Your search found 26 results.

Descriptors:
Urban Schools; Language Arts; Principals; Leadership Training; School Districts; Program Descriptions; Low Achievement; Administrator Education; Academic Achievement; English; Administrator Effectiveness; Mathematics Achievement; Achievement Gap

Abstract:
The New York City Leadership Academy represents a unique experiment by a large urban school district to train and develop its own school leaders. Its 14-month Aspiring Principals Program (APP) selects and prepares aspiring principals to lead low-performing schools. This study provides the first systematic evaluation of achievement in APP-staffed schools after 3 or more years. We examine differences between APP principals and those advancing through other routes, the extent to which APP graduates serve and remain in schools, and their relative performance in mathematics and English language arts. On balance, we find that APP principals performed about as well as other new principals. If anything, they narrowed the gap with comparison schools in English language arts but lagged behind in mathematics. (Contains 2 figures, 9 tables, and 23 notes.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
School Organization; Educational Change; Grouping (Instructional Purposes); Grade 8; Academic Achievement; Elementary Schools; Middle Schools; Urban Schools; Mathematics Achievement; Reading Achievement; Scores

Abstract:
Although rearranging school organizational features is a popular school reform, little research exists to inform policymakers about how grade spans affect achievement. This article examines how grade spans and the school transitions that students make between fourth and eighth grade shape student performance in eighth grade. The authors estimate the impact of grade span paths on eighth-grade performance, controlling for school and student characteristics and correcting for attrition bias and quality of original school. They find that students moving from K-4 to 5-8 schools or in K-8 schools outperform students on other paths. Results suggest four possible explanations for the findings--the number and timing of school changes, the size of within-school cohorts, and the stability of peer cohorts. (Contains 11 tables and 21 notes.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Achievement Gap; School Choice; Finance Reform; Educational Finance; Surveys; Educational Policy; Professional Associations; Accountability; African American Students; White Students; Teacher Salaries; Disadvantaged; Measurement; State Aid; Federal Aid

Abstract:
In the spring of 2008 the authors surveyed members of the American Education Finance Association (AEFA) to gain insight into their views on education policy issues. The results summarize opinions of this broad group of education researchers and practitioners, providing AEFA members and education leaders with access to views that may be helpful as they consider policies to analyze or pursue. This article reports the results in six areas of current policy interest. How should education aid be distributed? Is school choice a good thing? Does school finance reform work? What has accountability wrought? Can school policies close the black-white achievement gap? And how should teachers be compensated? Our findings identify areas of substantial agreement as well as areas where there is disagreement. For example, there is considerable agreement that state and federal governments should provide additional funding for disadvantaged students but disagreement on how to measure school finance adequacy. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Educational Finance; Educational Policy; Educational Research; Research Methodology; Class Size; Influences; Housing; Nutrition; Child Health; After School Education; Outcomes of Education; Achievement Gap; Urban Schools

Abstract:
Research in education finance and policy has flourished over the past twenty years as No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and a wide range of school reform efforts spurred demand for scientific evidence identifying "what works." Research funding has been generous, buoyed by both favorable economic conditions and the sense that research will provide solutions to persistent problems in American schooling. It has been a good time for education research. However, successful use of and enthusiasm for new techniques and data have not been matched by comparable success in identifying solutions to pressing problems and resolving continuing disputes about efficacy and efficiency. Indeed, the results have been fairly modest--yielding more insight into "what doesn't work" than what does. As research funding from foundations and governments tightens with the economic downturn and a new presidential administration takes the helm, the time is ripe to reevaluate and consider how to make research in education policy and finance matter. In this essay, the author contends that the key to making education policy research matter is asking questions that matter--about pressing problems that affect large numbers of students in a broad range of circumstances--and providing useful answers and solutions that are feasible, practical, and implementable under realistic circumstances. The author discusses three key implications for making education policy research matter now. First, methodology must follow from the question (rather than vice versa). Second, researchers need to look outside the traditional boundaries of education research to understand how nutrition, health care, housing, and other factors affect student outcomes. Finally, research is needed on the large, diverse population of urban school children, the challenges posed by poverty, immigration, mobility, race, and ethnicity, and the systemic challenges of large urban school districts. (Contains 8 footnotes.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Urban Schools; High Schools; School Restructuring; Small Schools; Government School Relationship; School Business Relationship; Financial Support; Costs; Relationship; School Size; Expenditure per Student

Abstract:
With the financial support of several large foundations and the federal government, creating small schools has become a prominent high school reform strategy in many large American cities. While some research supports this strategy, little research assesses the relative costs of these smaller schools. We use data on over 200 New York City high schools, from 1996 through 2003, to estimate school cost functions relating per pupil expenditures to school size, controlling for school output and quality, student characteristics, and school organization. We find that the structure of costs differs across schools depending upon mission--comprehensive or themed. At their current levels of outputs, themed schools minimize per pupil costs at smaller enrollments than comprehensive schools, but these optimally sized themed schools also cost more per pupil than optimally sized comprehensive schools. We also find that both themed and comprehensive high schools at actual sizes are smaller than their optimal sizes. (Contains 2 figures and 7 tables.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Class Size; School Size; School Districts; Academic Achievement; Elementary Schools; Educational Finance; School Organization; Correlation; Institutional Characteristics; Grouping (Instructional Purposes); Educational Policy

