NREL Has Learned Over the Past 20 Years About Variouwcommunity-Based Learning Programs

DOCUMENT RESUME

ED 397 476 EA 027 711

TITLE School Improvemént Research Series: Series X, 1995-96. INSTITUTION Northwest Regional Educational Lab., Portland, Oreg. SPONS AGENCY Office of Educational Research and Improvement (ED), Washington, DC. PUB DATE 96 CONTRACT RP91002001 NOTE 103p. AVAILABLE FROMNorthwest Regional Educational Laboratory, 101 S.W. Main Street, Suite 500, Portland, OR 97204. PUB TYPE Collected Works General (020) -- Information Analyses (070)

EDRS PRICE MF01/PC05 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Academic Achievement; *Change Strategies; Citizenship Education; Cooperative Education; *Educational Improvement; Elementary Secondary Education; *Excellence in Education; *Experiential Learning; Integrated Services; Learning Experience; Learning Strategies; Organizational Climate; School Size

ABSTRACT This packet contains seven research briefs in the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory's (NWREL's) "School Improvement Research Series" for 1995-96. Topical Synthesis #8, "Community-Based Learning: A Foundation for Meaningful Educational Reform" (Thomas R. Owens and Changhua Wang) summarizes les..ons that NREL has learned over the past 20 years about variouwcommunity-based learning programs. Close-Up #19, "Educating for Citizenship" (Kathleen Cotton), describes issues concerning the content and processes of civic education. Close-Up #20, "School Size, School Climate, and Student Performance" (Kathleen Cotton), reviews research literature that examined the relationships among school size, school climate, and student performance. Snapshot 1/37, "Providing Integrated Services in an Inner-City School" (Joan Shaughnessy), relates how a small innAr-city public elementary school--the Family Academy, New York, New York--designed an approach that successfully integrated social services with academic learning. Snapshot #38, "Integrating Middle School Curriculum around Real-World Issues" (James W. Kushman) describes how Waldo Middle School in Salem, Oregon, integrated middle-school curriculum around real-world issues. Snapshot #39, "Improving Elementary School Climate" (Kathleen Cotton), describes how Bonneville Elementary School in Pocatello, Idaho improved its school climate. Snapshot #40, "Leading an Inner-City School to 'Overall Excellence' (Kathleen Cotton), describes how an inner-city school--the Thurgood Marshall Elementary School in Seattle, Washington--received national recognition for overall excellence through the leadership of the principal and key staff members. References accompany most of the briefs. (LMI) Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory 101S.W. Main Street, Suite 500 Ponland, Oregon97204-3297 (503)275-9500

Writer's Direct Dial Number: Fax: Internet:

SCHOOL TMPROVEMENT RESEARCH SERIES

SERIES X 1995-96

1.TOPICAL SYNTHESIS #8 Community-Based Learning: A Foundation for Meaningful Educational Reform

2.CLOSE-UP #19 Educating for Citizenship

3.CLOSE-UP #20 School Size, School Climate, and Student Performance

4.SNAPSHOT #37 Providing Integrated Services in an Inner-CiV School

5.SNAPSHOT #38 Integrating Middle School Curriculum Around Real-World Issues

6.SNAPSHOT #39 Improving Elementary School Climate

7.SNAPSHOT #40 Leading an Elementary School to "Overall Excellence7

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office ot Eaucahonei Research arm improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it. 0 Minor changes have been made to Improve reproduction qualify.

Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy.

BEST COPY AVAILABLE

AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT RESEARCH ...,e,RIES Table of Contents: Series VI-X Year Series "Research You Can Use" PRODUCTS Collaboration#5:1891-02/SeziesVI to Improve School-Community Management#6: 1992-03/SeriesVII School-Based Harmony#7: Fostering in Schools: Intercultural1993-841SeriesVIII UpdatedSynthesis Research on Effective1994-05/SerieslX Learning:#8: A Foundation 1995-06/SeriesXCommunity-Based Topical Syntheses #11:UrbantheFamilies Quality Teaching Youth of andLife Thinking Their for #13: Developing #15:Research Developing Findings #17:Schooling Reducing Practices the Reformfor419: Meaningful Educating Educational for Close-Ups Skills#12: Staff Development YouthEmpathyEducation#14: Nongraded in Children Primary and EmployabilityCurriculum#16: Integrated Skills TutoringDropout#18: Peer Rate and Cross-Age CitizenshipPerformanceClimate,#20: School and Size, Student School MiddleQualityand#21: Assess Learning School,- James Writing toSan Lick Write Stevencon-CarsonStudent#25:District, Building Self-Concept Stevenson, Positive School - WA #29:Salem,entaryProgramNongraded Implementing School,NC Elementary Winston- a Konnoak Elem- andershipStrongImprovement#33: the -Instructional DemonstrationSale Elementary Through Lead- Engendering School School#37:Academy,Services Providing - The in FamilyNew an Integrated Inner-City York, NY Snapshots Francieco,TraditionalProductively#22: Using CA School,School - J.S. ChickTime InnovativeMathematics#26: Achieving Programming Through Success in - School,MakingThrough#30: School Junction- Teacher Laurel Improvement City,Elementary Decision OR Through#34:School,VisualMathematics Promoting Columbus, aMath Hands-On Program LearningStudent MS and - #38:MiddleReal-WorldSchool Integrating CurriculumSchool, Issues Middle Salem, - AroundWaldo OR #23:KansasPerformance Improving City, MO ThroughStudent Students#27:Portland,Davis Success Elementary ThroughOR for At-Risk School, Secondary#31: Restructuring Level: at the Grouping, PortsmouthQuality#35:Portland, Applying Management MiddleOR Total School, tary#39: School Improving Climate Elemen- - School,CollegeMastery Lynnwood,Place Learning Middle - WA HighInstructionComputer-Assisted School, - PensacolaPensacola, FL Norktown,mentInstruction, - York VA andHigh Assess- School, cumbeEducationPrinciples#36:Sitka, High Preparing AK to- Mt. School,Secondary Edge- High School,Bonneville#40: LeadingPocatello, Elementary an ID Elemen- #24:School,SouthChild-InitiatedCurriculum Restructuring Colby Port to Orchard,Elementary ActivityPromote the WA - School,Multiethnic#28:Linda Restructuring San Vista Diego,Environment Elementary CAin a - OklahomaShidlerMultiethnic#32: Rejuvenating Elementary City, Urban OK Schoola School, - SchoolLeonardtown,CountyPrepWorld StudentsProgram of Public Work MDfor-Schools, inSt. thea Mary'sTech Excellence"tarySchool,Marshall School Seattle, -Elementaryto Thurgood "Overall WA Telephone3503)NorthwestPortland,101 S.W. Regional MainOregon Street, Educational97204 Suite 500 Laboratory 275-9500 DevelopmentSchool, Community Program and Professional 4 1 SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT -RESEARCH SERIES "Research You Can Use"

Topical Synthesis #8 Community-Based Learning: A Foundation for Meaningful Educational Reform

Thomas IL Owens Changhua Wang

In my community experience, I went bilities. They feel cut off from meaningful from learning what something is, to relationships with caring adults. As a result, applying it to real life. I learned why I they are often unmotivated to study and view need to know the things that I learned education as something imposed by adults in math class. I had -ct chance to work rather than an exciting opportunity for them with some neat people who let me try to develop their skills and contribute to others. out things for myself The mentor In short, there is a growing consensus that really seemed to care about me as a change is needed in education, not only in person, and I had fun.A Student reforming what is taught but also in how and where it is taught.

Introduction This topical synthesis summarizes what we have learned over the past 20 years about Many of today's leaders in education, business, various community-based learning programs and community development are coining to and describes how community-based learning realize, even more than in the past, that can serve as an important contribution to schools alone cannot prepare our youth for educational reform in the future. The paper productive adulthood. These leaders are ready first defmes what we mean by community- to try new approaches that link learning based learning and discusses it as a philoso- activities in classrooms with a full range of phy, program, set of strategies, and expected learning experiences available in our commu- outcomes. Next, we describe the advantages nities. of having multiple outcomes for community- based learning that include a youth develop- Perhaps more important than the views of ment perspective. We review the barriers that adults are the views of young people about have faced this form of learning. The research themselves and their schools. Students often regarding community-based learning is dis- complain that their classes are irrelevant, not cussed, followed by its contribution to educa- related to what occurs outside of the class- tional reform. Finally, we state some conclu- room, and lacking opportunities for hands-on sions and recommendations for future direc- applications. They feel they are treated as tions. Following the text we cite key refer- children instead of being given adult responsi- ences and general references.

Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory 101 S.W. Main Street, Suite 500 Portland, Oregon 97204 School, Community and Professional Telephone 1503) 275-9500 Development Program t education that includes critical thinking, What is Community- teamwork, and the ability to apply knowl- Based Learning? edge.

This synthesis uses the term community-based Adults need to be involved in community learning as a broad framework that includes affairs and to balance work, family and service-learning, experiential learning, School- community responsibilities. to-Work, youth apprenticeship, lifelong learning and other types. A problem with these Problems affecting learners today are individual approaches is that each focuses on much broader than schools alone can only a portion of the learning outcomes that solve. Involvement of the family, busi- can potentially be achieved through commu- ness, labor, the community, and other nity-based learning. For example, service- agencies is essential. learning concentrateo on learning emerging from service provided to meet important Resistance by some teachers, schools, and needssuch as cleaning up our riversin a communities to the changes implied by the particular community, while School-to-Work above assumptions is to be expected. generally focuses only on preparing youth for Helping these groups to see the need for employment. change and to feel empowered to guide these changes is an important challenge We define community-based learning as the facing the new leadership in education. broad set of teaching/learning strategies that Without this vision, supported by adequate enable youth and adults to learn what they resources and staff development, these want to learn from any segment of the com- changes are unlikely to occur. munity. Our definition provides for learners of all ages to identify what they wish to learn and Examples of Community- opens up an unlimited set of resources to support them. By community, we are includ- Based Learning Programs ing the schools, formal and informal institutions in one's neighborhood, and the entire Many programs have been funded and devel- world through such resources as the Internet. oped that involve important elements of community-based learning. A few of them are Principles of community-based learning relate described here briefly, and their contributions to the changing nature of society, the learner, to the learning process are discussed in the the learning processes, and sources for learn- next section. Service;learning, Experience- ing. These principles have been articulated Based Career Education, Cooperative Educa- and refined over a five-year period by partici- tion, Tech Prep, School-to-Work, and Youth pants in a summer seminar organized by the Apprenticeship are some of the more common Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory ones. and focused on future directions in work- relevant education. This group, in preparingA SERVICE-LEARNING Model for Restructuring Education for the 21st Century (Owens 1994), identified several The National and Community Service Act of critical assumptions that can serve as a 1990 (amended in 1993) defined service- foundation for community-based learning: learning as a method of teaching and learning: 1) by which young people learn and develop Education must be viewed as a continuum through active participation in thoughtfully from preschool through lifelong education organized service experiences that meet for adults. community needs and that are coordinated with the school and community; 2) that is Learning is what we do for ourselves. It integrated into the academic curriculum or therefore requires the full involvement of provides structured time for a young person to the learner as well as the teacher/mentor. think, talk, or write about what he/she did and aaw during the service activity; 3) that pro- Jobs in the future will require not only vides young people with opportunities to use more education, but a different type of newly acquired academic skills and knowledge in real-life situations in their own communi-

