Abstract/Notes: This article uses the case of independent charter schools in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to test whether New Public Management style reforms are compatible with the public administration pillar of social equity. Using three years of data, the author identifies inequities in access and outcomes due to the structural differences between charter and traditional public schools. Structural differences include governance, admissions, and transportation policies. Overall, independent charter schools serve fewer Black pupils, are less accessible, but do obtain comparatively better achievement scores. The article concludes with suggestions on how metagovernance can be used to ensure social equity in decentralized governance reforms. The study demonstrates how social equity can be analytically evaluated in a governance reform environment, and provides guidance on how structural barriers to social equity can be overcome in complex governing networks.

Language: English

DOI: 10.1080/10999922.2021.1908730

ISSN: 1099-9922

Abstract/Notes: Using 232 studies, this meta analysis reviewed the research on the achievement effects of the nationally disseminated and externally developed school improvement programs known as "whole-school" or "comprehensive" reforms. In addition to reviewing the overall achievement effects of comprehensive school reform (CSR), the meta analysis considered the specific effects of 29 of the most widely implemented models. It also assessed how various CSR components, contextual factors, and methodological factors associated with the studies mediate the effects of CSR. The analysis concludes that CSR is still an evolving field and that there are limitations on the overall quantity and quality of the research base. The overall effects of CSR, though, appear promising and the combined quantity, quality, and statistical significance of evidence from three of the models in particular set them apart from the rest. Whether evaluations are carried out by the developer or by third-party evaluators and whether these evaluators use one-group pre-post designs or control groups are especially important factors for understanding differences in CSR effects. Schools implementing CSR models for five years or more showed particularly strong effects, but the models benefited equally schools of higher and lower poverty levels. A long-term commitment to research-proven educational reform is needed to establish a strong marketplace of scientifically based models capable of bringing comprehensive reform to the nations schools. One appendix lists studies included in the meta analysis, and the other discusses CSR design characteristics. (Contains 1 figure, 5 tables, and 74 references.) (SLD) Also included in JSTOR: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3516091

Language: English

DOI: 10.3102/00346543073002125

ISSN: 0034-6543, 1935-1046

Abstract/Notes: This qualitative ethnographic case study explored the evolution of a public urban high school in its 3rd year of small school reform. The study focused on how the high school proceeded from its initial concept, moving to a small school program, and emerging as a new small high school. Data collection included interviews, observations, and document review to develop a case study of one small high school sharing a multiplex building. The first key finding, “Too Many Pieces, Not Enough Glue,” revealed that the school had too many new programs starting at once and they lacked a clear understanding of their concept and vision for their new small school, training on the Montessori philosophies, teaching and learning in small schools, and how to operate within a teacher-cooperative model. The second key finding, “A Continuous Struggle,” revealed that the shared building space presented problems for teachers and students. District policies remain unchanged, resulting in staff and students resorting to activist approaches to get things done. These findings offer small school reform leaders suggestions for developing and sustaining a small school culture and cohesion despite the pressures to revert back to top-down, comprehensive high school norms.

Language: English

DOI: 10.1177/2158244013486789

ISSN: 2158-2440

Language: French

ISSN: 0304-3045

Language: German

Published: Düsseldorf, Germany: Schwann, 1986

ISBN: 3-590-14480-7 978-3-590-14480-4

Language: German

Published: Münster, Germany: Lit, 2017

ISBN: 978-3-643-12157-8 3-643-12157-1

Series: Impulse der Reformpädagogik , 20

Language: English

ISSN: 0519-0959

Language: English

ISSN: 1054-0040

Language: English

ISSN: 1054-0040

Language: English

ISSN: 1054-0040