Research and Policy

This report shares findings from a six-year research study on the impact of PACT’s education organizing on Miami schools. The study showed that PACT’s organizing had a positive impact on district policies and resource allocation, school climate and instruction, and student outcomes. People Acting for Community Together (PACT) led a successful campaign to implement a new literacy program in low-performing schools serving the poorest neighborhoods in Miami and acted as the program’s champion for ten years.

Summary

Miami case study

This report shares findings from a six-year research study on the impact of OCO’s education organizing on Oakland schools. It is not often that a government entity publicly credits community organizing for a positive transformation in public schools. But this is exactly what happened in Oakland, California, where years of on-the-ground organizing – community meetings, relationship building, and public actions – led to the creation of forty-eight new small schools, fundamentally transforming the district landscape.

Summary

Oakland case study

This report shares findings from a six-year research study on the impact of the two organizations’ education organizing on increased educational opportunities for students in the Northwest Bronx. In 1996, a small group of public school parents in the Bronx, New York, launched what became a ten-year struggle to improve overcrowded schools and aging school facilities in their community.

Summary

Northwest Bronx case study

This report looks at five cities where mayors have engaged the public and built civic capacity around education reform, using the leverage of their office in strategic ways. The stories of Denver, Akron, Long Beach, Nashville, and New York identify and describe practical, high-yield strategies and solutions mayors are using and resources they have found or created. The report also includes an annotated list of resources for municipal leaders on public engagement in support of schools. 

Introduction

Akron case study

Bronx case study

Denver case study

Long Beach case study

Nashville case study

Conclusion

Resources

Over the last decade, the New York City public school system has sought to reform high school education by closing or downsizing large, failing high schools and opening new small high schools in their stead. This report explores whether these reforms altered the distribution of student characteristics across schools by comparing the demographic characteristics of students entering the new small high schools with those of students entering the large high schools that closed and with high schools across the New York City system.

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Executive summary

Value-added models have become increasingly popular in today’s policy environment as a way to evaluate, reward, and dismiss teachers. These statistical models aim to isolate each teacher’s unique contribution to their students’ educational outcomes based in part on student test scores. But NYU professor Sean Corcoran uses data analysis to argue that value-added models are not precise enough to be useful for high-stakes decision making or professional development.

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Executive summary

The New York Senate recently authorized the City University of New York to create and operate a Parent Training Center for public school parents that will teach them to more effectively participate in school governance and support students’ educational success — reflecting a growing nationwide interest in parent leadership training. In this report, Anne Henderson, senior consultant for community organizing and engagement work at the Annenberg Institute for School Reform, describes four successful parent leadership training programs around the country, each with a different focus: leade

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Executive summary

Program profiles

“Leading indicators” in education — as in economics — can provide early signs of progress toward academic achievement and help education leaders make informed decisions to improve student learning — before the test results come in. The Leading Indicator Spotlight series of research briefs is designed to accompany the research report Beyond Test Scores: Leading Indicators for Education.

Early Reading Proficiency brief

Pre-algebra and Algebra Enrollment and Achievement brief

Using College Admission Test Scores to Clarify High School Placement brief

“Leading indicators” in education — as in economics — can provide early signs of progress toward academic achievement and thus help district leaders and other stakeholders make informed decisions about efforts to improve student learning — before the test results come in.

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A report on a qualitative study of thirteen NYC high schools that are successfully preparing low-performing ninth-graders for timely high school graduation and enrollment in college. The study identified four key strategies used by these schools and offers recommendations for systemic support to maintain and scale up their success.

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