Uneven Playing Field: Demographic Differences and High School 'Choice' in Philadelphia Mar 2010 Deborah Good, Eva Gold, Shani Adia Evans, Clarisse Haxton, Holly Plastaras Maluk, Cecily A. Mitchell, Elaine Simon

Every fall, eighth graders participate in the School District of Philadelphia's high school application and admissions process, vying for spots in a tiered system of public high schools across the ...

Transition to High School: School 'Choice' and Freshman Year in Philadelphia Feb 2010 Eva Gold, Shani Adia Evans, Clarisse Haxton, Holly Plastaras Maluk, Cecily A. Mitchell, Elaine Simon, Deborah Good

The School District of Philadelphia's tiered system of selective, nonselective, and charter high schools, and the process for high school choice, has created real variation in the degree to which h...

RFA February 2010 eNews - School 'Choice' Burdens Neighborhood Schools in Phila. Feb 2010 Research for Action

This edition of RFA's eNews announces the release of 'Context, Conditions, and Consequences: Freshman Year Transition in Philadelphia,' the first policy brief based on RFA's report, Transition to H...

Context, Conditions, and Consequences: Freshman Year Transition in Philadelphia Jan 2010 Eva Gold, Shani Adia Evans, Clarisse Haxton, Holly Plastaras Maluk, Cecily A. Mitchell, Elaine Simon, Deborah Good

This policy brief focuses on the School District of Philadelphia's high school selection process and the ways in which it reinforces and compounds inequities that already exist among the District's...

RFA December 2009 eNews - Reform Under Pressure from NCLB Dec 2009 Research for Action

In the December 2009 eNews, Kate introduced herself to the RFA community. She also provided context for two new publications: 'Complicated Choices: Struggling to Meet NCLB Requirements AND Remain F...

Complicated Choices: Struggling to Meet NCLB Requirements AND Remain Faithful to a School's Educational Vision and Practice Dec 2009 Eva Travers

In an era of high-stakes accountability, school leaders often face contradictory pressures as they strive to improve student performance. They must meet the federal mandate of NCLB for student achi...

RFA November 2009 eNews - Next Steps at RFA Nov 2009 Research for Action

This eNews features a welcome to new Executive Director Kate Shaw, and a statement on the meaning of RFA, from founders Eva Gold and Jolley Bruce Christman. It also give information on RFA's upcomi...

Philadelphia's Teacher Appraisal System: Needs Improvement Oct 2009 Camika Royal, Matthew Tossman

Philadelphia's Teacher Appraisal System lays out a number of features of the current appraisal system used by the School DIstrict of Philadelphia (SDP) that keep it from effectively supporting high...

RFA October 2009 eNews - Rethinking Teacher Appraisal in Philadelphia Oct 2009 Research for Action

This edition of eNews announces the release of 'Teacher Appraisal in Philadelphia: Needs Improvement.' This new report by Fels Interns Camika Royal and Matthew Tossman makes the case that the teach...

RFA September 2009 eNews - RFA Names New Executive Director Sep 2009 Research for Action

RFA Board Chair, Irv Ackelsberg, announces the selection of Dr. Kate Shaw as the new Executive Director - effective December 1, 2009.

RFA August 2009 eNews - Small High Schools in Philadelphia Aug 9 Research for Action

This eNews announces the release of 'Going Small: Progress and Challenges of Philadelphia's Small High Schools.' This report touts the advantages of small schools, but also discusses other factors ...

Going Small: Progress and Challenges of Philadelphia's Small High Schools Executive Summary Jul 2009 Tracey A. Hartmann, Rebecca J. Reumann-Moore, Shani Adia Evans, Clarisse Haxton, Holly Plastaras Maluk, Ruth Curran Neild

Executive Summary: Between 2003 and 2007, and without significant outside funding, the School District of Philadelphia created 25 new small high schools. This study, begun by Research for Action i...

Going Small: Progress and Challenges of Philadelphia's Small High Schools Jul 2009 Tracey A. Hartmann, Rebecca J. Reumann-Moore, Shani Adia Evans, Clarisse Haxton, Holly Plastaras Maluk, Ruth Curran Neild

Between 2003 and 2007, and without significant outside funding, the School District of Philadelphia created 25 new small high schools. This study, begun by Research for Action in 2006, follows the...

Making the Most of Interim Assessment Data: Lessons from Philadelphia Jun 2009 Jolley Bruce Christman, Ruth Curran Neild, Katrina E. Bulkley, Roseann Liu, Cecily A. Mitchell, Eva Travers, Suzanne Blanc

Under No Child Left Behind, urban school districts have increasingly turned to interim assessments, administered at regular intervals, to help gauge student progress in advance of annual state exam...

RFA June 2009 eNews - Making the Most of Interim Assessment Data Jun 2009 Research for Action

This RFA eNews describes RFA's new report, 'Making the Most of Interim Assessment Data: Lessons from Philadelphia.' This report, one of the first large-scale empirical studies on the use of interim...

Making the Most of Interim Assessment Data: Lessons from Philadelphia - Executive Summary Jun 2009 Jolley Bruce Christman, Ruth Curran Neild, Katrina E. Bulkley, Roseann Liu, Cecily A. Mitchell, Eva Travers, Suzanne Blanc

This is the executive summary of RFA's report, Making the Most of Interim Assessment Data: Lessons from Philadelphia. Under No Child Left Behind, urban school districts have increasingly turned to...

RFA May 2009 eNews - RFA Endorses Teaching Quality Platform May 2009 Research for Action

RFA has endorsed the Education First Compact and Cross City Campaign platform on teaching quality and equity. This eNews discusses this platform in the context of RFA's series of reports about the ...

RFA April 17 2009 eNews - Effective Organizational Practices Apr 2009 Research for Action

This RFA eNews announces the release of a new report, 'Effective Organizational Practices for Middle and High School Grades: a Qualitative Study of What's Helping Philadelphia Students Succeed in G...