Mark Berends

Examines several nationally representative senior high school student cohorts between the early 1970s to early 1990s to understand trends in the mathematics scores of these different racial-ethnic groups. 450-character abstract: Examines trends in the mathematics scores of different racial-ethnic groups over time and analyzes how changes in family, school, and schooling measures help explain changes in the test score gaps. Although there were few positive changes between schools, the within-school experiences of black and Latino students changed for the better compared with white students when measured by student self-reported academic track placement.

After a decade of studies, this report draws together RAND's research on New American Schools, highlighting the organization's significant contribution to comprehensive school reform and noting the challenges that came with implementing whole-school designs. About a decade ago, New American Schools (NAS) set out to address the perceived lagging performance of American students and the lackluster results of school reform efforts. As a private nonprofit organization, NAS's mission was-and is-to help schools and districts raise student achievement levels by using whole-school designs and design team assistance during implementation. Since its inception, NAS has engaged in a development phase (1992-1993), a demonstration phase (1993-1995), and a scale-up phase (1995-present). Over the last ten years, RAND has been monitoring the progress of the NAS initiative. This book is a retrospective on NAS and draws together the findings from RAND research. The book underscores the significant contributions made by NAS to comprehensive school reform but also highlights the challenges of trying to reform schools through whole-school designs. Divided into sections on each research phase, the book concludes with an afterword by NAS updating its own strategy for the future. This book will interest those who want to better understand comprehensive school reform and its effects on teaching and learning within high-stakes accountability environments.

New American Schools (NAS) offers whole-school designs for schools and districts seeking to significantly raise the achievement of large numbers of students; RAND evaluated NAS reforms1 effects on students and teachers in high-poverty schools. A decade ago, New American Schools (NAS) launched an ambitious effort for whole-school reform to address the perceived lagging achievement of American students and the lackluster school reform attempts that have produced so few meaningful changes. As a private nonprofit organization, NAS set out to help schools and districts significantly raise the achievement of large numbers of students by offering whole-school designs and design-based assistance during the implementation process. NAS is currently in the scale-up phase of its effort, and its designs are being widely diffused to schools across the nation. During the 1997-1998 and 1998-1999 school years, RAND assessed the effects of NAS designs on classroom practice and student achievement in a sample of schools in a high-poverty district. RAND found that high-poverty schools often have fragmented and conflicting environments with difficult and changing political currents and entrenched unions. Teachers in high-poverty schools tend to face new accountability systems and fluctuating reform agendas. These teachers generally lack sufficient time for implementing reform efforts, often becoming demoralized and losing their enthusiasm for the difficult task of improving student performance under difficult conditions. RAND concluded that high-stakes tests may motivate schools to increase performance and to seek out new curricula and instructional strategies associated with comprehensive school reforms. However, those same tests may provide disincentives to adopt richer, more in-depth curricula that can succeed in improving the learning opportunities of all students, particularly those in high-poverty settings. (cp)

This study sets forth the RAND statistical analyses determining both the areas of significant progress in the New American Schools scale-up of implementation of its whole-school reform designs, and various other areas in need of additional attention. New American Schools (NAS) was founded in 1991 as a private, non-profit organization dedicated to whole-school reform. NAS's mission is to help schools and districts significantly raise the achievement of large numbers of students with whole-school designs and the assistance design teams provide during the implementation process. NAS is currently in the scale-up phase of its effort in which the designs are being widely diffused in partnering jurisdictions across the nation. An earlier report, Implementation and Performance in New American Schools, by Berends, Kirby, et al. (2001) provided an overview of the progress in implementation and performance in a longitudinal sample of schools three years into the scale-up phase. This report provides an update on the progress of implementation a year later. These schools adopted one of seven NAS designs and are located in one of seven jurisdictions that chose to partner with NAS at the beginning of the scale-up phase. The study focused on three research questions: What was the level of implementation in NAS schools four years after scale-up and how has this changed over time? What factors impeded or facilitated the implementation of NAS designs in these schools? Among schools that dropped the NAS designs, what factors contributed to this decision? The report makes clear that several factors need to be aligned for designs to be well-implemented in schools: strong principal leadership, teachers who support the designs and have a strong sense of efficacy, strong district leadership and support, and clear communication and assistance from design teams. Without strong implementation, the promise of these designs to help schools improve is unlikely to be met. These are sobering and important lessons for federal, state, and local efforts aimed at comprehensive school reform. (PA)

An analysis of the effects of changing family characteristics and demographics on aptitude scores. The conclusions undercut the conventional wisdom about failing schools, deteriorating families, and ineffective public policies.