SRI International and the Consortium on Chicago School Research Release Reports on High School Reform in Chicago
MENLO PARK, CA and Chicago, IL—August 24, 2009—SRI International and the Consortium on Chicago School Research have released a series of five reports covering the various efforts to improve high schools in the Chicago Public Schools (CPS). CPS has established a variety of schools with diverse features and programs, ranging from providing comprehensive curriculum, materials, and teacher support, creating brand new schools (often charters), and allowing principals in some schools to have more flexible programmatic choices and autonomy from traditional district requirements. By creating a portfolio of school reforms, the idea was to move away from a one-size-fits-all approach to schooling and to provide students and parents with a menu of school selection options.
The opening report provides an overview of the findings, while each of the major district reform initiatives, Instructional Development Systems (IDS), Renaissance 2010, and Autonomous Performance Management Schools (AMPS), is reviewed in a separate report. The fifth report describes findings from a preliminary examination of instructional practices in high schools from each initiative.
Overall, the findings from the five reports offer a mix of challenges and opportunities. Across initiatives, the study found that each year of a multi-year initiative presents unique implementation challenges, such as teacher training and retention, resource coordination, and maintaining a consistent vision over time. Students’ prior school experiences were also a challenge for all but the first cohort of AMPS schools in terms of academic achievement and school attendance. In most schools, low incoming achievement levels of students and low attendance hindered even the most thoughtful improvement efforts.
Classroom observations of instruction and student achievement gains during the study reflected these contextual challenges. Results of classroom observations reveal that almost half of the 78 teachers in the sample received low ratings on classroom management skills and nearly three-quarters received low ratings on indicators of academic demand. Furthermore, although researchers note that the initiatives are still in the early stages and that more time may be needed before drawing definitive conclusions, descriptive analyses show that the average standardized test performance of freshman students in most high schools in all three initiatives remained similar to historical levels relative to overall CPS performance.
Despite these and other challenges, the research team found numerous instances where the initiatives were showing progress, as well as several examples of promising practices. For example, some Renaissance 2010 schools had instituted programs to address student attendance and to create school climates conducive to academic learning. Many schools implementing the IDS initiative developed strong collegial and collaborative relationships between teachers, laying the groundwork for subsequent improvement in student outcomes. Teachers in all three initiatives were engaged in using technology in innovative ways as well as collecting, examining, and using data for improvement. Finally, approximately 2/3 of teachers in the sample were rated as proficient in the areas of establishing a climate of respect and rapport and in explaining subject matter content. Researchers were able to document the existence of good teaching in even the most challenging schools, which is evidence of a strong foundation for continued efforts to improve teaching and learning.
The reports, available at www.sri.com/CPS, were funded with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
About the Consortium on Chicago School Research (CCSR)
The Consortium on Chicago School Research (CCSR) at the University of Chicago conducts research of high technical quality that can inform and assess policy and practice in the Chicago Public Schools. We seek to expand communication among researchers, policy makers, and practitioners as we support the search for solutions to the problems of school reform. CCSR encourages the use of research in policy action and improvement of practice, but does not argue for particular policies or programs. Rather, we help to build capacity for school reform by identifying what matters for student success and school improvement, creating critical indicators to chart progress, and conducting theory-driven evaluation to identify how programs and policies are working
