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Policy Framework
Big-city school districts play a critical role in educating America’s children. Although there are almost 17,000 public school districts in the United States, just 100 of them serve 23 percent of all students, 30 percent of economically disadvantaged students, and 40 percent of students from racial minorities. It is in the big cities that the challenges facing the education system — low achievement, political conflict, inexperienced teachers, and high student mobility — are most pronounced. Thus, every debate about testing, accountability, busing, vouchers, social promotion, class size, and achievement gaps among children from different racial and economic backgrounds is in large part a debate about urban public education.
An increasing number of cities are tackling education reform on a district-wide rather than a school-by-school basis. Though much research and discussion has been devoted to the question of what makes an effective school, relatively little is known about what makes an effective district, about whether district-level changes can affect the performance of individual schools, and about the connection between central office policies and teaching and learning in the classroom. The Foundations for Success study helps fill this knowledge gap by suggesting hypotheses about possible sources of success in urban districts that have managed not only to raise student achievement overall but also to shrink racial and economic disparities in achievement levels.
Agenda, Scope, and Goals
The Foundations for Success study focuses on the role of school districts in initiating and sustaining academic improvement in inner-city schools. Conducted by MDRC for The Council of the Great City Schools, the study addressed four main questions:
- What was the historical, administrative, and programmatic context within which student performance improved in districts that both raised achievement and narrowed the achievement gap?
- What was the nature of the changes in student achievement that took place (for example, did they pertain only to certain schools or subgroups of students)?
- What district-level strategies were used to improve student achievement and reduce racial disparities?
- What was the connection between policies, practices, and strategies at the district levels and changes in teaching and learning in the classroom?
Design, Sites, and Data Sources
To answer these questions, MDRC looked at three urban school districts and a portion of a fourth that were identified by an external advisory group as having improved academic performance and reduced racial disparities in student achievement. These districts are:
- the Charlotte-Mecklenburg (North Carolina) School District
- the Houston Independent School District
- the Sacramento City Unified School District
- the Chancellor’s District in New York City
MDRC conducted case studies in these districts and in two comparison districts where outcomes had not improved. During the course of site visits to the districts, MDRC staff interviewed and conducted focus groups with administrators and teachers, as well as reviewed district documents and student test scores.
The research was designed to be exploratory, and its findings are best seen as hypotheses about promising district-level practices that warrant broader systematic testing.
What's Next
MDRC is working to develop future demonstration projects that will rigorously test the hypotheses arising from the Foundations for Success.
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