PAGE2 TOPICAL SYNTHESIS #8 ties; and 4) that enhances what is taught in EBCE was designed to bridge the gap the school by extending student learning between study and experience and beyond the classroom and into the community between the classroom and the com- and helps to foster the development of a sense munity. It takes the subject matter of caring for others (Alliance for Service- students normally study, adds many Learning in Education Reform 1993, p. 971). new ingredients about people, jobs, self, and the way communities work, In a more abbreviated form, service-learning and lets high school and post-second- has been defined by the National Service- ary students learn about them in the Learning Cooperative as "a teaching/learning community through direct interaction method that connects meaningful community with adults in all walks of life. In the service experiences with academic learning, process students earn academic credit, personal growth, and civic responsibility" explore the real dimensions of many (Poulsen 1994, p. 4). The National and Com- careers, learn much about who they munity Service Trust Act was signed in 1994 are and what they want to become, to create opportunities for young people to and master many of the skills they will become personally involved in improving their need to succeed as adults in America communities while pursuing their personal (p. 66). and social development. As stated in the recent Youth Preparation for Employment Recently, Shumer (1995) has stated that: policy reference document (Council of Chief State School Officers 1994, p. 23), Many of the [EBCE] programs included service-learning activities, with Service represents a point of interface students working in hospitals, schools, between school-, community- and day-care centers, and many social work-site learning and can be used at agencies. Students tied their commu- almost any point in the youth develop- nity learning experiences to classes ment continuum, kindergarten held on campus, usually as part of through post high school. Service- their regular acadbmic program. In learning represents an opportunity for many ways, these EBCE programs schools and postsecondary institutions were more integrated into the curricu- to work with employers and young lu,n than most service-learning people s'o provide meaningful opportu- programs today (p. 2). nities for community service combined with the academic and technical skills The concepts of EBCE first developed in the that employers require. For children, early 1970s have generated some projects that it offers exposure to the world of work have continued on for over 20 years. They and community and provides a context have also served as the springboard for a new for building academic and work readi- set of programs funded by the U.S. Depart- ness skills. For youth, it offers valu- ment of Education, called Community-Based able explorations into and experiences Education Centers, that are being coordinated with real world needs which can be by the Northwest Regional Educational addressed through action and initiative Laboratory in six communities across the while further solidifying their work United States. readiness, academic and technical skills Service represents a holistic COOPERATIVE EDUCATION approach to youth development and the building of multiple competencies. Cooperative education is probably the most common form of community-based learning EXPERIENCE BASED CAREER EDUCATION program used by the schools. It was offered by 47 percent of the nation's public high schools Experience Based Career Education (EBCE) in 1991-92 (Stern, et al. 1994, p. 5). In most was developed by four regional educational cases, cooperative education is a paid experi- laboratories in the early 1970s. As Bucknam ence in which students are employed in jobs and Brand (1983) state: directly related to the vocational courses they are studying in high school or college. Stu- dents receive school credit for this supervised

TOPICAL SYNTHESIS #8 PAGE3 work. The level of coordination between the SCHOOL-TO-WORK school staff and the employers varies widely from program to program. While associated The School-to-Work Opportunities Act signed mainly with high schools or community into law on May 4, 1994 is one of the newcom- colleges, cooperative education programs have ers to the community-based learning club. operated successfully at a number of public Districts receiving School-to-Work funds are and private colleges. expected to have three major elements: 1) school-based learning related to each As a federally funded program, cooperative student's interests, includingbroad-based education has been defined in the 1990 academics, career exploration and counseling; Perkins Amendment as 2) work-based learning that provides a planned program ofjob training experiences, paid work ...a method of instruction of vocational experience, workplace mentoring, and instruc- education for individuals who, through tion in general workplace competencies and in written cooperative arrangements a broad variety of elements of an industry; and between the school and employers, 3) activities to connect the two through receive instruction, including required training of teachers, counselors, and mentors academic courses and related voca- and through involvement of schools and tional instruction, by alternation of employers. study in school with a job in any occupational field. Such alternation As with Tech Prep, School-to-Work is per- shall be planned and supervised by the ceived by some educators to be a program with school and employers so that each specific students enrolled and by others as an contributes to the student's education educational reform strategy involving all and to his orher employability (Stern, students. The legislaticin itself stresses that et aL 1994, p. 13). School-to-Work is intended for all students and is meant to be systemic reform. As with other TECH PREP educational reform efforts, School-to-Work is sometimes associated with only a portion of Tech Prep is a federally funded program begun the community-based learning continuum and under the Tech Prep Education Act as part of thus fails to achieve its potential impact. the 1990 Perkins Amendment. Tech Prep programs are operating in all 50 states Yourn APPRENTICESHIP through consortia involving secondary and postsecondary institutions in collaboration While the above examples of community-based with business and industry. Generally, these learning are governed by federal legislation programs start in at least 11th grade and and funding, youth apprenticeship, as con- encourage students to complete an associate ceived by Steven Hamilton (1990) and others, degree or higher. Vocational curricula focus- draws on Hamilton's study of apprenticeships ing on high technology areas are combined in Germany and programs such as the Finance with applied academic courses that are de- Academy in the United States. Hamilton has signed to prepare students for success in high- described youth apprenticeship as involving performance workplaces. While cooperative workplaces as learning environments, creating education is generally perceived as a course or opportunities for mentor relationships to program, Tech Prep is viewed by some as a provide adult role models, and developing the specific program focused primarily on the high levels of academic and vocational skills average student and by others as an educa- being sought by employers. Youth apprentice- tional reform measure intended for ctll second- ships are viewed by Hamilton as including "the ary students. Key elements intended for all Job Corps, summer Training and Education students include career counseling, an indi- Program, community service, Foxfire pro- vidual student plan, and often career clusters grams, Experience-Based Career Education, or pathways that all secondary students are cooperative education, and informal appren- expected to chose from in order to give direc- ticeships" ( Hamilton 1990, p. 40). tion in the high school t ourses they select to take. Robert Jones, Assistant U.S. Secretary of Labor for Employment and Training, has said

PAGE 4 TOPICAL SYNTHESIS #8 6 that, "In order to increase access, teach basic Other key elements of community-based skills, and use work-related structures, we learning or experiential learning include use of need to evolve a system in this country that is a mentor, student application of information truly an American-styled apprenticeship and collected (such as presenting it to a city council school to work system." (Northdurft and Jobs meeting), and integrating academic learning for the Future 1990, P. 19). with real-world usage. Learning Strategies of The role of mentors in community-based learning is critical. A mentor gives advice and Community-Based Learning encouragement, sharing the knowledge and wisdom of experience in a relationship that is While community-based learning involves a personal and enduring (Hamilton 1990, p. 156). philosophy and programs, most service- Mentors for youth may be described as teach- learning educators agtee that it is the learning ers, challengers, role models, supporters, and strategies that are the most critical aspect of companions. Ongoing research at Public community-based learning. At the National Private Ventures indicates that the most Conference on Service-Learning, School successful mentors are those who are engaged Reform, and Higher Education in 1994, partici- in developmental relationships with youth and pants agreed that: establish a strong, reliable bond through enjoyment of activities chosen together, as The focus is changing and must change opposed to a prescriptive relationship in which from teaching to learning, from outer- they expected to change the youth (Morrow directed, "expert"-driven curriculum and Styles 1995). and methodologies to more learner- centered, experience-based, connected The learning processes serving as a foundation ways of acquiring the knowledge, for community-based learning are well skills, and attitudes required for life in grounded in cognitive research. At the heart the world in which we now live and the of cognitive research is the observation that rapidly changing world in which our intelligence and expertise are built out of young people will live and work interaction with the environment, not in (Poulsen 1994, p. 2). isolation from it. This research shows that effective learning engages both head and hand What are the components of such community- and requires both knowing and doing. In their based learning? Zeke Zellerman of the Asso- classic book on cognitive research applications, ciation for Experiential Learning stated, at the Berryman and Bailey (1992) point out that 1994 Work Now and in the Future conference *Passive, fragmented, and decontextualized in Portland, Oregon, that there are three instruction organized around generating right criticalstepsframing (planning), the activity answers adds up to ineffective learning" (p. 68). itself, and reflection (Dukehart 1994). The Such decontextualized learning fails to enable clearer the framing, the more the learner will students to examine the ideas they bring to get from the experience. Generally, the the learning situation, to learn from their objectives for the learning are developed errors, or to look for patterns. jointly by the student and the teacher/mentor. The second step is the activity itself, which can Educators interested in developing effective be simple or complex with many steps. The learning practices can gain important insight third critical step is reflection or a debriefmg from looking at the nature of traditional on what was learned. According to Zellerman, apprenticeships. Berryman and Bailey identify the reflection can be done alone (in the form of six characteristics that could be applied to a journal, for example) or with a group. These community-based learning: discussions Often include an analysis of what went right, what went wrong, and what was 1.Apprenticeship is a way of life and may not unexpected. The reflection sets the stage for be recognized as a teaching effort. framing the next related activity. Programs such as Experience-Based Career Education 2.The work to be done is the driving force. have developed detailed guides to help students process what they have learned as well 3.There is a temporal ordering of skill as to raise questions for the future. acquisition from easy to more difficult.

TOPICAL SYNTHESIS #8 PAGE 5 9 4.Bodily performance and embodied knowl- Cognitive research over the past ten years has edge are visible shown that the quality of cognitive performance often depends on the context in which 5.Standards of performance and evaluation the performance occurs. People who perform of competence are implicit and often tasks well in one setting may not perform internalized by the apprentice. them well in other settings. Learning which is "situated" in practical, work-related contexts is 6.Teachers and teaching are largely invis- both faster and more effective than learning ible. which is purely classroom based and unrelated to the contexts in which it is to be applied Collins, Brown and Newman (1989) identified (Resnick 1987). characteristics of ideal learning environments that are helpful to consider as we design Cognitive research is being applied today not effective community-based learning. Their only in schools but in industry. Erica Sorohan model has four building blocks: content, (1993) has identified some workplace applica- methods, sequence, and sociology. Content tions of this research and illustrates five involves the domain knowledge such as lessons learned: geography or architecture, tricks of the trade ussii by experts in solving problems, cognitive We embed learning in our individual ma aegement strategies such as thinkingand experiences, so we learn best when we plimniag skills, and learning strategies such as direct our own learning. those needed in exploring a new domain. We learn most effectively in context, so Teaching methods are used to help students learning should.be linked directly to work. observe, engage in, invent, or discover expert strategies in context. They include modeling, We learn from each other, so workplaces coaching, scaffolding and fading (sumestions or should enable us to communicate and support initially given by the teacher), articu- collaborate freely. lation to get students te identify the knowledge and problem-solving strategies they use, We continuously create knowledge, so we :.-eflection to compare one's problem-solving need to learn how to capture what we strategies with those of experts, and explora- know and share it with others. tion to solve problems and raise new questions. We learn unconsciously, so we need to learn how to recognize and question our Sequencing allows learning to be staged and tacit assumptions (p. 48). involves increasing complexity of tasks and concepts needed, increasing diversity of The principles cited above are equally appli- strategies or skills used, and developing an cable to schools and workplaces. overview before attending to details. In a study of common elements of three The sociology of learning involves reproducing distinctly different types of community-based the real-world environment for learning. It learning programs (Foxfire, EBCE, and Out- involves active communication with expert ward Bound), five aspects of learning strate- practitioners, intrinsic motivation for learning, gies were identified. Common learning cooperative learning, and competitive learning strategies were found to: 1) be based on an to compare the processes developed by various explicit theory of learning; 2) encourage learners to create a product. learners to perform tasks normally given to adults in our society; 3) emphasize a balance of Frequently, a few of the above processes are action, reflection, and application; 4) provide used in individual community-based learning learning experiences that are individualized, projects but seldomif everare all of them sequential, and developmental; and 5) provide systematically used in planning and carrying opportunities for unplanned learning from new out learning. If they were to be used, the experiences (Druian, Owens, and Owen 1995). likelihood of more positive and consietent outcomes would increase. Given the above discussion of characteristics of effective learning, Berryman (1995) raises the

PAGE 6 TOPICAL SYNTHESIS #8 o question of where cognitive apprenticeship Andrew Furco, from the Service-Learning skills can best be learnedthe schools or in R&D Center at the University of California at workplaces. The answer is that tbey can be Berkeley, has presented a systematic look at learned in either pla,:e if the conditions are the similarities and differences of service- right. To help reach a decision for a particular learning and School-to-Work transition pro- community, Berrynkai poses four useful grams. He describes the intended purposesof questions (pp. 209-2'13): both reforms as career development, academic development, personal development, social 1.Is the location org3nized to deliver effec- development, civic responsibility, and ethical tive and efficient learning? development (Furco 1995).

2.Does the learning location reflect the While many community-based learning knowledge.deli.ands of the workplace and programs include academic learning as an the work contexts in which knowledge and outcome, it is usually approached as a way to skill have to be used? reinforce the basic concepts learned in school. Motivation to learn the basics and the ability 3.Does the learning location deliver knowl- to apply them to real life situations are the edge and skills that are broadly applicable? unique additions of community-based learning.