Abstract:
Reorganizing primary school grade spans is a tractable and relatively inexpensive school reform. However, assessing the effects of reorganization requires also examining other organizational changes that may accompany grade span reforms. Using data on New York City public schools from 1996 to 2002 and exploiting within-school variations, we examine relationships among grade span, spending, and size. We find that school grade span is associated with differences in school size, class size, and grade size, though generally not with spending and other resources. In addition, we find class size and grade size differences in the same grade level at schools with different configurations, suggesting that school grade span affects not only school size but also class size and grade size. We find few relationships, though, between grade span and school-level performance, pointing to the need to augment these analyses with pupil-level data. We conclude with implications for research and practice. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Small Schools; High Schools; Educational Change; Urban Schools; Comparative Analysis; Equal Education; Resource Allocation; Racial Segregation; Expenditure per Student; Teacher Student Ratio; Student Characteristics; Special Education; Disproportionate Representation

Abstract:
Background/Context: High school reform is currently at the top of the education policy making agenda after years of stagnant achievement and persistent racial and income test score gaps. Although a number of reforms offer some promise of improving U.S. high schools, small schools have emerged as the favored reform model, especially in urban areas, garnering substantial financial investments from both the private and public sectors. In the decade following 1993, the number of high schools in New York City nearly doubled, as new "small" schools opened and large high schools were reorganized into smaller learning communities. The promise of small schools to improve academic engagement, school culture, and, ultimately, student performance has drawn many supporters. However, educators, policy makers, and researchers have raised concerns about the unintended consequences of these new small schools and the possibility that students "left behind" in large, established high schools are incurring negative impacts. Research Design: Using 10 years (1993-2003) of data on New York City high schools, we examine the potential systemic effects of small schools that have been identified by critics and researchers. We describe whether small schools, as compared with larger schools, serve an easier-to-educate student body, receive more resources, use those resources differently, and have better outcomes. Further, we examine whether there have been changes in segregation and resource equity across the decade contemporaneous with small-school reform efforts. Findings/Results: We find that, although small schools do have higher per-pupil expenditures, lower pupil-teacher ratios, and a smaller share of special education students than larger schools, their students are disproportionately limited English proficient and poor, and their incoming students have lower test scores. Thus, the evidence is mixed with respect to claims that small schools serve an easier-to-educate student body. Systemwide, we find that segregation is relatively stable, and although there have been some changes in the distribution of resources, they are relatively modest. Conclusions/Recommendations: If small schools do eventually promote higher achievement (considering their student mix and other factors that differentiate them from larger schools), many more will be needed to house the 91.5% of the students still attending large schools. Otherwise, strategies that work for the vast majority of students who do not attend small schools will need to be identified and implemented. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Expenditure per Student; Costs; High Schools; School Restructuring; Small Schools; School Size; Federal Government; Financial Support; Student Characteristics; Cost Effectiveness

Abstract:
With the financial support of several large foundations and the federal government, creating small schools has become a prominent high school reform strategy in many large American cities. While some research supports this strategy, little research assesses the relative costs of these smaller schools. Data on over 200 New York City high schools, from 1996 through 2003, is used to estimate school cost functions relating per pupil expenditures to school size, controlling for school output and quality, student characteristics, and school organization. The authors find that the structure of costs differs across schools depending upon mission--comprehensive or themed. At their current levels of outputs, themed schools minimize per pupil costs at smaller enrollments than comprehensive schools, but these optimally-sized themed schools also cost more per pupil than optimally-sized comprehensive schools. The authors also find that both themed and comprehensive high schools at actual sizes are smaller than their optimal sizes. (Contains 5 tables and 2 figures.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Grade 8; Grade 1; Politics of Education

Abstract:
More than 86,000 students enrolled in first grade in New York City in the fall of 1995. These students were expected to graduate from high school in June 2007. As we seek to understand why some met this goal while others did not, it is critical to know where they began. Researchers followed this cohort for their first eight years of schooling: from their first days in fall 1995 through June 2003 when they were expected to complete eighth grade. To learn (1) the demographic characteristics of the first grade class of 1995-96, (2) who stays and who leaves, (3) who is held back, and (4) the academic outcomes for each group. The New York University (NYU) Institute for Education and Social Policy analyzed student-level data provided by the New York City Department of Education for all first through eighth graders from 1995-96 through 2002-03. This report presents their key findings and insights. (Contains 7 figures and 5 footnotes.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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 ERIC Full Text (230K)

Descriptors:
Urban Schools; School Districts; Resource Allocation

Abstract:
While the distribution of resources across school districts is well studied, relatively little attention has been paid to how resources are allocated to individual schools inside those districts. This paper explores the determinants of resource allocation across schools in large districts based on factors that reflect differential school costs or factors that may, in practice, be related to the distribution of resources. Using detailed data on school resources and student and school characteristics in New York City, Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio, we find that schools with higher percentages of poor pupils often receive more money and have more teachers per pupil, but the teachers tend to be less educated and less well paid, with a particularly consistent pattern in New York City schools. We conclude with implications for policy and further research. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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