The U.S. Department of Education, which has often highlighted the District's school system as a model
for urban school reform, was lukewarm.
«It is an urban school district, and it has undergone various forms of urban school reform: decentralization, recentralization and now, the new prescription
for urban school reform, is to become a charter school,» said Marytza Gawlik, who teaches in Wayne State University's Education Leadership & Policy Studies Department, in Detroit.
And Houston, under the former leadership of Bush's Secretary of Education Rod Paige and an enlightened board of trustees, has been a beacon
for urban school reform, having achieved well - deserved recognition as the best urban school district in America.
Larson said the new university - school partnership could become a model
for urban school reform.
The Cross City Campaign
for Urban School Reform — a Chicago - based group that works with schools and communities in nine cities — studied how Chicago, Milwaukee, and Seattle implemented instructional improvement plans between 2000 and 2003.
«Even though the law says a lot about parent involvement, parents are usually on the other end of one - way communication,» said Lauren E. Allen, the senior program director for accountability at the Cross City Campaign
for Urban School Reform, based in Chicago...
He has already shown promise of turning the 33,400 - student district into a model
for urban school reform.
Still, according to Stephen Tracy, Ed.D.» 84, Edison's chief architect behind the deal, Edison's potential success in Philadelphia could give the for - profit EMO movement its biggest opportunity to date to prove its worth and open up a new channel
for urban school reform.
Not exact matches
Also at 10 a.m., state Sen. Tony Avella co-sponsors a forum with the CUNY
School of Law and the Center
for Urban Environmental
Reform on the Climate and Community Protection Act, 2 Court Square W., Queens.
In «Learning from Rudolf Steiner: The Relevance of Waldorf Education
for Urban Public
School Reform,» a study published in 2008 in the journal Encounter: Education
for Meaning and Social Justice, researcher Ida Oberman concluded that the Waldorf approach successfully laid the groundwork
for future academics by first engaging students through integrated arts lessons and strong relationships instead of preparing them
for standardized tests.
In this edition of the Harvard EdCast, Warren Simmons, executive director of the Annenberg Institute
for School Reform at Brown University shares his insights on improving
urban schools in America.
The one unambiguous,
reform - driven victory of the last two decades has been the successful networks of
urban charter
schools that we used to call «no excuses»
schools before the term, which once meant there's no excuse
for adults to fail children, fell into disrepute and it became de rigueur within the movement to criticize those
schools» discipline practices instead of applauding them
for sending tens of thousands of low - income kids of color to college, which not long ago was nearly the entire point of the movement.
At last week's Askwith Forum, «Transformative Change in American
Schools,» Michele Cahill, — vice-president for national program and director of urban education at Carnegie Corporation of New York, — spoke to the importance of transformative change and systemic reform within K — 12 schools across the nation, focusing largely on Common Core Sta
Schools,» Michele Cahill, — vice-president
for national program and director of
urban education at Carnegie Corporation of New York, — spoke to the importance of transformative change and systemic
reform within K — 12
schools across the nation, focusing largely on Common Core Sta
schools across the nation, focusing largely on Common Core Standards.
Educators discussed using community organizing as a strategy to build civic participation and power in low - income communities and
for change in
urban schools at the Thursday, March 9, Askwith Forum, «Community Organizing and
School Reform.»
As long as the elites hold onto the belief that their own
school districts are excellent, they have little desire to push
for the kind of significant systemic
reforms that might improve their districts as well as the large
urban districts.
It is particularly urgent that
urban high
schools be reformed, and in 2000, the Carnegie Corporation of New York launched a national initiative, Schools for a New Society, to help urban communities redesign their high s
schools be
reformed, and in 2000, the Carnegie Corporation of New York launched a national initiative,
Schools for a New Society, to help urban communities redesign their high s
Schools for a New Society, to help
urban communities redesign their high
schoolsschools.
«It is a city with a tremendous amount of troubles and struggles, but it is such a metaphor
for what has happened to
urban America and why,» says Russakoff, who tells the story of Newark
school reform in her new book, The Prize.
The President's budget contains support
for urban and rural
school districts undertaking tough
reforms including ending social promotion and fixing failing
schools.