4.Does the learning location blur the divi- While School-to-Work and service learning sion between academic and vocational? cover a wide spectrum of learner outcomes, a third set comes from the field of youth development. These outcomes include skill in being Expected Outcomes of an active and self-directed learner,leadership, Community-Based Learning and personal and social responsibility, ZAIdin (1995) and others, in their attempt to integrate The outcomes of community-based learning School-to-Work and youth development, state cover the full range of knowledge, skills, and that young people require opportunities and attitudes needed to be an effective citizen, supports to achieve desirable outcomes. worker, and lifelong learner. Articles and research reports across the various categories Two important federal initiatives provide a of community-based learning suggest five useful framework for looking at the learner major outcome areas: 1) academic, 2) career outcomes of community-based learningGoals and vocational, 3) personal-social development, 2000 and the SCANS report. The GOALS 4) service and work values, and 5) understand- 2000: Educate America Act calls for the ing and use of community resources. development of comprehensive state education strategies that result in the attainment of the As Robert.Blum has pointed out, national educational goals and lifelong learning systems. Goals for student learning are changing. While there is still an expectation Several of the national goals are being im- that students learn important facts, pacted directly by community-based learning. there is growing emphasis on applica- Goal 2 states that by the year 2000, the high tion of facts in problem solving and school graduation rate will increase to at least relating facts to life outside the school. 90 percent. Community-based learning makes In addition to learning traditional school relevant to students by connecting subject areas, students are expected to academic concepte to real-life applications and think critically, collaborate with makes students active learners who are others, transition smoothly from responsible for their own learning. school to work, fit into an increasingly diverse community, integrate what Goal 3 deals with student achievement and they learn across subjects and much citizenship. It states that by the year 2000, all more. As the content of what is to be students will leave grades 4, 8, and 12 having learned changes, so must the method- demonstrated competency over challenging

ologies of both learning and teaching subject matter,,including English, mathemat- shift (Blum 1995, p. 8). ics, science, foreign languages, civics and government, economics, arts, history, and

PAGE 7 TOPICAL SYNTHESIS #8 ii BEST COPY AVAILABLE geography, and that every school in America taught in schools and in the workplace, and will ensure that all students learn to use their then provide examples. As a result of seminar minds well, so they may be prepared for participation at the Menucha Summer Confer- responsible citizenship, further learning, and ence sponsored by the Northwest Regional productive employment in our nation's modern Educational Laboratory (NWREL) over a economy. In 1993, the nation's governors three-year period, participants added three adopted service-learning as an indicator of outcome areas to the ASCD list: technological citizenship in Goal 3. literacy, social-global awareness, and general occupational skills such as safety and flexibil- A second curriculum framework for grouping ity. For each of the ten outcome areas the skills needed to be an effective worker NWREL staff, with the input of the Menucha comes from the Secretary's Commission on participants, developed a set of specific learner Achieving Netessary Skills (SCANS) in the outcomes, school delivery strategies, and U.S. Department of Labor. In 1993 the family and community-based delivery strate- commission produced a useful document called gies (Owens 1994). Teaching the SCANS Competencies that illustrates how these competencies can be Conrad and Hedin (1989), based on a review of taught in schools and communities. The research in the field and various large-scale SCANS outcomes are made up of five compe- evaluations they had conducted of community- tencies and a three-part foundation of skills based learning programs (excluding those and personal qualities needed for high-quality focused on workforce preparation), identified job performance. The competencies state that areas where they expected such programs to effective workers can productively use re- have a positive effect on youth. They grouped sources, interpersonal skills, information, these outcomes under three headings: per- systems, and technology, with each of these sonal growth and development, intellectual spelled out in greater detail. For example, development and academic learning, and social interpersonal skills include working on teams, growth and development. Their specific teaching others, serving customers, leading, outcomes expected are listed below. negotiating, and working well.with people from culturally diverse backgrounds. The Personal Growth and Development foundations consist of basic skills (reading, writing, mathematics, speaking, and listening), Self-esteem thinking skills (thinking creatively, making Personal efficacy (sense of worth and decisions, solving problems, visualizing, competence) knowing how to learn, and reasoning), and Ego and moral development personal qualities (individual responsibility, Exploration of new roles, identities, and self-esteem, sociability, self-management and interests integrity). Willingness to take risks, accept new challenges A third grouping of community-based learning Taking responsibility for, acceptingconse- outcomes is a modification of the ones devel- quences of own actions oped by the American Society for Training and Development (Carnevale, Gainer, and Meltzer Intellectual Development and Academic 1990). In the ASTD book, Workplace Basics: Learning The Essential Skills Employers Want, the authors identify seven areas: 1) learning to Higher-level thinking skills learn; 2) basic competencies in reading, Content and skills directly related to writing, and computation; 3) communication service experience skills of speaking and listening effectively; Skills in learning from experience (to 4) problem solving and critical thinking; observe, ask questions, apply knowl- 5) managing personal and professional growth; edge) 6) group effectiveness; and 7) influencing Motivation to learn and retention of skills, including understanding of organiza- kn owledge tional climate and leadership. For eacharea, Insight, judgment, and understanding the authors describe what is intended, the theories that support it, and how itcan be

PAGE 8 1 2 TOPICAL SYNTHESIS $8 Social Growth and Development engage in many diverse activitiesfurnishing speakers, providing job shadowing, supervisin.g Political efficacy a teacher or student intern, and volunteering Knowledge and exploration of service- time to tutor students in math. An alternative related careers is to design ways that a business or other Understanding and appreciation of, and community organization can combine efforts. ability to relate to, people from a wide For example, while students are at a hospital range of backgrounds and life situations to perform service-learning, they might also hear about th z. variety of occupations at the Whereas the outcomes listed above are hospital, and do a science project in one of the expected, research results actually document- laboratories. ing some of them are discussed later in this synthesis. Barriers to Community- Advantages to an Based Learning Integrated Approach With all that we know about the benefits of community-based learning, why has it affected Just as high schools are often justly criticized relatively few educators and students, rather by students for compartmentalizing instruc- than becoming a mainstay of America's tion-50 minutes of history, followed by educational reform? algebra and then physical education, for exampleso, too, do community-based learn- From an ideological perspective, many educa- ing programs sometimes focus too narrowly on tors still maintain an older paradigm of outcomes immediately related to their fund- education, in which its purpose is to impart to ing. From an individual young person's students the content knowledge possessed by perspective, it makes no sense to learn only the teacher. In such a paradigm there is no leadership skills from the Boy Soauts, career need for input from students about what is to development from a career exploration at a be learned, when, where, or how. The teacher local company, and service-learning from a maintains control in directing education, and separate class that has students visiting students are tested to determine the extent to residents in a nursing home. Fragmentation which they have remembered what was is undesirable whether it occurs in the school, taught. Uoder the new paradigm, teachers a business, or a family. need to funcUon more in the role of coach and mentor. A more integrated alternative can be found in certain mentorship approaches where a young A second ideblArical barrier is the perception person gets to know and trust an adult. The of many school and community people that the student raight gain career knowledge by subject matter content they learned in school shadowing the mentor in his or her company. should serve as the driv ng force in what is He or she might apply business management taught today. Failing to recognize or acknowl- skills by accompanying the mentor into edge the importance of applying knowledge to management meetings (where the student is real-world issues, they see community-based expected to contribute to a problem-solving learning as drawing students' time and atten- discussion and perhaps write a report that can tion away from the traditional curriculum be shared with the English teacher on how content. communications problems were identified and solved). The young person could also accom- From a practical perspective, community- pany and assist the mentor as he or she takes based learning requires commitment from the two hours from work each week to serve as a top as well as from dedicated teachers. Com- volunteer tutor in an inner-city elementary munity-based learning requires time, effort, school. and expense. Time is needed to allow teachers to work individually with students in identify- From an organizational perspective, too, it is ing and planning learning objectives, in satisfying to combine outcomes of community- arranging for involvement of community sites, based learning. Businesses are often over- and in helping students reflect on their experi- whelmed by frequent requests from schools to ences. Other practical considerations include

TOPICAL SYNTHESIS #8 PAGE 9 liability coverage for times when students are fourteen features and determined the relative outside the school building, transportation frequency of these features in six programs. issues, and the need to schedule blocks of time Cooperative Education, School-Based Enter- so as to allow students sufficient time to get to prise, Tech Prep, School-to-Apprenticeship, and from their learning sites as well as to Youth Apprenticeship, and Career Academies. become active there. Orientation and training The fourteen features were: 1) structured of both educators and community mentors are work-based learning while in school, 2) school also essential. curriculum that builds on work experience, 3) paid work experience, 4) employer-provided It is necessary to spend time in creating an financial support, 5) program-arranged student awareness among students, parents, educa- work placement, 6) employer involvement in tors, and community members of the purposes curriculum design, 7) integrated vocational of community-based learning so that they don't and academic curriculum, 8) formal links to see it as simply releasing students into the postsecondary education, 9) employment/ community without clear expectations of what college counseling, 10) pre-1 lth grade aca- is to occur. A final problem is the difficulty of demic preparation, 11) pre-11th grade career effectively evaluating what is learned from exploration, 12) targeting of at-risk or non- student's experiences in community-based college bound students, (13) use of outside learning. This assessment is complicated by mentors, and 14) occupational certification the fact that different students may be at the (Stern, et al. 1994, p. 8). same learning site for different purposes, and that some community-based learning out- Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory comes (identified in the prior section) are staff conducted a study of over 1,000 EBCE difficult to measure. students in 24 states to determine young people's perceptions of what characteristics of The Research Literature a worksite are important for quality learning (Owens 1982). In addition to open-ended on Community-Based questions about their experiences at learning Learning sites, students were asked to rate the importance of each of 19 characteristics in contribut- Much of the research on community-based ing to an excellent learning opportunity. At learning has focused on individual programs worksites judged by students as providing rich and has assessed outcomes without a clear learning experiences, they understanding of the elements that underlie a quality community-based learning experience. More often learned job-specific skills Just as students can fall asleep in their history including use of tools or equipment and class, so, too, can they waste time at a job sit4 gained specific knowledge of how the job not all workplace experiences lead to produc- operates through hands-on experiences tive learning. This review of the literature first discusses the characteristics and quality More often described the people they of learning processes and then moves to worked with as helpful and friendly attempts to document outcomes. We identify barriers faced in conducting quality research Generally worked closely with more than on community-based learning and describe one person and formed a personal relation- some promising directions for the future. ship with at least one person with whom they worked CHARACTERISTICS OF HIGH- QUAIXTY LEARNING PROGRAMS AND EXPERIENCES Reported completing tasks (judged by outside consultants) to have high or One attempt to identify common characteris- moderate levels of responsibility and were tics of programs classified under the broad perceived to be challenging. (Owens 1982, heading of School-to-Work was made by the pp. 89-90) National Center for Research in Vocational Education in its publication, Research on At a broader level, Goldberger, Kazis and School-to-Work Transition Programs in the O'Flanagan (1994) have identified characteris- United States. The res., Archers identified tics of high-quality environments that provide

PAGE 10 1.4 TOPICAL SYNTHESIS #8 structure and support for young people. They progress. This attitude seems to have changed found that such worksite learning requires the in recent years, as evaluation has shifted in following: emphasis toward continuous quality improvement, and as educators have become more Partners formally agree on the goals of the sensitive to the needs of legislators and the work-based program and how to achieve public for accountability. them. Other barriers to effective research and Student learning at the workplace evaluation of community-based learning have progresses according to a structured plan. been the lack of a definition and theoretical framework for much of the evaluation, differ- Work-based experiences promote the ences in the quality and intensity of programs development of broad, transferable skills labeled School-to-Work or service-learning, the difficulty of measuring some of the skills and School-based activities help students distill affective outcomes of community-based learn-. and deepen lessons of work experience. ing, and the confusion about how each program or practice may contribute to total The program prepares students to enter educational reform. the workplace. LEARNER Ourcomes Ongoing support and counseling is provided for students. One of the earliest and most intensively evaluated School-to-Work programs has been Orientation, training, and ongoing support Experience-Based Career Education. to worksite and school staff are provided. Bucknam and Brand (1983) conducted a meta- analysis of 80 evaluations of EBCE programs. Administrative structures exist to coordi- They start by distinguishing EBCE from nate and manage the worksite component. traditional work/education programs. In contrast to other programs, EBCE was found Mechanisms are in place to assure the to: 1) use planned experience as a basis for quality of students' work-based learning learning academic subjects; 2) include career experiences. exploration and multiple employer/community site utilization as opposed to job experience at Research conducted by staff at the Center for a single site; 3) expect students to take a Youth Development and Policy Research has greater role. in shaping their personalized identified five key opportunities and supports educational plans; 4) be appropriate for and needed to achieve desirable youth outcomes: used with all types of students; and 5) use community worksites for learning rather than OppOrtunities for active and self-directed for production purposes, so students earn learning academic credit rather than pay. Opportunities to take on new roles and In terms of student learning outcomes, responsibilities Bucknam and Brand found positive academic gains in 376 of 558 test administrations, Ongoing emotional support from adults including 112 where the differences were and peers significantly positive. When compared to similar students not in EBCE, students in Ongoing motivetional support and high EBCE scored significantly higher in career- standards from adults, and related skills, life skills, and in academic skills

