Philadelphia’s Renaissance Schools Initiative at 18 Months

Posted by on February 27, 2012

Philadelphia’s Renaissance Schools Initiative at 18 Months

Can chronically low-performing schools dramatically improve in a short period of time? That was the question that the Renaissance Schools Initiative – Philadelphia’s approach to the turnaround school reform model – sought to answer when it was implemented in 2009.

Eighteen months into the Initiative, as the School District of Philadelphia and the School Reform Commission deliberate its future against the backdrop of severe budget cuts, RFA has released results of its evaluation of the Renaissance Schools. RFA’s research represents the most exhaustive study of school turnarounds – a key element in federal and state education reforms – in the commonwealth and region to date. The study focused on determining whether the first group of 13 schools – both District-run Promise Academies and Charter-managed schools – made early progress toward the longer-term goal of dramatically improving student outcomes.

Overall, both district- and charter-managed models of Renaissance Schools made notable progress in Year One of the Initiative, improving significantly on all other student outcomes measured. However, these schools remain among the lowest performing in the District. It is also too early in the life of the Initiative to determine whether these preliminary results will be sustained over time.

RFA’s study compared Renaissance Schools – including 11 K-8 schools and two high schools – with 72 “Comparison Schools” district-wide that shared similar characteristics to determine the Initiative’s impact on student achievement. Key Year One findings include:

Student achievement in K-8 Renaissance schools improved to a statistically significant degree more than did achievement at similar schools not included in the Initiative. Specifically, Renaissance School student achievement significantly outpaced that of Comparison Schools on increasing the percentage of students scoring Proficient or above on state tests (Math and Reading PSSAs), as well as decreasing the number of students who fall in the lowest, Below Basic level.
Student attendance at Renaissance Schools increased significantly more than did attendance at Comparison Schools. While attendance remained flat at the Comparison Schools, attendance at the Renaissance Schools increased from 90% in 2010 to 92% in 2011.
Because only two Renaissance High Schools were operational during the first year of the Initiative, the sample size was too small to conduct meaningful tests of differences. However, our analyses of student achievement and attendance reveal no major changes at Renaissance High Schools in their first year of operation.

As a second step, RFA looked within the Initiative to conduct comparative analyses of student achievement and attendance between the Promise Academy model and the Charter-managed model.

There was no statistically significant difference in either student achievement or attendance between the K-8 Promise Academies and the Charter-managed Renaissance Schools. In other words, both models performed at roughly equivalent levels in this measure. Both models significantly out-performed the Comparison Schools in terms of increases in student achievement and attendance.

Third, RFA conducted analyses to determine differences among the five operators of Renaissance Schools during 2010-11, including District-run Promise Academies (four schools); Mastery Charter School (three schools); Universal Companies (two schools); ASPIRA (one school); and Young Scholars Academy (one school).

Comparisons among Renaissance School providers reveal roughly equivalent performance along student achievement and attendance measures across all providers and operators.

RFA also conducted case studies of two Promise Academies during the early months of Year Two of the Initiative (2011-12 school year). These examinations sought to observe promising practices and challenges unfolding as the Initiative matured. Researchers found that principals are the main drivers of the reform within their schools, and identified several promising practices that seem to be related to successful implementation of the Renaissance Schools model, including:

School leaders support teacher growth with ongoing observation, assessment, and professional development to improve instruction.
Principals site-select teachers to work in their schools.
School leaders and teachers use multiple data sources to track student progress and adjust instruction.
Principals encourage teacher collaboration.
Principals encourage teachers to adapt the curriculum within the Promise Academy Way, a “leadership handbook” that outlines expectations for Promise Academies.

However, the context in which Year Two of the Renaissance Schools Initiative unfolded was very different than that in Year One of the reform. The Renaissance Schools Initiative was conceived and implemented at a time when the District had adequate financial resources, but 2011 brought unprecedented financial strain and organizational turnover, including the departure of former CEO Arlene Ackerman. Significant reductions in Central Office staffing, deep teacher and staff layoffs, and devastating program and budget cuts challenged the schools in the following ways:

A late hiring process with little time for orientation;
Significant staff reductions as a result of District cut-backs;
High levels of teacher turnover;
Heavy use of corrective reading and math programs intended to increase student achievement; and
Heavy reliance on District instruction, particularly around prescribed curricula.

Important contextual factors, such as the challenges detailed above, will require careful monitoring as the Initiative unfolds. In particular, additional research will be needed to determine whether the gains are sustained in future years of the reform effort.

To download:

The full report, click here: http://www.researchforaction.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/RFA-Renaissance-Schools-18-Month-Report.pdf
The executive summary, click here: http://www.researchforaction.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/RFA-Renaissance-Schools-Executive-Summary.pdf

Be sure to check this page on our website to follow emerging national and local news coverage on this report.

http://www.researchforaction.org/spotlight-renaissance-schools-at-18-months/