An Evaluation of Philadelphia’s Annenberg Challenge, Children Achieving: School District of Philadelphia and The Annenberg Foundation

Released January 2001

Home / / Projects / An Evaluation of Philadelphia’s Annenberg Challenge, Children Achieving: School District of Philadelphia and The Annenberg Foundation

RFA and the Consortium for Policy Research in Education (CPRE) conducted a five-year multi-method evaluation of Children Achieving, Philadelphia’s systemic school reform effort from 1995-2000. The program, one of the urban reform initiatives funded through the Annenberg Challenge, included standards-driven curriculum and assessment, a performance accountability system, decentralization of decision-making, and professional development aimed at strengthening leadership and improving classroom practice.

Related Publications

Publication

The Limits and Contradictions of Systemic Reform: The Philadelphia Story

Tom Corcoran, Jolley Bruce Christman

Evaluation directors Christman and Corcoran summarize the findings and lessons learned from the five-year evaluation of the Children Achieving Challenge reform in Philadelphia under the leadership of David Hornbeck, superintendent, with a particular emphasis on…

Publication

Philadelphia School Reform: Historical Roots and Reflections on the 2002-2003 School Year under State Takeover

Eva Travers

A review of the context and recent history of the state takeover of the School District of Philadelphia, with some tentative conclusions about the first year under the diverse providers model.

Publication

Making Sense of Standards: Implementation Issues and the Impact on Teacher Practice

Elaine Simon, Ellen Foley, Claire Passantino

An examination of standards implementation in Philadelphia public schools as part of a series of progress reports on the Children Achieving Challenge from the 1996-97 school year. This report addresses how standards influence instruction in…

Publication

School Leadership and Reform: Case Studies of Philadelphia Principals

Mary Helen Spiri

This study represents an effort to learn more about how Philadelphia principals experienced the transition from expectations that they be ‘site-based managers’ responsible for acquiring and directing human and financial resources, encouraging teachers to think…

Publication

An Analysis of the Effect of Children Achieving on Student Achievement in Philadelphia Elementary Schools

Erin Tighe, Aubrey Wang, Ellen Foley

This report provides a detailed summary of the quantiative analysis as part of Children Achieving, specifially focusing on the effects this systemic reform had on student achievement in elementary schools in the Philadelphia School District.…

See all publications