Ongoing access to strategic support and A comprehensive evaluation of the four EBCE social networks (Zeldin 1995, p. 10-11) demonstration sites was conducted over a several-year period by Educational Testing In the past, practitioners involved in commu- Service. This evaluation involved use of nity-based learning were often not interested standardized tests, in-depth interviews of in participating in program evaluation and EBCE and control group students, survey sometimes saw it as interfering with students' questionnaires, and ethnographic studies by TOPICAL SYNTHESIS #8 PAGE II trained anthropologists. They found that Shumer (1994), in studying a community-based EBCE students, in contrast to a control group: Job Training Partnership Act program for high school students, found that learning in the Have a knowledge of a greater number of community improved attendance and school career areas grades. This was facilitated especially by the use of adults and college students in heping Know more of the personal and school- students to learn. related characteristics and abilities that are necessary for entry into careers of Some of the most comprehensive evaluation of interest service-learning (commenly called "experiential education* in the 1980s) was conducted by Are more positive in their attitudes toward Conrad and Hedin at the University of Minne- career planning sota. Their study involved 4,000 students in 33 programs and included comparison group Are better able to respond orally to inter- students. The programs ineluded volunteer viewers' complex questions, and service, political and social action, outdoor adventure, internships in government and Had no greater gains in basic skills as business, and research in the community. The measured by a standardized test (Owens opportunities to act autonomously and to 1982) develop collegial relationships with agiults were the two most powerful predictors of The NCRVE study of School-to-Work programs personal growth. In their review of others' (Stern, et al. 1994) found that participation in research findings, Conrad and Hedin (1989) cooperative education was associated with found that service-learning generally increases more positive attitudes toward school and a students' sense of personal and social responsi- stronger perceived connection between school bility, more positive attitudes toward adults and work, but no consistent association and toward those served, enhanced self- between participation in cooperative education esteem, growth in moral and ego development, and subsequent success in the labor market. and complex patterns of thought.

The study of cooperative education by the The research literature on required commu- Office of Technology Assessment (1995) found nity service is mixed and generally fails to that programs nominated as being of high support requiring high school students to quality had participate in it. For example, Crossman (1989) found that required community service participation by employers who are did not produce as much improvement as willing to provide training in occupa- voluntary service. Patterson (1987) found, in tions with promising career paths, fact, that while fewer than 20 hours of re- screening of applicants to assure that quired service had little impact, required they are prepared to meet employers' participation for more than 20 hours may have expectations, training plans with a negative impact on the process of self- ambitious and specific learning objec- actualization. On the other hand, Giles and tives, and, for high school students, Eyler (1994) found that a required service- close monitoring of the worksite learning experience of limited intensity and activities by school representatives duration has a positive impact on the develop- (p. 68). ment of college students: they showed a significant increase in their belief that people When service-learning is not mandated, the can make a difference, that they should be outcomes on students are generally positive. involved in community service, and in their For example, Krug (1991) found significant commitment to perform volunteer service the differences in self-esteem and attitudes toward following semester. the school and community between high school students involved in a school-sponsored service-learning experience and those not involved.

PAGE 12 16 TOPICAL SYNTHESIS #8 Systemic Approach to such as civics and government generally not addressed by School-to-Work. On the other Community-Based Learning hand, School-to-Work offers good links in the curriculum between academic and vocational A new movement has emerged recently to education, presents a model for a four- or six- examine the similarities and differences year curriculum sequence, stresses documen- between service-learning and School-to-Work tation of skills gained and transportable and to focus on linkages At a conference credentials, builds in adult mentorship, and conducted in June 1995 and titled School has good support from the business commu- Improvement: Strategies for Connecting nity. By linking service-Larning, School-to- Schools and Communities, the Secretary of Work and other forms of community-based Education, Richard Riley, and Chief Executive learning, educators can build a much stronger Officer of the Corporation for National Service, rationale for the use of the community for Eli Segal, signed a formal agreement to work learning and broaden their community support together to link rervice-learning and School-to- base. Work. The conference was attended by state teams representing both sectors. Conclusions and Future The Council of Chief State Schools Officers, in Directions a 1994 memorandum, presented commonalties and a rationale for linking School-to-Work and TM; topical synthesis paper has integrated a service-learning. As quoted from Bhaerman great deal of current literature related to (1995), contextual learning theory and its application in community-based learning. While the Both provide environments in which research base on essential components of high- students can develop various skills and quality learning in the community is moder- competencies including those identified ate, research to prove the validity of outcomes by the Secretary's Commission on expected from community-based learning is Achieving Necessary Skill (SCANS) still weak. New strategies, such as the that are important for employment application of cost-benefit analysis to service- and responsible citizenship; both learning, are emerging that can complement provide students with meaningful roles some of the qualitative research and provide in their communities; and both foster support to those needing to justify the costs of collaboration between educators and such programs. community groups. The memorandum also presents several rationales for Although there are many programs that could linking the two methodologies includ- be labeled community-based learning, few ing the following: both have the educators have yet used this term or started to potential to address such weaknesses sell community-based learning as a broad set as the lack of relevance of the curricu- of strategies to enhance educational reform. lum or school experience; both can Likewise, many of the programs called service- motivate students to want to learn; learning or School-to-Work are very frag- both can build community partner- mented, and students often receive only ships; and both focua on outcomes as a minimal exposure to the array of learning measure of acquired skills and knowl- potential that exists in the community. Simi- edge. Service learning can help larly, very few community-based learning address issues of "scale and access" in programs come close to systematically using school-to-work transition. Combining the principles described in this synthesis for the approaches in a "learning con- quality contextual learning. tinuum" can provide even primary grade students with opportunities to New efforts have been implemented recently develop generic work skills at an early to place educators in the community for their age (p. 2). own learning to identify workplace applications for the subjects they teach. In some cases, Service-learning also has an appeal to many companies like The Boeing Company in parents and community groups, is relatively Seattle have provided slats for secondary and easy to start, and covers areas of a curriculum postsecondary teachers to explore worksites

TOPICAL SYNTHESIS #8 PAGE 13 17 for the summer and to prepare lesson plans 3.Focused research is needed on student based on their new learning (Owens and Wang outcomes of community-based learning 1994). In other cases, teams of academic and programs and efforts that are based on the vocational teachers have been prepared to visit contextual research literature. This companies and community agencies to identify research needs to be implemented on a applications of work-based tasks related to multi-year basis since the outcomes their school subject content (Stone-Ewing expected seldom occur in a single year. 1995). Educators have also accepted invita- tions from businesses and community agen- 4.Educators will continue to need greater cies, including government, to participate in inservice and preservice training in training in areas such as continuous quality identifying specific ways their subject improvement content is being used in community settings or what new content should be The examples and issues discussed in this infused into their courses to make them synthesis have focused on student learning in more rc.levant to the real world. They will the community. However, it is important for also need training on the philosophy and educators to keep abreast of workforce train- methodology to support community-based ing that is taking place for existing workers. learning so as to make it an integral part Such training costs billions of dollars annually. of their total educational program. Simulations, group problem solving, and other strategies are being used effectively in many 5.?ractitioners involved in separate School- industries and may have applications for public to-Work, service-learning, and youth education. development programs need to come together to identify common ground, share Another element related to educational reform their expertise, and learn from each is the transformation of some businesi,es into other's efforts. "learning organizations." Although originating in business and industry, the learning organi- Legislators and policy makers also have a zation concept is starting to be applied in some major role to play in fostering integration of schools, with all staff and students working in community-based learning by broadening the open and supportive learning environments. scope of expected outcomes. Michele Cahill Drucker (1995) has written recently about the (1993), in reporting the consensus of the New societal transformation to learning communi- York City Youth Employment Consortium, ties taking place throughout the world. stated,

If community-based learning is to contribute For programs to be effective in posi- its full potential to school and educational tioning participants on pathways to improvement, the following five changes success they have to go beyond a appear r narrow focus on acquisition ofjob skills or even behavioral changes... 1.Staff involved in School-to-Work, service- Youth must meet needs and build learning and other forms of community- competencies in many areas of their based learning will need to collaborate lives at the same time as they are with each other to present a unified acquiring vocational skill (Cited by message to educators and the community Zeldin 1995, p. 9). that there are diverse and purposeful roles community members can play in helping Key References young peopla learn and mature. Berryman, S. "Apprenticeship as a Paradigm 2.The research on contextual learning will of Learning." In N. Grubb (Ed.) Education need to be studied more closely by educa- through Occupations in American High tors, so that they can develop and operate Schools: Approaches to Integrating community-based learning efforts that are Academic and Vocational Education, of high quality and likely to produce Vol. 1. New York: Teachers College significant results in students. Press, 1995, 192-214.

PAGE14 TOPICAL SYNTHESIS #8 18 Distinguishes between spy centiceship as a Forum, The Institute for Educational paradigm for learning and ai the optimal Leadership, Inc., 1994. location for learning. In discu.sing where apprenticeships should be locat edthe Describes features of the School-to-Work workplace or the schoolBerrrman Opportunities Act and its potential identifies four criteria in the form of achievements, and outlines five premises questions that can be applied to help bafied on recent research about how people decide the appropriate location for learn- learn best and what employers say young ing. people need.

Bhaerman, R. "Service-Learning and School- Hamilton, S. F. Apprenticeship for Adulthood: to-Work Linkages: AACE Bonus Brief." Preparing Youth for the Future. New Careers Update 8/2 (May 1995). York: The Free Press, 1990.

Reviews concepts of service-learning and Draws upon the author's experience in the school-to-work transition; notes linkages, United States and Germany to explain how similarities, and differences between apprenticeship uses workplaces as learning service-learning and school-to-work. environments; creates opportunities for Discusses several key issues. mentor relationships; and develops the flexibility, dependability, and vocational Goldberger, S.; Kazis, IL; and O'Flanagan, M. skills needed in the workplace. Although Learning Through Work: Designing and he uses the term "apprenticeship," what Implementing Quality Worksite Learning Hamilton is really describing is a much for High School Students. New York: broader array of experiences often referred Manpower Demonstration Research to as Youth Apprenticeship. This mix Corporation, 1994 (ED 369 940). includes career exploration, integrated academic instruction, structured job Describes a school-to-career model that training, and paid work experience. balances education and employment/career goals. Outlines a high school reform Hoachlander, G. "Industry-Based Education: agenda that integrates abstract and A New Approach for School-to-Work practical learning and includes all stu- Transition." In N. Stacey (Ed.). School-to- dents; discusses the important role of Work: What Does Research Say About It? work-based learning and the need for Washington DC: U.S. Department of secondary and postsecondary integration. Education, 1994.

