High School Reform Conference Series

Using Rigorous Evidence to Improve Policy and Practice
Colloquium Report

January 22 & 23, 2004, New Orleans, Louisiana

Session I presenters (left to right): Larry Cuban, Professor Emeritus, Stanford University; Charles Payne, Professor, Duke University; James Kemple, Senior Fellow, MDRC Conference participants

Agenda

A Research Colloquium

Convened by MDRC

Co-Conveners

Sponsors

January 22 & 23, 2004

Thursday, January 22, 2004

Opening Remarks

Welcome and Introductions

Robert Ivry
Senior Vice President,
Development and External Affairs,
MDRC

Goals in Supporting Annual Research Conferences

David Ferrero
Director of Evaluation and Policy Research, Education Program,
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Words from the Co-Conveners

Naomi Housman
Coordinator,
National High School Alliance

Shirley Schwartz
Director of Special Projects,
Council of the Great City Schools

Importance of Rigorous Research

Phoebe Cottingham
Commissioner,
National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance,
Institute for Education Sciences,
U.S. Department of Education

SESSION I

How Far Have We Come and Where Are We Headed?

High School Reform: A Historical Perspective
Focus: Issues, both academic and structural, which have been historically significant drivers shaping past and current high school reform initiatives

Speaker:

Larry Cuban
Professor Emeritus of Education,
Stanford University

Discussant:

Charles Payne
Sally Dalton Robinson Professor of African-American Studies, History, and Sociology,
Duke University

Facilitator:

James Kemple
Senior Fellow, Education, Children, and Youth Department,
MDRC

High School Reform: Federal, State and Local Perspectives
Focus: Given the range of stakeholders in high school reform, key concerns that shape the perspectives of both policymakers and practitioners at the local, state, and national levels

Panelists:

Hans Meeder
Deputy Assistant Secretary,
Office of Vocational and Adult Education,
U.S. Department of Education

Judy Bray
Consultant, State Education Analyst

Shirley Schwartz
Director of Special Projects,
Council of the Great City Schools

Facilitator:

Monica Martinez
Founder, National High School Alliance
Director, The Network for the Advancement of Secondary Education (NASE)

Friday, January 23, 2004

SESSION II

The Role of Research

Is There Any Solid Evidence of Positive Effects for Students?
Focus: What do we really know about the effects of high school reform initiatives
— and how do we know what we know?

Presenter:

David Stern
Professor of Education,
University of California, Berkeley

Discussant:

Richard Murnane
Juliana W. and William Foss Thompson Professor of Education and Society,
Harvard University Graduate School of Education

Facilitator:

Marsha Silverberg
Economist, National Center for Education Evaluation,
Institute for Education Sciences,
U.S. Department of Education

Using "Effect Size" to Judge Success: How Big is Big Enough?
Focus: Effect size is becoming a metric more frequently used to determine outcomes in education research studies. This discussion addresses some of the advantages and challenges of applying this methodology to high school reform initiatives.

Co-presenters:

Howard Bloom
Chief Social Scientist,
MDRC

Mark Lipsey
Director, Center for Evaluation Research and Methodology,
Vanderbilt Institute for Public Policy Studies,
Vanderbilt University

Facilitator:

James Kemple
MDRC

SESSION III

Studying Approaches to High School Reform

Overview

Fred Doolittle
Vice President, Education, Children, and Youth Department,
MDRC

Focus: Using a "case study" approach, panelists discuss research methodology strengths and the challenges that exist in researching several types of high school reform initiatives — including school-level interventions, school design principles, and district-level policy levers for change. In addition, a panel of district superintendents discusses "research questions" that matter to administrators who are accountable for high school improvement in urban districts.

Case Study A: School Level Models

Panelists:

James Kemple
MDRC
Career Academies

Corinne Herlihy
Research Associate, Education, Children, and Youth Department,
MDRC
Talent Development High Schools

Case Study B: School Design Principles

Panelists:

Barbara Means
Director, Center for Technology in Learning
Co-Principal Investigator, SRI International
Gates Schools Initiative

David Rhodes
Senior Research Analyst,
American Institutes for Research
Gates Schools Initiative

Facilitator:

C. Kent McGuire
Dean, College of Education,
Temple University

What Research Questions Matter to Superintendents?

Panelists:

Anthony Amato
Superintendent, New Orleans Public Schools

Bernard Taylor
Superintendent, Kansas City, Missouri School District

Facilitator:

Janet Quint
Research Manager, First Things First Evaluation
Senior Associate, Education, Children, and Youth Department,
MDRC

Case Study C: A District Strategy for High School Reform

Presenter:

G. Alfred Hess
Research Professor of Education and Social Policy,
Northwestern University, Center for Urban School Policy

Discussant:

George Bohrnstedt
Senior Vice President for Research,
American Institutes for Research

Facilitator:

C. Kent McGuire
Temple University

Reflections on the Colloquium

Key Themes

Glee Holton
Director of Development,
MDRC

Panelists:

Phoebe Cottingham
Institute for Education Sciences

David Ferrero
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Steve Fleischman
Principal Research Scientist,
American Institutes for Research

Facilitator:

Fred Doolittle
MDRC

Closing Remarks