While it's easy
for those focused on the
urban agenda to dismiss suburban
reform as a distraction or a novelty, it may be more useful to think of high - performing communities as terrific laboratories
for bold solutions and as the place where high - functioning systems working in advantageous circumstances may have much to teach about how to help
schools go from good to great.
«These results indicate important possibilities
for urban small
schools reform,» said Pathak.
Thus it's no surprise that professionals and suburbanites tend to regard «
reforms» — from merit pay to charter
schooling — as measures that they'll tolerate as long as they're reserved
for urban schools, but that they won't stand
for in their own communities.
Core courses and electives are taught by recognized leaders from across Harvard's graduate programs in fields like data - based education
reform, organizational change and innovation, and effective leadership strategies
for urban schools.
For a decade or more,
school reform has been an
urban tale of superintendents seeking to «turn around»
schools in poverty - stricken communities, where vast numbers of children read below grade level and drop out before graduation.
Not only has he held the top post in Pittsburgh
for 12 years, he has also helped the Pittsburgh
school district earn a reputation as one of the most innovative,
reform - oriented
urban districts in the country.
James J. Kemple, the executive director of the Research Alliance
for New York City
Schools, who conducted a study comparing the city's
school reform efforts to a «virtual» control group modeled from other
urban districts in the state, including Buffalo, Yonkers, Syracuse, and Rochester, «found New York City students improved significantly faster than the control group on both the New York state assessments and the National Assessment of Educational Progress during the
reform period, from 2002 to 2010.»
The National Institute
for Urban School Improvement, funded by the U.S. Department of Education Office of Special Education Programs, was created to facilitate and unify reform efforts in general and special education in the nation's urban school distr
Urban School Improvement, funded by the U.S. Department of Education Office of Special Education Programs, was created to facilitate and unify reform efforts in general and special education in the nation's urban school dist
School Improvement, funded by the U.S. Department of Education Office of Special Education Programs, was created to facilitate and unify
reform efforts in general and special education in the nation's
urban school distr
urban school dist
school districts.
Her research focuses on educational policy and politics, and
urban school reform, including the development and implementation of education policy and the impact of policy on the educational opportunities
for at - risk students.
While Baltimore provides a cautionary tale
for urban district leaders implementing the portfolio strategy, it should not be seen as the death knell
for reform within a traditional
school system.
A behavioral argument could also be made: that the state's
reform policies, its public shaming and sanctions
for low - performing
schools, would most strongly influence the behavior of
urban districts, which tend to have a history of low performance and mismanagement.
From the Gates Foundation high
school initiative to the Annenberg Challenge, from the Children's Scholarship Fund to the Broad Prize
for Urban Education, philanthropic efforts are playing a catalytic role in contemporary
school reform.
«It was an opportunity to broaden the debate, but we continue to only see
urban schools,» West said, noting that there are
reform issues in all
schools and that there is a need
for change.
- Donald R. McAdams is executive director of the Houston - based Center
for Reform of
School Systems and the author of Fighting to Save Our
Urban Schools... and Winning!
Houston is one of the few
urban school districts to have pursued a sharply defined, consistent set of goals and
reform initiatives
for a sustained period.
With a background that includes teaching in independent
schools, management consulting, and urban school reform, Holleran — who also spent four years as executive director of Bay Area for New Leaders, a division of New Leaders for New Schools — jumped at the cha
schools, management consulting, and
urban school reform, Holleran — who also spent four years as executive director of Bay Area
for New Leaders, a division of New Leaders
for New
Schools — jumped at the cha
Schools — jumped at the challenge.
