Recent Publications by Research for Action
Publication
Enacting Common Core Instruction: Strong Central Management and Strategic Delegation of Responsibility Drove Implementation of LDC in Florida’s Hillsborough County Public Schools
Following two years of extensive data collection in eight sites throughout the country, Research for Action (RFA) is producing three case studies to illustrate how the LDC and MDC tools have been adopted in different…
Publication
Homegrown Research: A Guide for School Communities
This work is intended to assist school communities in looking at research and in carrying out their own ‘home-grown’ research projects as a school improvement tool. It begins with materials and understandings drawn from two…
Publication
Adequate Yearly Progress: Where Philadelphia Public Schools Stand 2004
This report provides a brief discussion of ‘No Child Left Behind’ and AYP in Pennsylvania. It describes measuring AYP and testing requirements. It then presents tables showing the AYP status of schools in the School…
Publication
From Start to Finish: An Analysis of State Speeches, Education Priorities, and Key Adoptions in 2013
Annual State of the State and budget addresses delivered by governors hold particular promise for such analysis. While state policy is, by its very nature, idiosyncratic (e.g., variable legislative sessions, differences in the make-up of…
Publication
RFA Briefs: Focus on Technology
This RFA newsletter features was in which technology can strengthen teaching and learning.
Publication
Adequate Yearly Progress: Where Philadelphia Public Schools Stand 2005
Schools and school districts across the country are under pressure to show that student performance on standardized tests is improving. Much of this pressure is based on the idea that clear expectations, combined with sanctions…
Publication
Lessons From Inside the Classroom: Teachers’ Perspectives on the LDC Initiative
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has invested in the development and dissemination of instructional tools to support teachers’ incorporation of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) into their classroom instruction. Literacy experts have developed…
Publication
A Guide to Program Evaluation: What to Expect and Why It Will Be Worth It
This guide explains Research for Action’s approach to program evaluation and is designed to give prospective clients an idea of what they can expect. It discusses the ways in which RFA’s formative evaluations can help…
Publication
Lessons from Inside the Classroom: Teachers’ Perspectives on the MDC Initiative
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has invested in the development and dissemination of instructional tools to support teachers’ incorporation of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) into their classroom instruction. Math experts from the…
Publication
RFA Briefs: Focus on STAR
This RFA newsletter features stories about its Sisters Together in Action Research (STAR) project. It also includes ‘Friendship, Sexuality, and Power: Girls in Adolescence,’ a synopsis of Suzanne Blanc’s dissertation, She Thinks She’s Bad, and…
Publication
Educational Vouchers – Facts, Figures, and a Summary of the Research
Educational vouchers have gained increasing currency in recent months as a potential school reform strategy in Pennsylvania. Both Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidates have publicly endorsed vouchers in some form, and the Pennsylvania legislature has expressed interest…
Publication
School Closings Policy
The nation’s largest school districts have increasingly turned to building closures to address budget deficits, demographic shifts, and the movement of students to charter schools. This PACER Issue Brief examines school closings policy.
Publication
Policy Brief: Lessons from Philadelphia about Building Civic Capacity for School Reform
This brief summarizes the findings in the report, ‘Civic Engagement and Urban School reform: Hard-to-Learn Lessons from Philadelphia.’ The report is based on the complex story of civic engagement and school reform in Philadelphia between…
Publication
Charter School Authorization and Accountability: An Overview for State Policymakers
This PACER Issue Brief–the second in a series–examines national research on charter school authorization, and highlights what other states are doing in this area of school reform.
Publication
Teacher Effectiveness: An Update on Pennsylvania’s Teacher Evaluation System
This policy brief provides a closer look at Pennsylvania’s new teacher evaluation system and the efforts of the Pittsburgh Public Schools to implement reforms. This brief includes implications for state policymakers, district leaders, and education…
Publication
By the Numbers: What We Know About Teacher Quality in Philadelphia
A fact sheet from the report Once and For All: Placing a Highly Qualified Teacher in Every Philadelphia Classroom.
Publication
Teacher Effectiveness: The National Picture and Pennsylvania Context
This first-in-a-series issue brief poses questions and provides research-based answers on teacher evaluation systems – a top priority of legislators during the fall 2011 legislative session. It provides a summary of research and emerging practices…
Publication
LDC’s Influence on Teaching and Learning
RFA has been studying LDC since its inception in 2010. With the support of the Gates Foundation, RFA has been examining the implementation of LDC, as well as the context and conditions necessary for scaling…
Publication
Characteristics of Schools Under Diverse Providers 2002-2003
This two-page center spread article presents a chart with information about each of the managers assigned schools after the state takeover of Philadelphia public schools, with the exception of Chancellor Beacon, whose contract for 2003-2004…
Publication
Enacting Common Core Instruction: How School District Leadership Drove Implementation of LDC and MDC in Kenton County, KY
Following two years of extensive data collection in eight sites throughout the country, Research for Action (RFA) is producing four case studies to illustrate how the LDC and MDC tools have been adopted in different…
Publication
MDC’s Influence on Teaching and Learning
RFA has been studying MDC since its inception in 2010. With the support of the Gates Foundation, RFA has been examining the implementation of MDC, as well as the context and conditions necessary for scaling…
Publication
Reframing Accountability for Urban Public Schools
Based on their research with community-organizing groups, Eva Gold and Elaine Simon from Research for Action and Chris Brown from the Cross City Campaign for Urban School Reform describe four strategies for building public accountability…
Publication
Issue Brief: Higher Education Accountability
There is broad agreement that a postsecondary education is more important than ever. But college costs are rising while funding levels are dwindling. This PACER Issue Brief examines the issue of higher education accountability and…
Publication
Adequate Yearly Progress: Where District Schools Stand
These tables present the AYP status of schools in the School District of Philadelphia.
Publication
Issue Brief: Performance Pay for Teachers
This PACER Issue Brief–the third in a series–examines alternative teacher compensation models, specifically pay for performance. It builds on the series’ first brief on teacher effectiveness to provide context, identify challenges, and answer questions about…
Publication
Private Sector Involvement in Urban School Reform: Emerging Themes
Increasingly, the private sector (both for-profit and non-profit) is providing resources and alternative delivery models for urban public schools. Nowhere is the engagement of private sector alternatives more extensive than in Philadelphia, which, in the…
Publication
Issue Brief: School District Portfolio Management
In Philadelphia, an ambitious effort to restructure the district has been proposed. The draft Blueprint for Reforming Philadelphia’s Public Schools, released in April 2012, sets two distinct goals: 1) Safe, high-performing schools district-wide; and 2)…
Publication
Que Conocemos Sobre ‘Calidad de Maestros’ en Filadelfia? Que Podemos Hacer?
Spanish version of a fact sheet adapted from the 2003 report, Once and For All: Placing a Highly Qualified Teacher in Every Philadelphia Classroom.