A Philadelphia Story: Building Civic Capacity for School Reform in a Privatizing System challenges all sectors of the city—business and community leaders, parents and youth, universities and cultural institutions—to “put aside individual interests” and work together to mobilize resources to “pursue the collective good of public school improvement.” The report identifies four guiding principles to building stronger civic capacity in Philadelphia: more transparency in decision making, more collaboration across constituencies; greater inclusiveness of community stakeholders, and the mobilization of the mayor, civic leaders and citizens to put a reform agenda into action for better schools. Click here to read the news release.

Closing the Teacher Quality Gap in Philadelphia: New Hope and Old Hurdles A new report by authors Elizabeth Useem, Robert Offenberg, and Elizabeth Farley notes that the School District of Philadelphia has made significant progress in upgrading the qualifications of classroom teachers since 2002 and has drastically cut the number of teachers with emergency certifications, reduced classroom vacancies, and raised the certification rate, especially among new teachers. At the same time, however, the district did not change the pattern of having the least qualified teachers in schools serving the highest percentages of poor and minority students. Click here to read the news release.
"Report hails teacher hiring: But it cites 'gap' at minority-dominated schools" - Daily News 4/27/07

Philadelphia Small Schools in the News!
RFA research suggests that Philadelphia’s small schools plan shows promise provided that the District maintains its commitment to small high schools and provides adequate supports. Click below for news coverage of the small schools movement in Philadelphia including comments by RFA researchers
"Smaller Schools Make Grade," by Sue Snyder Philadelphia Inquirer, April 22, 2007
"Small High Schools Show Encouraging Signs of Change" by Dale Mezzacappa the Philadelphia Public School Notebook Spring 2007 Edition

Student Achievement in Privately Managed and District-Managed Schools in Philadelphia Since the State Takeover
“Schools in Philadelphia have shown strong improvement …across the district but our findings show the investment in private management of schools has not paid the expected dividends.” says Jolley Christman, a co-author of a new report by the RAND Corporation and Research for Action on student achievement in Philadelphia since state takeover under the diverse provider model. Click here to read the news release. See selected news coverage below and be sure to visit the blogs.
"Panel: Phila. District Should Question Private Management" - Education Week 3/1/07
"Study Disputes Philadelphia School Changes"- The Washington Post 2/1/07
"RAND Study: Privately-Run Schools Not Worth The Money" - Evening Bulletin 2/5/07

Commentary on District Leadership
Teachers’ College Record On-line is featuring a new commentary by RFA directors, Jolley Bruce Christman and Betsey Useem, and Penn State Professor, William Boyd. The commentary titled, “District Leadership in Radical Reform,” highlights their findings and thoughts about the current leadership since state takeover in Philly. Go to www.tcrecord.org and scroll down to the title.

Research for Action staff members are well-informed about many subjects related to urban school reform and public education and are eager to share their knowledge and understanding.  Currently, RFA staff members are leading a large multi-year project examining the current school reform initiative in Philadelphia. This and many other topics including civic engagement, privatization and the diverse provider model, teacher quality, student outcomes, leadership, small schools, high school coaching and youth engagement are ones that researchers would be happy to discuss.

Media Representatives with questions or inquiries should contact our communications staff so they can help determine which researcher can be the most helpful to you.

CONTACT:

Shani Adia Evans / Senior Research Assistant and Communications Coordinator
sevans@researchforaction.org
215-823-2500, ext. 521

Judy Adamson / Managing Director
jadamson@researchforaction.org
215-823-2500, ext. 503