Grubb, W. N. Education Through Occupations Describes, in a set of papers prepared by in American High Schools Vol. 1, Ap- Nevzer Stacey and others on the OERI proaches to Integrating Academic and School-to-Work Transition Research Vocational Education. New York: Teach- Team, the German Apprenticeship model ers College Press, 1995. and the policy issues involved in School-to- Work initiative. Outlines a new secondary Discusses the backiround of efforts to curriculum for School-to-Work that is integrate academic and vocational educa- broader than occupational education and tion, a description of eight ?proaches to gives attention to the broader context, integration (with particular attentioh to including technology, organization, his- the academy model, career pathways, tory, and systems of the work world. magnet schools, and senior projects), and the pedagogy of curriculum integration. Parnell, D. LogoLearning: Searching for The new pedagogy is especially geared to Meaning in Education. Waco, TX: Center teaching problem solving, higher-order for Occupational Research & Development, reasoning, and teamwork skillswhich 1994. are all being demanded by today's employers. Describes how educators can use Logo- Learning to enable students to find mean- Halperin, S. School-to-Work: A Larger Vision. ing in their education by teaching students Washington, DC: American Youth Policy why they learn. Parnell shows how mean- TOPICAL SYNTHESIS #8 PAGEI5 19 ingful connections helps students under- Economy, Teachers College, Columbia stand the purpose of learning and how it University, 1992. relates to real-life issues. Blum, R. E. Learning and Teaching: Our Shumer, R. What We've Learned from Qualita- Work Together. Draft Concept Paper. tive Research, 1995 (in press). Portland, OR: Northwest Regional Educa- tional Laboratory, May 10, 1995. Discusses how qualitative studies have shown the different roles for adults in Bucknam, IL, and Brand, S. "EBCE Really service-learning and how students learn Works: A Meta-analysis on Experience effectively. Demonstrates the positive Based Career Education." Educational effects of service-learningincreased self Leadership 40/6 (March 1983): 66-71. confidence, better communication, stronger relationships, positive attitudes Carnevale, A.; Gainer, L.; and Meltzer, A. towards learningresulting from the way Workplace Basics: The Essential Skills these programs are initiated and operated. Employers Want.- San Francisco: Jossey- Bass Publiehers, 1990. U.S. Department of Labor. Thl: 2.gwol-to- Work 1YouthApprenticeshipDemonstra- Collins, A.; Brown, J. S.; and Newman, S. tion: Preliminary Findings. Washington, "Cognitive Apprenticeship: Teaching the DC: U.S. Department of Labor, 1994. Craft of Reading, Writing, and dathemat- ics." In L. B. Resnick (Ed.). Knowing, Assesses the initial implementation of the Learning, and Instruction: Essays in School-to-Work/Youth Apprenticeship Honor of Robert Glaser. Hillsdale, NJ: Demonstration programs, including school- Erlbaum, 1989, .153-494. and work-based program elements, drawing lessons from their experiences for Conrad, D., and Hedin, D. High School future implementation of such programs. Community Service: A Review of Research and Programs. Washington, DC: National Zeldin, S. School-to-Wok and Youth Develop- Center on Effective Secondary Schools, ment: Identifying Common Ground. 1989. Boston, MA: Jobs for the Future, 1995. Conrad, D., and Hedin, D. "The Impact of Identifies the commonalties and differ- Experiential Education on Adolescent ences between School-to-Work and Youth Development." Child and Youth Services Development, which provide a foundation 4/3-4 (1982): 57-76. for collaboration between the two to better prepare young people for work. With Conrad, D., and Hedin, D. "School-Based shared resources and expertise, School-to- Community Service: What We Know From Work and Youth Development can serve Research and Theory." Phi Delta Kappan as a joint voice on current policy debates 72/10 (1991): 743-749. and strengthen communities and programs for young people. Corson, W., and Silverberg, M. The School-to- Work 1YouthApprenticeship Demonstra- tion Preliminary Findings . Princeton, NJ: General References Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., 1994. Alliance for Service Learning in Education Council of Chief State School Officers. Frame- Reform. "Standards for Quality for School- work for a Statewide Service Learning Peer Based Service Learning." Equity and Consultant Network. Washington, DC: Excellence in Education 26/2 (September CCSSO, 1995. 1993): 71-73. Council of Chief State School Officers. Sum- Berryman, S., and Bailey, T. The Double Helix mary of the 7122194 Discussion and of Education and the Economy. New Examples of Service-Learning Models with York: The Institute on Education and the a School-to-Work Focus. Washington, DC: CCSSO, 1994. PAGE 16 2 0 TOPICAL SYNTHESIS #8 ,;

Crossman, M. The Effects of Required Com- Grobe, T. Synthesis of Exi sting Knowledge munity Service on the Development of Self- and Practice in the Field of Educational Esteem, Personal and Social Responsibility Partnerships. Washington, DC: Office of of High Schcol Students in a Friends Educational Research and Development, School, 1989. Dissertation. UMI No. October 1993 (ED 362 994). 8926397. Hedin, D. The Impact of Experience in Aca- Deich, S., and Masten, C. "Work Experience demic Learning: A Summary of Theories Programs." National Assessment of and Review of Recent Research. Boston, Vocational Education: Interim Report to MA: Institute for Responsive Education, Congress, Chapter 14. Washington, DC: 1982 (ED 250 356). Office of Educational Research and Im- provement, U.S. Department of Education, Hendrikson, L. Community Study, ERIC 1994. Digest No 28. Boulder, CO: ERIC Clear- inghouse for Sotial Studies/Social Science Drucker, P. "The Age of Social Transforma- Education, 1985 (ED 268 065). tion." The Atlantic Monthly 274/5 (Novem- ber 1994): 53-80. Hershey, A.; Silverberg, M.; and Owens, T. The Status and Future of Tech-Prep: A Druian, G.; Owens, T.; and Owen, S. "Experi- Discussion Paper. Princeton, NJ: ential Education: A Search for Common Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., 1995. Roots.",In R. Kraft and J. Kielsmeier (Eds.). Experiential Learning in Schools Hull, D. Opening Doors: The Rebirth of and Higher Education. Dubuque, IA: American Education. Waco, TX: Center Kendall/Hunt Publishing Co., 1995, 17-25. for Occupational Research & Development, 1993. Dukehart, L. Community as Classroom: A Report Based on Presentations at the Work Kraft, R. J., and Kielsmeier, J. (Us.). Experi- Now and in the Future 11 Conference. ential Learning imSchools and Higher Portland, OR: Northwest Regional Educa- Education. Boulder, CO: Association for tional Laboratory, 1994. ExperientialEducation, 1995.

Flynn E.; Winters, L.; and Mark, C. Extend- Krug, J . Select Changes in High School ing Education and Training Policy to Adult Students' Self-Esteem and Attitudes Workers: Lessons from the CAEL Work- Toward Their School and Community by force Education Model. Chicago, The their Participation in Service Learning Council for Adult and Experiential Learn- Activities at a Rocky Mountain High ing, 1994. School,1991. Unpublished paper.

Freedman, M. The Kindness of Strangers: Miller, B. Promising Rural Practices in Adult Mentors, Urban Youth, and the New School-to-Work Transitions: Portrait One: Voluntarism. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Broadus, Montana: PreparingYouth for Publishers, 1993. the Future. Portland, OR: Education and Work Program and Rural Education Furco, A. Service-learning and School-to-Work Program, Northwest Regional Educational Transition Programs. Presentation at the Laboratory, November 1993. 1995 National Service-Learning Confer- ence, Philadelphia, PA, March 1995. Miller, B. Promising Rural Practices in School-to-Work Transitions: Portrait Two: Giles, D., and Eyler, J. "The Impact of a Saco, Montana: Preparing Youth for the College Community Service Laboratory on Future. Portland, OR: Education and Students' Personal, Social, and Cognitive Work Program and Rural Education Outcomes." Journal ofAdolescence 1714 Program, Northwest Regional Educational (1994): 327-339. Laboratcry, November 1994.

TOPICAL SYNTHESIS 08 2 i PAGE 17

REST COPY AVAILABLE Miller, B. Service Learning in Support of Actualization in High School Students, Rural Community Development. Paper 1987. Dissertation, University of Florida. presented at the Research Symposium UMI NO. 8724949. 1995 National Service-Learning Confer- ence, Philadelphia, PA, March 1995. Poulsen, S. Learning is the Thing: Insights Emerging From a National Conferenceon Morrow, K., and Styles, M. Building Relation- Service-Learning, School Reform, and ships with Youth in Program Settings: A Higher Education. Roseville, MN: Na- Study of Big Brothers /Big Sisters. Phila- tional Youth Leadership Council, 1994. delphia, PA: Public/Private Ventures, 1995. Resnick, L. "The 1987 Presidential Address: Learning in School and Out Educational Mortimer, J.; Finch, M.; Dennehy, K.; Lee, C.; Researcher 16/9 (December 1987): 13-20. and Beebe, T. "Work Experience in Adolescence." Journal of Vocational Secretary's Commission on Achieving Neces- Education Research 19/1 (1994): 39-70. sary Skills. Teaching the SCANS Compe- tencies. A SCANS Report for America Northdurft, W., and Jobs for the Future. 2000. Washington, DC: U.S. Department Youth Apprenticeship, American Style:A of Labor, 1993. Strategy for Expanding School and Career Opportunities. Washington DC: The Shumer, R. "Community-Based Learning: Consortium on Youth Apprenticeship, Humanizing Education." Journal of 1990. Adolescence 17/4 (August 1994): 357-367.

Office of Technology Assessment Learningto Sorohan, E. "We Do; Therefore, We Learn.' Work: Making the Transition from School Training andDevelopment 47/10 (October, to Work. Washington, DC: Office of 1993): 47-55. Technology Assessment, 1995. Stern, D.; Roby, M.; and Dayton,C. Career Owens, T., and Wang, C. The Boeing Com- Academies: Partnerships for Reconstruct- pany Applied Academics for High Schools, ing American High Schools. San Fran- Year 2 Evaluation Report. Portland, OR: cisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1992. Northwest Regional Educational Labora- tory, 1992. Stern, D.; Finkelstein, N.; Stone, J.; Latting, J.; and Dornsife, C. Researchon School- Owens, T. "Experience-Based Career Educa- to-Work Transition Programs in the tion: Summary and Implications of United States. Berkeley, CA: National Research and Evaluation Findings." Child Center for Research in Vocational Educa- andYouth Services 4/3-4 (1982): 77-91. tion, 1994.

Owens, T. A Model for Restructuring Educa- Stone-Ewing, C. Workplace Applications tion for the 21st. Century. Paperpre- Manual. Auburn, WA: South King sented at the World Future Society County/Highline Tech Prep Consortium, Meeting, Washington, DC, 1994. 1995. Patterson, E. The Effect. of Participation in Required and Not Required Community Service Programs on the Process of Self-

This publication is based on work sponsored wholly,or in part, by the Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERD, U.S. Department of Education, under Contract Number RP91002001. The content of this publicationdoes not necessarily reflect the views of OERI, the Department,or any other agency of the U.S. Government. This publication is in the public domain andmay be reproduced and disseminated without permission. Please edge NWREL as the developer. acknowl- January 1996

PAGE 18 22 TOPICAL SYNTHESIS #8 SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT RESEARCH SERIES "Research You Can Use"

Close-Up #19

Educating for Citizenship

Kathleen Cotton

The real test of any citizenship Learning activities, curriculum, and/or prograM is what participants do in their educational programs at any educa- lifetime office of citizen. tional level, concerned with rights and Naylor 1990 responsibilities of citizenshipthe purpose is to promote knowledge, Introduction skills, and attitudes conducive to effective participation in civic life Nearly all writers on the subject of citizenship (Houston 1990, 37). education agree that it is essential for preserving America's democratic way of life. Indeed, Few disagree with these broad definitions. It they often remind us that our nation's is when we begin to specify what knowledge, founders saw the preparation of competent skills, and attitudes ought to be taught and citizens as the main purpose of schooling ho,4 they ought to be taught that we encoun- (Center for Civic Education 1994, v). Many ter differences of opinion. Some researchers c,intemporary people, too, believe that and other writers contend, for example, that education's chief purpose is to equip students civic education should include attention to the with the knowledge, skills, and values needed global context in which the U.S. is situated; to function effectively as citizens of a demo- others do not. Some believe that teachers cratic society (Wood 1988). And those who cite should give students classroom practice in other educational goals as equally important grappling with the kinds of controversial (e.g., Boyer 1990) still concur that citizenship issues they will face as adults; others disagree. development is a significant aim of the school- Later in this paper I discuss the themes that ing process. emerge from the literature on the content and processes of civic education. Definition The Literature on Butts defines civic education as "explicit and Citizenship Education continuing study of the basic concepts and values underlying our democratic political Beginning with an ERIC search and proceeding community and constitutional order' (quoted through the bibliog. aphies of the materials I in Hoge 1988). The Thesaurus of ERIC retrieved initially, I meened scores of docu- Descriptors says that it consists of ments and ultimately selected the 93 on

11111111011111111111 Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory see 101 S.W. Main Street, Suite 500 School, Community and Professional It Portland, Oregon 97204 t Telephone (503) 275-9500 Development Program

