PUBLICATIONS LIST | AREAS OF FOCUS | RESEARCH TEAM

OVERVIEW

Research for Action (RFA) is leading Learning from Philadelphia's School Reform, a comprehensive, multi-year study of Philadelphias complex and radical school reform effort. RFA is spearheading this project which brings together a multidisciplinary collaborative of regional and national scholars from the University of Pennsylvania, Montclair State University, Swarthmore College, the Consortium on Chicago School Research, Johns Hopkins University, and the RAND Corporation. Together they are examining the impact of state takeover, the efficacy of a diverse provider model, the success of district-level leadership in managing a complex set of reforms, the engagement of civic and community groups with district policy and school improvement, teacher quality, and the key factors influencing student outcomes under various school conditions and school management models.

Learning from Philadelphia's School Reform includes a multi-faceted, vigorous public awareness component that engages leaders and citizens in the process of educational change, and informs and guides the national debate on school reform. In fall 2005, RFA hosted a forum in Washington, DC titled Privatization as Educational Remedy: A Tale of Three Cities that looked at this issue in Chicago, New York and Philadelphia.

This project is supported with lead funding from the William Penn Foundation and related grants from Carnegie Corporation of New York, Samuel S. Fels Fund, Edward W. Hazen Foundation, Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, The Pew Charitable Trusts, Surdna Foundation, Spencer Foundation, The Philadelphia Foundation, and others.

Data Use (Learning to Learn from Data: Using Data to Inform Instructional Decisions and Improve Student Learning in Low-Performing Urban Schools): This Spencer-funded research is an in-depth study of data use in low-performing schools in Philadelphia, and asks how schools and communities within schools are using data to inform instructional decision-making, and the ways in which external entities (including the district and providers) are influencing those practices.

Civic Engagement: Researchers are looking at the implications that the diverse provider model and the extensive use of outside contractors has had on civic and community engagement in Philadelphia.

Teacher Quality: Over the past five years significant strides have been made in improving teacher quality, recruitment and retention. Researchers continue to examine this important issue and its implications for improving student achievement.

Governance: The current reform in Philadelphia is unlike any other, with the state take over, the replacement of the school board with a School Reform Commission, and contracts with Educational Management Organizations. Researchers are studying these significant changes and their impacts.

Small High Schools (“Going Small” – Public/Private Collaboration in Restructuring High School Education in Philadelphia): The School District of Philadelphia is currently undergoing a major reform of high schools which includes the creation of many 30 new small high schools intended to create greater choice for children and families. RFA is studying this important transition with the support of Carnegie Corporation.

Action Research and Youth Organizing (Youth Civic Engagement in Urban School Reform): Where are the student voices in school reform? Researchers are working with youth groups in Philadelphia as they react and respond to the current school reform. Samuel S. Fels Fund, the Hazen Foundation, the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, the Philadelphia Foundation, and the Surdna Foundation all support aspects of RFA's youth work.

RESEARCH TEAM

Dr. Jolley Bruce Christman and Dr. Eva Gold, principals at RFA, Dr. Suzanne Blanc, RFA senior research associate, Dr. Elizabeth Useem, independent consultant, and Dr. Ruth Curran Neild, Johns Hopkins University, direct the research and outreach efforts for the project. In addition, Judith Adamson, RFA Managing Director, and Gail Danckert, senior communications consultant, assist with the project management and communications components of the project.

This project includes both an extensive qualitative and quantitative component and both components have research teams with rich and broad expertise.

Qualitative Research Team
Research for Action is nationally recognized for is expertise in qualitative research methods.  For this project, RFA has assembled a team of regional scholars who are working to study this comprehensive and complex reform initiative.  In addition to the Directors: Dr. Christman, Dr. Gold, Dr. Blanc, Dr. Useem, the team includes several RFA staff members and:

• Dr. Katrina Bulkley of Montclair State University who studies educational management organizations (EMOs) and charter schools.
• Dr. Elaine Simon of the University of Pennsylvania who is well known for her work in policy implementation in urban settings.
• Dr. Eva Travers, retired, of Swarthmore College who brings many years of experience conducting research in schools and classrooms.

Quantitative Research Team
Dr. Ruth Curran Neild a research scientist with Johns Hopkins University oversees the quantitative research.  Dr. Neild gathered and analyzed survey data and individual-level Philadelphia School District data for all students who were eighth graders in 1995-96 through her work as the primary researcher on the Pennsylvania Longitudinal Study (PELS).  She has analyzed on individual-level data on all middle and high school teachers from 1997.  This archive of data has provided a longer-term perspective on conditions in the School District of Philadelphia in the years prior to and after the state takeover.

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