This is a national, multi-site examination of how teachers, students, schools, districts and others educational entities develop, respond to and/or utilize new assessment tools. Funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, RFA is working with a team of researchers to study how the new tools are utilized in the classroom; and how an array of supports, including professional development and new technology platforms, affect the implementation and utilization of the new tools.

RFA Annual Reports contain an overview of the past year's research, reports, conference presentations, along with a brief financial summary.

Between 2009 and 2011, RFA partnered with Youth United for Change (YUC), a local youth organizing group, in a participatory action research (PAR) project focused on high school student engagement and dropout. Many Philadelphia students disengage during high school, with fewer than 60% graduating in four years. In the fall of 2009, YUC initiated a chapter of youth who identify as “pushouts,” reflecting that school factors contributed to their leaving or being “pushed out” of traditional school settings. The youth chapter designed and conducted a PAR project. As the project’s research consultant, RFA worked closely with the YUC staff and provided training and technical assistance to the chapter throughout all phases of the research process. In contrast to traditional academic research, PAR reduces the distance between the "researcher" and the "researched." The people most affected by a problem become co-researchers who collaborate in crafting the research questions, gathering and analyzing data, and carrying out action plans in response to their findings. In February 2011, YUC released Pushed Out: Youth Voices on the Dropout Crisis in Philadelphia, the final research report. The report provides a basis for their continued organizing to improve opportunities for young people. To access YUC's final report, "Pushed Out: Youth Voices on the Dropout Crisis in Philadelphia," click here: http://www.researchforaction.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Pushed_Out_Final_-_Hi_Res.pdf

The School District of Philadelphia operates 13 accelerated high schools to help get off-track students (e.g., over-age, under-credited youth) back on track to graduation. This project examines literacy teaching and learning at the accelerated high schools to support program implementation and professional development there and to inform broader District efforts to invigorate literacy teaching and learning throughout the system, particularly for the lowest performing students. This project is supported by the William Penn Foundation.

RFA's study on high school choice builds on the "Learning from Philadelphia's School Reform" study and turns RFA's attention to the improvement of Philadelphia's high schools - a focus that was not part of the previous study and one that is sorely needed given the dire statistics on the city's youth. Philadelphia's system of comprehensive high schools has undergone dramatic change in the past several years. In this study, we use qualitative and quantitative methods to explore the district's approach to creating good high school options for all students, and we investigate neighborhood high schools from the perspectives of students, parents, and staff.

This is a national, multi-site examination of how teachers, students, schools, districts and others educational entities develop, respond to and/or utilize new assessment tools. Funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, RFA is working with a team of researchers to study how the new tools are utilized in the classroom; and how an array of supports, including professional development and new technology platforms, affect the implementation and utilization of the new tools.