2 3 BEST COPY AVAIIABLE which this report is imsed. Sixty-three are Goal 3, Student Achievement and Citizen- reports of research studies or reviews, most ship, reads, of which reveal relationships between educational practices and student outcomes By the year 2000, all students will related to citizenship (see Key References). leave grades 4, 8, and 12 having Thirty are critiques, concept papers, pro- demonstrated competency over chal- gram descriptions, standards documents, lenging subject matter, including... and demographic reports, whose content is civics and government...so that they congruent with that of the research docu- may be prepared for responsible ments (see General References). citizenship, further learning, and Productive employment....All students Thirty-eight of the r6p 'As focus either on will be involved in activities that students in general or on an unspecified promote and demonstrate...good student population. The focus of the others citizenship, community service, and are elementary students (7), secondary (26), personalresponsibility (Goias 2000 elementary and secondary (3); both students 1994, 8). and adults (5), adult citizens (3); both students and teachers (4), preservice or inservice Goal 6, Adult Literacy and Lifelong Learning, teachers (5), principals (1), ESL students (1); includes the following statement: and textbooks (1). By the year 2000, every adult Ameri- The literature describes dozens of schooling can will be literate and will possess the practices used in different citizenship educa- knowledge and skills necessary to... tion efforts and the student outcomes associ- exercise the rights and responsibilities ated with those practices. I discuss these in of citizenship (13). subsequent sections. Informed, autonomous, respectful, participat- Educated for Citizenship ing, mindful of the common good, committed to democratic values and principles. This An Admirable Goal profile of the qualified citizen reappears throughout the civic education literature, Civic education goal statements tend to be together with assertions about the critical role lofty in both content and language. According of education in preparing capable citizens. to the Center for Civic Education's 1994 Given this widely shared priority, one might standards document, for example, expect to find an abundance of highly competent citizens across the country, together with It has been recognized since the vigorous educational programs to guarantee founding of the nation that education continued fulfillment of our citizenship goals. has a civic mission: to prepare informed, rational, humane, ana participating citizens committed to the values Our Lack of Civic and principles of American constitu- Preparedness tional democracy (v). Unfortunately, what one finds instead is In a similar vein, Mabe states, depressing commentary after depressing commentary about the sorry state of civic We want citizens who are informed, knowledge, skills, and attitudes on the part of autonomous, respectful of others, who U.S. citizensboth students and adults. participate in the political process, who Nearly every writer whose work was consulted keep the common good in mind in for this report expressed dismay at our their decision making, and finally, we nation's want of civic preparedness (e.g., Avery want citizens who act responsibly 1982; Avery, et al. 1992, 1993; Berman 1990; (1993, 153). Colville and Clarken 1992; Dynneson 1992a,b; Fowler 1990; Franzosa 1989; Golden 1985; Two of the /ki ational Education Goals express Harwood 1990; Hastings 1986; Hoge 1988; inspiring visions for citizenship education. Miller 1985; Patrick 1987, 1988; Sinatra, Beck, and McKeown 1992; Sleeper, Strong, and

PAGE 2 CLOSE-UP 019 24 Zabierek 1990). No one spoke well of our ciples to concrete situations has been civic education efforts or their results. documented in numerous studies of Colville and Clarken's observations are both adults and adolescents....Most representative: adults, regardless of ideology, are unwilling to extend basic civil liberties [S]tudies show that traditional to the group they dislike the most citizenship education has failed our (534). youth dismally in attempting to develop them into knowledgeable, Looking at findings about young people's active citizens.... Consequently, many attitudes toward civic participation, Berman graduates and nongraduates are remarks, quasi-illiterate or functionally illiterate about the basic principles and Young people in the United States are values on which our political system expressing a sense of powerlessness to and society are based (1992, 7). affect constructive social or political change. To the young, the odds of In a similar vein, Hoge (1988) comments, success seem overwhelming, the personal costs high, the disappoint- More than half of young Americans ments inevitable (1990, 75). lack knowledge, attitudes, and skills that leading civic educators believe Finally, according to Franzosa (1989), civic they should have in order to be respon- participation and civic attitudes are deteriorat- sible citizens of a constitutional ing over time: democracy. Most high school students and adults appear to lack detailed High school graduates in the last knowledge and understanding of fifteen years have proven themselves institutions, principles, and processes less likely than previous generations of government in the United States. to exercise their rights as citizens. They also tend to have shallow or They participate less often in state, confounded conceptions of core ideas, local, and national elections, express such as constitutionalism, republican- alienation and even cynicism concern- ism, democracy, and federalism (3). ing the political process, and show a distressing ignorance of contemporary Golden remarks succinctly, issues likely to affect their country's future (6). If one of the vital signs used to measure health of the "body politic" is the percantage of citizens that vote, U.S. The Current State of democracy is the sickest in the world (1985,14). Civic Education

Sleeper, Strom, and Zabierek add to this If everyone agrees that civic preparedness is indictment: vitally important, why do we lack it on such a grand scale? Critics of civic educationand Various reports on the state of Ameri- they are manysay that the components of can education have found that our competent citizenship are simply not taught in young people suffer from historical American schools. Instead, they say, the amnesia, geographic disorientation, content we teach and the way we teach it and civic ignorance. Statistics on adult virtually occlude the citizenship results we say civic behavior are no more reassur- we want. Kickbusch's comments are typical of ing....(1990, 84). those who study the current norms of citizen- st,ip instruction: Avery (1988) notes, Frequently textbook bound, such Disparity between individuals' support instruction...is oriented toward the for abstract democratic principles and acquisition of unproblematic knowl- their willingness to apply such prin- edge and passive acceptance of social CLOSE-UP 019 2 5 PAGE3 institutions....Critics...have faulted the most surprising shortcomings of the this approach to citizenship educa- curriculum planning process is the general tion for its failure to develop mitical absence ofany continuing, sustained decision-making skills, its inattention appraisal of what is essential for young to values issues, its failure to utilize people to learn" (432). the existing social science knowledge base, and for its passive, classroom- Lack of meaning. Teachers too (AVM based processes (1987, 174). present isolated facts apart from any context that might give meaning to those Patrick's research summary declares, "Studies facts (Goodlad 1986; Newmann 1987, 1989; of standard secondary school textbooks have Patrick 1987). revealed restricted coverage and shallow treatment of basic principles, values, and Irrelevance. Teachers do not typically issues of constitutional government" (1987, 3). connect classroom content to students' life Reporting his research on civics lessons in experiences or to contemporary issues of secondary social studies classes, Hyland (1985) interest to them (Blankenship 1990; corroborates these findings and cites additional Hyland 1985; Newmann 1989; Patrick problems: 1987). Selection of content was narrow in Lack of focus on rights. Civicaducation scope and lacked depth of treatment. typically fails to address tolerance for the Students were not involved in skills of expression of individual freedoms, as rational analysis and decision making guaranteed in the Constitution and Bill of appropriate for participation in a Rights (Avery 1988; Avery, et al. 1992; democratic society (8). Butts 1988; Hoge 1988).

Newmann (1989) echoes these findings and Lack of training in thinldng and speculates on the reasons for such lackluster process skills. Teachers do not, for the teaching: most part, provide training or practice in critical thinking, problem solving, decision Authentic discourse is usually sup- making or other process skills (Avery, et pressed hy the belief that the purpose al. 1993; Callan 1994; Berman 1990; of teaching is to transmit fixed knowl- Levitt and Longstreet 1993; Hyland 1985; edge to students (so they can repro- Kickbusch 1987; Hoge 1988). duce it in identical form for teachers who reward students for playing the Passive learning. Most citizenship game of telling teachers what they education limits students to passive want to hear rather than asking and learning (Eveslage 1993; Finklestein 1993; answering questions that students Goodlad 1986; Kickbusch 1987; Newmann consider important) and by enormous 1987, 1989; Pereira 1988a; Thomas 1984; efforts to keep order and control over Drisko 1993). Writes Goodlad, "Research masses of students (359). on classrooms revealed excessive student passivitylistening to their teachers The literature includes many different kinds of lecture, reading textbooks and taking indictments of the current state of civic quizzes" (424). education. I have listed these criticisms together with the research studies and other Avoidance of controversial topics. examinations that led to these conclusions: Either out of fear of complaints (e.g., from parents) or rut of personal preference, General. Citizenship education has been teachers typically are unwilling to take neglected; it has been assigned a low up in the classroom the social controver- curricular priority; and its student out- sies that arise in a democratic society comes are frequently not specified (Boyer and must be addressed by its citizens 1990; Eveslage 1993; Finklestein 1993; (Eveslage 1993; Kickbusch 1987; Levitt Goodlad 1986; Hyland 1985; Patrick 1987; and Longstreet 1993). According to Pereira 1988a). Goodlad writes, "One of Levitt and Longstreet,

PAGE 4 CLOSE-UP #19 26 Among today's teachers, there is a Sinatra, Beck, and McKeown 1992). widespread reluctance to engage in Collins remarks that, "In too many teaching any but the safest of civic schools, we are still teaching about the valuesthat is, values at such a level world as if it were a 1939 map. In too of generality and acceptance that no many classrooms, the dramatic changes one would feel threatened....as soon as that have completely altered the world are the topic discussed reflects a reality of ignored completely or relegated to a 1:"e beyond school walls, that is, an weekly current events activity with little, .ithentic civic value that makes a if any, relationship to the curTiculum" (25). difference to our lives in immediate terms, controversy is likely (142). Limited, shallow text content. Most social studies texts used for citizenship Teacher control, student obedience. education are restricted in their content, Although the stated goals of civic educa- superficial in their treatment of subject tion include democratic values and skill in matter, and present facts apart from their democratic processes, civic education context (Avery, et al. 1992; Eveslage 1993; typically occurs entirely within a model of Patrick 1987; Wade and Everett 1994). total teacher control and total student Avery, et al. note that, "High school obedience. Critics are more upset about government and civics texts...continue to this than any other aspect of typical emphasize isolated bits of information citizenship education (Eveslage 1993; Ross about governmental institutions and and Bondy 1993; Hyland 1985; Newmann processes. In-depth examinations of key 1989; Wood 1988). According to Wood, constitutional issues are virtually non- "Many of the goals of schooling...stress existent....In an effort to avoid potential conformity, obedience, and rote memory... controversy, most textbook publishers give The goals most certainly conflict with a such questions only superficial coverage" pedagogy for democracy that has at its (382). heart the goal of preparing independent thinkers who are willing to act on their Text-bound instruction. The limited own initiative" (298). subject matter and uninspired treatment in civic texts might not matter so much if Low-track students, low-quality teachers used a rich array of other re- curriculum. Research reveals a strong sources. Research shows, however, that correlation between "low ability" and anti- most civics instruction is text-bound democratic traits such as authoritarianism (Boyer 1990; Eveslage 1993; Finklestein and intolerance. Research also reveals 1993; Kickbusch 1987; Patrick 1987; Wade that low-track students frequently experi- and Everett 1994). Eveslage's review enceparticularly uninspiring, ineffectual indicates that ninety percent of teachers instruction. Those who study civic educa- rely on textbooks as their primary instruction assert that we must offer all students tional tool (83), and Finklestein's investiga- high-quality instruction if we are ever to tion of citizenship education for young inculcate in them the democratic disposi- children reveals that "the textbook domi- tions we value (Avery 1988; Avery, et al. nates primary social studies instruction" 1992; Goodlad 1986; Sidelnick 1989). (68). Sidelnick writes, "Social studies educators should seek ways to increase support of Inappropriate assessment. Civic the fundamental freedoms and explore education continues to be dominated by strategies to decrease the dogmatism or the use of standardized tests to assess close-minded attitudes evident in many learning and the use of letter grades to low-ability and average adolescents" (96). report learning (Adler, Luhn, and Philbin 1993; Finklestein 1993, Parker 1989, 1990; Lack of attention to global issues. Rudner 1991). In addition, there is a lack Many contributors to the civic education of evaluative criteria for civic education literature expressed distress that the criteria as to "what learning experiences typical curriculum virtually ignores the are most effective, which public controver- global context in which the U.S. is situated sies, past and present, are most profitably (Collins 1993; Drake 1987; Goodlad 1986; studied and discussed" (Parker 1989, 354).

