Studies Associates, Inc., February 2010.
"This study examines the role that intermediary organizations, which are the groups responsible for distributing grant funds and starting and advising new small schools, played in the Gates Foundation's New York City initiative. The study is part of a collaborative research effort funded by the foundation and led by MDRC that included the Academy for Educational Development and PSA.
In this study, PSA presents intermediaries' various approaches to school design and capacity-building, answering four descriptive questions:
* What expertise did intermediary organizations bring to the small schools initiative?
* What were the key features of their school designs?
* What pressures and supports did intermediaries apply to encourage implementation of the school designs?
* What challenges constrained their efforts to establish schools that prepared youth for college and careers?
We also answer an analytic question: Did intermediary approaches to reform reflect the complexity of the challenge as it has been described and understood over the recent history of school reform?"
MSPnet Location: LIBRARY>>Ed Change & Policy
http://hub.mspnet.org/index.cfm/20851
D. "New York City's Changing High School Landscape: High Schools and Their Characteristics, 2002-2008," Janet C. Quint, Janell K. Smith, Rebecca Unterman, and Alma E. Moedano, MDRC, February 2010.
"New York City's public high school system -- the nation's largest -- underwent a sweeping transformation during the first decade of the twenty-first century. At the start of the decade, students were routinely assigned to their zoned high schools, which often had thousands of students and were overcrowded and low-performing. By the 2007-2008 school year, some 23 large and midsize schools with graduation rates below 45 percent were closed or on their way to closing. Simultaneously, many new schools that were intended to serve high school-age students came into being, including almost 200 new small schools. In a break with past practices, the majority of the new small schools accepted students at all levels of academic proficiency and thus were open to those who would likely have attended the closed schools. School choice was extended to all students -- another notable departure from prior policies -- by giving them an opportunity to indicate up to 12 schools that they wanted to attend. A computerized process was then used to assign each student to his or her top-ranked school where a space was available and where admissions priorities (for example, academic standing or geographic residence, depending on the school) were met. While the introduction of choice affected all public high school students, most of the school closings and openings were concentrated in low-income, nonwhite areas of the Bronx and Brooklyn. The scale and rapidity of the changes were grounded in the conviction of key New York City Department of Education officials, staff at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and others committed to school reform that small schools could more effectively meet the academic and socio-emotional needs of disadvantaged students. This report is one of four Gates-sponsored inquiries into the implementation and impacts of the City's small school reforms. The report considers the historical backdrop for the reforms, charting changes in the number of schools that are categorized as large, midsize, or small, and as academically selective or nonselective, depending on whether they consider prior academic performance in their admissions decisions. It also describes the characteristics of schools that fall into the various categories, as well as the characteristics of their students."
MSPnet Location: LIBRARY>>Ed Change & Policy
http://hub.mspnet.org/index.cfm/20852