Fueled by a confluence of interests among
urban parents, progressive educators, and
school reform refugees, a small but growing handful of diverse charter schools like Capital City has sprouted up in big cities over the past decade: others are High Tech High in San Diego; E. L. Haynes in Washington, D.C.; Larchmont Charter School and Citizens of the World Prep in Los Angeles; Summit in Northern California; the five - school Denver School of Science and Technology (DSST) network; Community Roots, Brooklyn Prospect Charter School, and Upper West Success Academy in New York City; and Bricolage Academy, planned for New Orleans (see sidebar, pag
school reform refugees, a small but growing handful of diverse charter
schools like Capital City has sprouted up in big cities over the past decade: others are High Tech High in San Diego; E. L. Haynes in Washington, D.C.; Larchmont Charter
School and Citizens of the World Prep in Los Angeles; Summit in Northern California; the five - school Denver School of Science and Technology (DSST) network; Community Roots, Brooklyn Prospect Charter School, and Upper West Success Academy in New York City; and Bricolage Academy, planned for New Orleans (see sidebar, pag
School and Citizens of the World Prep in Los Angeles; Summit in Northern California; the five -
school Denver School of Science and Technology (DSST) network; Community Roots, Brooklyn Prospect Charter School, and Upper West Success Academy in New York City; and Bricolage Academy, planned for New Orleans (see sidebar, pag
school Denver
School of Science and Technology (DSST) network; Community Roots, Brooklyn Prospect Charter School, and Upper West Success Academy in New York City; and Bricolage Academy, planned for New Orleans (see sidebar, pag
School of Science and Technology (DSST) network; Community Roots, Brooklyn Prospect Charter
School, and Upper West Success Academy in New York City; and Bricolage Academy, planned for New Orleans (see sidebar, pag
School, and Upper West Success Academy in New York City; and Bricolage Academy, planned
for New Orleans (see sidebar, page 33).
The most important education
reform, in Kozol's view, is
for urban schools to have as much money as the richest suburban ones.
The problem is that often the forest gets lost because the leaves aren't counted: the authors describe a CREDO report's conclusions on the cumulative advantage of
urban charter
schools for poor African American students but give the reader no sense of how trustworthy they deem the report to be nor how significant the purported charter -
school impact is — compared,
for example, to results of any other major
school -
reform strategy.
Klein is coauthor of «Blended Learning in Practice: Four District
School Journeys,» a case study of the Oakland project written with Carrie McPherson Douglass, who's now with the Cities
for Education Entrepreneurship Trust, an umbrella organization
for urban reform groups nationwide.
Phillip Lovell, vice president of federal advocacy at the nonprofit Alliance
for Excellent Education, which focuses on high
school reform, says that there are simply not enough good charter
school providers to take the place of all the low - performing, large
urban high
schools.
It was launched in 2004 as part of a three - sector strategy
for urban education
reform that also included increased funding
for public charter -
school facilities and added funds
for educational improvements in District of Columbia public
schools.
``... an engaging testimony to the possibility
for positive youth - adult partnership in challenged
urban schools... The book offers valuable insights
for practitioners, researchers, and community members interested in positive youth development, youth - adult partnerships, or
urban school reform... Thoughtful and engaging, a recommended read.»
A 2003 survey of
urban public -
school superintendents that one of us (Fuller) conducted
for the University of Washington found that more than two - thirds of the administrators in states with collective bargaining said union contracts impede
reform.
The author of this paper investigates the relevance of Waldorf education
for public
urban school reform.
A mayor's capacity
for leadership addresses a significant problem that has plagued
urban education
for decades - namely, shifting and rival coalitions backing
school reform, weak and unstable
school boards, and frequent changes of superintendents.
By focusing their efforts primarily on improving
schools for black and Latino students living in
urban communities, has the education
reform movement missed another group facing economic challenges and in need of better educational opportunity?
That capacity
for leadership addresses a significant problem that has plagued
urban education
for decades - namely, shifting and rival coalitions backing
school reform, weak and unstable
school boards, and frequent changes of superintendents.
Yet its own experience in Memphis raises questions about whether the commitment to whole -
school reform is the best strategy
for improving educational outcomes in troubled
urban schools.
This has been particularly helpful
for evaluating the effectiveness of charter
schools, a controversial education
reform with a mixed record overall but one that shows remarkably large gains
for disadvantaged students in
urban areas.
For our analysis of the relationship between district improvement efforts and state influences (see also section 3.3), we focused mainly on the small - to medium - sized districts, given that more than 90 % of
school districts in the United States serve less than 25,000 students, and given our impression that much research on the district role in educational
reform is concentrated on the experiences of large,
urban districts.
Several
urban school chiefs are winning applause
for carrying out important
reforms with more collaborative approaches: in Baltimore, Tampa and Miami,
for instance.