CLOSE-UP #19 PAGE5 27 Researchers and other writers also express equality, diversity, authority, privacy, considerable dismay over the inadequate due process, property, participation, preparation of teachers for providing civics truth, patriotism, human rights, rule of education and the indufficient support provided law, tolerance, mutual assistance, per- by principals. The social studies teachers who sonal and civic responsibility, self- were the subjects in Hyland's research were restraint and self-respect (Butts 1988; unable to provide adequate explanations of Colville and Clarken 1992; Driako 1993; why the Constitution was written (1985, 4). A Hoge 1988; Levitt and Longstreet 1993). high percentage of those in Wolf's 1990 study performed poorly on a ten-item, multiple- The Common Good. Citizens, in order to choice test about Constitutional principles. In be effective, need to act from respect for Stanton's 1987 research with preservice the common good; that is, they need to be teachers, two-thirds scored below the midpoint willing to deliberate about the nature of on an instrument used to assess teachers' civic the public good and how to achieve it. education knowledge. Kickbusch's classroom They also need topossess compassion, observational study revealed "a paucity of ethical commitment, social responsibility, teaching skills with which to support...civic and a sense of interdependence among education goals" (1987, 178). And in a study of people and between people and their 70 elementary principals, "only two principals environment. And they need to express identified the formal social studies curriculum their commitment to the common good as a means to achieve citizenship education through their actions, e.g., through voting, outcomes" (Tucker 1986, 8). volunteerism, serving on juries, petitioning the government for change, etc. (Adler, Luhn, and Philbin 1993; Berman Attributes of a Prepared 1990; Brandhorst 1990; Colville and CitizenWhat the Clarken 1992; Drake 1987; (oOdman 1989; Researchers Say Harwood and Hahn 1990; Newmann 1989; Pereira 1995; Pratte 1988). "Some critics have charged that citizenship education is at once so vague and all-encom- Knowledge. Effective civic education passing that it can mean anything to anybody" results in knowledge and understanding of (Parker 1990, 18). Butts (1988) remarks that, our nation's founding documents, the structure of government, the political Nothing is more common than for process, and the global context in which curriculum guidelines to proclaim the the U.S. functions (Angell 1990; Colville teaching of democratic values as a and Clarken 1992; Hyland 1985; Mullins major goal of public education in 1990; Boyer 1990). general and of social studies in particular, but then to fail to make such Thinking skills. Competent citizens values explicit or clearly visible in the require skills in higher-level thinking content or scope and sequence of topics processescritical reasoning, problem they recommend for study (3). solving, decLion making, perspective- taking, divergent thinkingconstructing What do we mean when we say that citizen- hypotheses, and evaluating evidence ship education ought to focus on "democratic (Berman 1990; Colville and Clarken 1992; values," and "the public good," and develop Callan 1994; Mullins 1990; Harwood 1990). "civic skills"? While the researchers and other civic education scholars are not in total Social process skills Social skills consonance about the ideal results of citizen- identified as critical for high-functioning ship education, there is considerable agree- citizens include communication, conflict ment about the desirabilityand meaningof management, consensus building, and the following outcomes: working in cooperative endeavors (Angell 1991; Berman 1990; Fowler 1990). Democratic values. Prepared citizens understand and are committed to the Student attitudes. Effective civic values inherent in the U.S. Constitution education influences students in such a and Bill of Rights: justice, freedom, way that they believe in the efficacy of PAGE 6 CLOSE-UP 019

26 . civic participation, are interested in climatean environment whose signifying participating, and have a feeling of obliga- features are teacher respect for student ideas tion to participate (Angell 1991; Hoge 1988; and teacher use of democratic leadership Fowler 1990). behaviors. The beneficial effects of open classroom climates are cited by virtually every Achieving The Goals: researcher and reviewer who looked at the relationship between educational practices Research-Based Practices and student results (Le., Angell 1991; Avery, and Program Content et al. 1992; Goodlad 1986; Hepburn 1982; Harwood 1992; Hoge 1988; Levitt and Researchers and other writers make it clear Longstreet 1993; Ochoa 1991; Pratte 1988; that our civic education goals cannot be Torney-Purta 1983; Ross and Bondy 1993; realized via our current civic education prac- Newmann 1989; Harwood and Hahn 1990; tices. They then go on to provide the specific- Patrick 1991; Mabe 1993; VanSledright and ity that is so often lacking in our civic educa- Grant 1994). tion programs, citing elements that research has linked to positive civic attitudes and high Because of the near-unanimous support for levels of civic knowledge, skills, and participa- open classroom environments, it is worthwhile tion. These include school and classroom to identify specific components of this kind of climate factors and instructional practices, as environment, together with researchers' views well as specific program content. on why it is so favorable to the development of capable citizens. Angell's review characterizes SCHOOL CLIMATE FACTORS an open classroom climate as exhibiting (a) democratic leadership behavior, While recognizing that a school is not and (b) [positive] teacher verbal behavior, should not be a democracy, many of the (c) respect for students, (d) peer researchers identified higher levels of demo- interaction, (e) open discussion, cratic values among students in more democratic school environments. Students who are (f) student participation, and (g) less authoritarian, more tolerant, and more cooperation (250). optimistic about democratic processes are The same review indicates that open class- linked with schools that room climates are positively related to Have democratic organizational structures in which principals provide clear direction (a) political knowledge upon which to but grant teachers considerable autonomy base informed judgments; (b) skills (Hepburn 1982; Hoge 1988; Wood 1988) such as effective communication and interpersonal skillsrequisite for interaction in a free society; (c) com- Allow student participation in decision making about school and classroom mitment to democratic values; and operations that affect them (Beyer 1988; (d) interest, desire, and a sense of Boyer 1990; Wood 1988; Eveslage 1993). obligation to participate fully in the democratic process (243). Drake writes, Other researchers and reviewers corroborate Angell's statements. Hepburn, for example, Democratic ideals should be the foundation upon which a school culture writes, is founded...Democracy implies certain The teacher's role is crucial, because ethical principles which should be the teacher's way of managing the woven into the fabric of the school class group sets the climate of self- culture (105). direction, free exchange of views, egalitarian treatment of peers, and at OPEN CLASSROOM CLEV1ATES the same time, maintains order and direction in the group (26). The factor most likely to engender democratic values in students is an open classroom

CLOSE-UP #19 PAGE 7 29 Harwood (1992) found that open classroom The passive transmission of facts is environments were positively related to rejected as an inappropriate method of political interest, trust, and s0J-efficacy and teaching that should be modified in negatively related to political cynicism. The favor of active approaches to learning. attributes of an open climate in this research Students are to engage in reading, were: writing, observing, debating, role play, simulations, and the use of statistical Frequent opportunities for students to data to develop skills in critical express their opinions thinking, decision making, and Teacher respect for student opinions problem solving. Cooperative and Teacher encouragement of perspective collaborative types of learning are taking also emphasized (4). A classroom norm of openly discussing controversial issues Like the support for open classroom settings, Teacher presentation of a range of view- the support for active, hands-on learning is points on issues under discussion nearly universal among researchers and Teacher use of clivergent questioning reviewers. Supporting documents include Use of source materials other than text- Colville and Clarken (1992); Drake (1987); books Finklestein (1988); Hardin (1991); Harwood Teacher interest and concern about global (1990); Lappard (1993); Mahe (1993); Miller issues (1985); Morse (1993); Mullins (1990); Naylor (1990); Newmann (1987); Parker (1990); And according to Torney-Purta's 1983 review P.u...tick (1988, 1990); Pereira (1988b); Rowe on factors that inculcate civic responsibility in (1990); Thomas (1984); VanSledright and Grant students, .(1994); White (1989); Wood (1990); and Wraga (1993). ...the most positive contribution a teacher could make to the acquisition Specific kinds of active learning recommended of democratic values was to create a by these writers include instruction and classroom climate characterized by a practice in class discussion, responding to process giving students freedom to open-ended questions, research (using materi- express their opinions. This was more als other than texts), writing projects including important than any particular content letter writing, cooperative group projects, of curriculum (31). brainstorming, role-play, simulations, perspective taking, on-site learning, observation, ACME LEARNING mock trials, case studies, town meetings, int3raction with guest speakers and other One of the most trenchant criticisms of resource persons, and community service existing civic education practice is its tendency projects. to place students in passive learning roles. Researchers and other writers insist that Many of those who call for active, hands-on effective citizenship is an active role and, learning also see a need for such learning to therefore, that preparation for this role must include time for reflection about one's experi- be active as well. Drisko (1993) writes, ences and learnings. Community service and other out-of-school projects, in particular, There must be a means for students to should include opportunities to reflect on what apply their knowledge of democracy. one has seen, done, and learned (Fowler 1990; Since students learn best by doing, the Morse 1993; Rutter and Newmann 1989). principles of democracy are best taught in such a way that they can be prac- CRITICAL THINKING ticed (105). While we can classify critical thinking as a In Mullins's 1990 discussion of an ideal civic type of active learning, I am giving it special education curriculum, some specific sugges- attention here because of the enormous tions for active learning are offered: emphasis civic education researchers and experts place on it. The low level of critics)

PAGE 8 CLOSE-UP #19 thinking skill revealed by studies of our ing society (Study Group on Law- nation's civic preparedness is one reason for Related Education, quoted in Pereira this emphasis. Another is the low incidence of 1988b, 3). critical thinking instruction and practice in American schools. A third is the link research Sources of law, functions of law, legal pro- has established between the teaching nf cesses, legal roles, and legal principles such as critical thinking skills and high-functioning justice, equality, authority, freedom, and citizenship. The ability to generate hypoth- order, comprise the LRE curriculum. eses, gather and evaluate evidence, see and understand competing positions in a contro- Effective LRE programs typically involve versy, and remain open-minded enough to extensive interaction among students via change one's view when the evidence warrants cooperative learning and other interactive are key features of democratic deliberation, projects, including small group work. mock now and in times past. Weinstein writes, trials, role-play activities, and simvlations. Teachers focus on realistic contsnt and bal- The relationship between rational anced treatment of issues and make use of judgment and political action is so outside resource persons who work in the fundamental in the history of thought legal professions. Effective programs also that it hardly bears mentioning. From provide staff development activities to prepare Aristotle to Mill rational deliberation teachers to work with students in this special- and political actions were so tightly ized area. linked that appropriate political decisions were seen as impossible in Research findings on the effects of LRE are the absence of adequate deliberation summarized by Pereira (1988b): (1991, 4). LRE clearly and indisputably increases Thadocuments that support the provision of students' knowledge of the justice training and practice in critical thinking system, government, and the rights skillswhich include decision-making and and responsibilities of citizenship in a problem-solving skillsinclude Blankenship constitutional democracy. There is (1990); Boyer (1990); Colville and Clarken also evidence that LRE contributes to (1992); Hardin (1991); Harwood and Hahn development of skills in civic participa- (1990); Hoge (1988); Mullins (1990); Newmann tion, decision making, and critical (1987); Parker, Mueller, and Wendling (1989); thinking (3). Parker, Wendling, and Mueller (1988); Thomas (1984); and Weinstein (1991). Research has also established a link between LRE program participation and improved LAVP.RELATED EDUCATION attitudes toward the legal system, reduced incidence of delinquency (less association with "The law is simply too pervasive and too delinquent peers, less violence, greater important to neglectmuch less ignorein likelihood of reporting delinquent behavior), school-based citizenship programs" (Naylor and more positive attitudes toward social 1990, 34). The citizenship education research studies courses (Colville and Clarken 1992; and other literature includes a great deal of Hardin 1991; Hoge 1988; Naylor 1990; Pereira support for this emerging component of social 1988b). studies programs. Law-related educationor LRE for shortis defined as, COMNIUNrrY SERVICE

...those organized learning experiences "Community service efforts build self-esteem that provide students and educators and allow students to experience themselves with opportunities to develop the as part of the larger network of people who are knowledge and understanding, skills, helping to create a better world" (Berman attitudes and appreciations necessary 1990, 8). The civic education literature focuses to respond effectively to the law and on areas such as developing interest in the legal issues in our complex and chang- public good, contributing to one's community, practicing civic skills, and enhancing self-

CLOSE-UP # 19 PAGE 9 3 i regard. Researchers and other writers on our democratic community and the subject of community service programs constitutional order" in the United have identified a link between these pro- States (Butts 1988). "It also incorpo- grams and outcomes (Berman 1990; rates, however, recognition that Dynneson 1992b; Eves lage 1993; Fowler 1990; Americans are residents of a planet Patrick 1991; Pereira 1990; Rutter and that has become a global village. This Newmann 1989; Wood 1990). For maximum development requires our civic benefit, say these writers, community attention and action on a trans- service projects should national and transcultural scale" (3).

Address a real need Those advocating inclusion of the interna- Integrate and nurture academic skills tional perspective in our civic education Provide opportunities for young people to curricula include Avery, et al. (1992); be depended upon Blankenship (1990); Boyer (1990); Collins Allow students to analyze problems, (1993); Drake (1987); Goodlad (1986); consider and try possible solutions, evalu- Harwood (1992); Titus (1994); Tucker (1990); ate results, try again, and reflAtt on what Watts, Matlock, and Short (1988); and Wraga they have learned (1993). These scholars point out that sepa- Encourage collaborative problem solving rating ourselves from the world context between student and teacher or other provides a distorted picture of U.S. ,values adult and interests and that, in any case, it is no Give students considerable responsibility longer an option in this era of growing global for organizing their own projects interdependence. We need to increase our Be flexible, offering in-school projects for awareness of the interaction between na- students withjobs or family responsibili- tional and international factors such as ties Produce a tangible product as evidence of ..the impact of corporations on global accomplishment. society, the mounting problems associated with population increases, Moreover, write Rutter and Newmann, the pressing need to establish worldwide control of pollution, the ever- If community service programs are to widening gulf between the "haves" and enhance civic responsibility, they the "have-nots" of our world; the should be structured explicitly to deal desirability of having available some directly with issues of student commit- form of supranational order or control ment, sense of social responsibility, to assure peace; the whole complex and political participation. [They] area of foreign policy decision making, should be designed explicitly to foster the growing role of regional organiza- social responsibffity and commitment tions and common markets...(Collins rather than only individual develop- 1993, 26-27). ment (1989, 59). These are only a few of the global issues that GLOBAL EDUCATION have and will continue to have profound effects on the lives of U.S. citizens. As Collins Although some have claimed that education observes, "in a democratic society, where for U.S. citizenship and education for global public opinion heavily affects the continuum of citizenship are in conflict, the civic education choices available to the country's leaders, a literature portrays them as intertwined and realistic knowledge of the problems facing the mutually supportive. Thus (1994) writes, world is even more critical" (26).

...civic education for global understand- SPECIFIC CONTENT ing...includes a renewed engagement with and dedication to the civic needs Most of the above discussion has focusedon of our nation. It continues to involve recommended processes for civic education, "explicit and continuing study of the including particular instructional practices. In basic concepts and values underlying addition to these, the civic education litera-

PAGE 10 CLOSE-UP #19 32 ture also includes strong advocacy for more depolarize conflicts and promote dia- complete and incisive treatment of tradi- logue, and give them opportunities for tional civic education content: involvement and action" (79).

American History (Boyer 1990; Patrick ASSESSMENT 1987, 1988; Butts 1988; Franzosa 1989). According to Boyer, "...all students [should] Many civic educators, like educators in other study American history...be introduced to fields, are attempting to change the ways that political thinkers...learn about the heri- student learning is assessed and reported. tage of other cultures as they prepare to Adler, Luhn, and Philbin (1993), Finklestein take their placed; in a world of diverse (1993), Parker (1989, 1990), Rudner (1991), peoples whose destinies have become and others are pushing for more authentic, intertwined" (6). performance-based, integrative assessments for civic education. Parker's guidelines are The Constitution and Bill of Rights representative of the move toward improved (Avery 1988; Butts 1988; Patrick 1987, approaches to assessment: 1988; Sinatra, Beck, and McKeown 1992). Whether or not they provide a specific law- Outcomes need to be conceptualized as related education course, teachers should tasksrelatively clear cases rather than emphasize the applicability of these amorphous goals. documents to the common concerns of The citizenship tasks should be authentic citizens and integrate their content with or genuine; that is, they need to resemble facts about the past and current structure the real-world challenges faced by demo- and operations of government. High- cratic citizens. quality learning materials are available The tasks need to be standard setting, and should be used. Avery strongly pointing students toward a high, rich level advocates referring to specific groups when of knowing while at the same time provid- presenting Constitutional principles such ing the specificity that tasks convey. as freedom of expression and assembly, Students should be asked to perform just a since students so often fail to see the few tasks. applicability of these principles to individu- The tasks should be attempted by all als and groups with whom they disagree students. (3). The tasks should generally involve higher- order thinkinga challenge for which the Current Events (Butts 1988; Dynneson student has to go beyond the routine use 1992b; Eveslage 1993; Patrick 1991). of previously learned information. Student surveys reveal that current events The tasks should be known to students comprise one of their favorite themes in well in advance (1990, 18). social studies classes. They can learn applications of constitutional principles and increase their global awareness through Support for Teachers the study of current events. "Education for responsible citizenship," writes "Real-World" Issues (Berman 1990; Butts, "is a part of the job of all educators who Blankenship 1990; Craig 1990, . Franzosa influence elementary and secondary students, 1989; Ochoa 1991; Parker 1990; Patrick not only the job of teachers of history, civics, 1987; Wood 1990). This reecrs to peren- and government' (1993, 331). Recalling that nialand often controversialsocial the researchers point to insufficient teacher issues and to issues of immediate personal preparation as one cause of America's inad- relevance to students. Civic educators equate civic education programs, it is impor- recommend making exploration of these tant to look at their recommendations for issues a larger part of the curriculum. improvement in this area. "We should," writes Berman, listen to and acknowledge [students1 feelings, give PRESERV10E TEACHERS them multiple perspectives and ways to apply conflict resolution strategies to Researchers and reviewers have identified needs that they feel should be addressed in CLOSE-UP #19 33 PAGE 11 teacher preparation programs. The follow- INSERVICE TEACHERS ing recommendations are from the work of Colville and Clarken (1992); Dynneson Recommendations for support and inservice (1992b); Hardin and Johnson (1991); Levitt training for teachers are offered by Beyer and .Longstreet (1993); and Stanton (1987): (1998); Dynneson (1992b); Hardin and Johnson (1991); Mullins (1990); and Torney-Purta Teacher preparation programs should (1983): consider requiring more coursework in civic education for future teachers, espe- Citizenship education needs to become an cially for multiple-subjects students. instructional priority in all schools, regardless of grade level, so that teachers can Teacher training institutions should nurture development of our society's prepare their students to serve as models citizenship goals. of social responsibility for students. They should select students who are able to Inservice activities should be provided model and teach the sense of social respon- which familiarize teachers with research sibility we wish to engender in our chil- on effective teaching for responsible dren. citizenship.

There is a broader range of approaches to To implement open classroom clhnates teaching for citizenship than are typically characterized by active learning, "teachers provided to preservice teachers; their need administrative support and ample academic and professional preparation time both for inservice training to imple- should be expanded beyond the "centrist" ment new teaching strategies and for model of civic education. planning their courses of study" (Mullins, 4). Teacher training programs should provide learning experiences designed to help Administrators should share the power prospective teacher§ instruct students in structure of their schools with their citizenship content, skills, and values. teaching staffs by extending them greater autonomy over their work and including Prospective teachers should receive them more fully in decisions about school instruction that will equip them to provide operations. law-related education courses or units. Teacher training institutions should Administrators should assist teachers of consider requiring such instruction, either law-related education by informing the as a course or as integrated into civics and community of its positive effects and government courses. engaging their interest and support. Students in social studies education methods classes and student teaching Obstacles to Change should have opportunities to review basic constitutional concepts. To improve our civic education programs and results, educators must become familiar with Teacher training institutions should these research-based practices and recommen- encourage social science faculty to involve dations. This is only the beginning, however, themselves in the overall teacher prepara- since there are obstacles other than mere lack tion process. of information that impede implementation of new approaches. Ochoa (1991), Parker (1989), Teacher training institutions should foster Titus (1994), and VanSledright and Grant future teachers' capacities for dealing with (1994) have identified barriers that must be controversial issues by providing them overcome if we are to make substantial instruction in valuing, "especially in a changes in our approach to education for complex democracy that has at its very citizenship: core controversy and compromise" (Levitt and Longstreet, 146).

PAGE 12 CLOSE-UP #19 Resistance to analysis or criticism of the ...democratic citizenship is not only a domestic or international practices of the matter of preserving democracyit U.S. is also a matter of creating it...the daily labor of democracy, the "grunt- Resistance to practices other than lecture- work," involves processes that are memorize-quiz always of the moment that is just now unfolding; identifying public Entrenched teacher training practices that problems, deliberating on them perpetuate these teaching/learning meth- without repression or discrimination, ods safeguarding the opposition, opening the system to the dispossessed, Resistance to teachers sharing power with responding to injustice (1990, 17). students No wonder Naylor (1990, 56), as part of his Resistance to assessment methods other advocacy of active, participatory learning, uses than quantifiable standard achievement citizen as a verb: "If you want to learn to texts 'citizen'," he says, "you need to do more than read books and take courses." Administrator and school board resistance to giving teachers more influence over curricular content Key References

Resistance by some students to taking Angell, A. V. "Democratic Climates in El- more of the responsibility for their own ementary Classrooms: A Review of learning Theory and Research." Theory and Research in Social Education 19/3 (Sum- School organizational approaches that mer 1991): 241-266. place a higher value on managing students than on educating them Reviews retiearch'on the relationship between classroom climate variables and The long-standing difficulty schools have students' civic dispositions and skills. in opening up for sustained study issues Desirable outcomes, such as feelings of that matter deeply to people but on which interest and obligation to participate in they disagree" (Parker, 354) democratic processes in society, were found among students whose classrooms Regarding global education: Inertia [and] were characterized by cooperative activi- resistance by some who, alarmed by the ties, opportunities for free expression, term'global,' may see such efforts as a respect for diverse viewpoints, and student threat to national unity" (Titus, 4) participation in democratic discussion and decision making. The lack of evaluative criteria for civic education. Avery, P. "Adolescents, Civic Tolerance, and Human Rights." Social Education 57/2 Conclusion (November/December 1988): 534-537.

As usual, change will not come easily. The Follows a brief literature review with the researchers and other civic education scholars description and results of a study of the do, however, make a compelling case for civic tolerance of approximately 500 sustained effort to bring about change. They students in grade 9 and 11. Students' remind us that, without proficient, committed, tolerance of their most-disliked groups was participating citizens, we cannot preserve our measured by surveying their willingness to democratic way of life. Moreover, as ex- extend to this group the rights and protec- pressed by Parker in his essay on developing tions defmed in the Universal Declaration citizenship programs, of Human Rights. Tolerance levels depended on the particular rights involved. Offers recommendations based on findings.

PAGE 13 CLOSE-UP #19 36 Avery, P.; Bird, K.; Johnstone, S.; Sullivan, students feel free to discuss controversial J. L.; and Thalhammer, K. "Exploring issues openlyand several civic knowledge Political Tolerance with Adolescents." and attitude measures. Like previous Theory and Research in Social Education research, this study found positive rela- 20/4 (Fa111992): 386-420. tionships (of varying strengths) between open classroom climates and all national Follows a literature review with the and international measures. description of a study that examined the effects of a curriculum on the levels of Boyer, E. L. "Civic Education for Responsible tolerance of more than 300 ninth graders Citizens." Educational Leadership 48/3 in three schools. The researchers identi- (November 1990): 4-7. fied several variables, including exposure to the curriculum, that were significantly Argues that preparing students to assume related to tolerance. Tolerance was citizenship responsibilities is one of the defined as willingness to extend the right main purposes of education, claims that of freedom of expression to groups whose education for citizenship is not adequately beliefs are at odds with one's own beliefs. addressed in schools, and discusses the elements that should comprise civic Berman, S. "Educating for Social Responsibil- education programs. ity." Educational Leadership 48/3 (Novem- ber 1990): 75-80. Butts, R. F. Democratic Values: What the. Schools Should Teach. Paper presented at Defmes "social responsibility" as a personal the National Conference on the Future of investment in the well-being of others and Civic Education,Washington, DC, October of the planet, identifies the knowledge and 1988 (ED 307 187). skills necessary for practicing social responsibility, and suggests ways the Presents and discusses the democratic knowledge and skills can be imparted in ideas and values the author believes schools and classrooms. Also describes should comprise the nation's civic educa- some actual programs aimed at developing tion curriculum. Butts identifies the social responsibility in participants. following twelve core civic values as fundamental to the theory and practice of Beyer, L. E. "Can Schools Further Democratic democratic citizenship: the six obligations Practices?" Theory Into Practice 27/4 (Fall of citizenship, includingjustice, equality, 1988): 262-269. authority, participation, truth, and patriotism; and the six rights of citizenship, Draws contrasts between "classic liberal including freedom, diversity, privacy, due theory," which emphasizes private inter- process, property, and human rights. ests, and true democracy, which focuses on Butts calls this group of values the the public good. Discusses the ways that "Twelve Tables of Civism." terms like "democracy," which have strong positive connotations for Americans, are Butts, R. F. "The Time is Now: To Frame the sometimes misused by people in power to Civic Foundations of Teacher Education." sway public sentiment toward things that Journal of Teacher Education 44/5 (No- are not at all democratic. Argues that vember/December 1993): 326-334. both teachers and students must be allowed to share more fully in the power Calls attention to the absence of specific structure of schools if schooling is to foster civic education content from most of the a truly democratic society. reform proposals and efforts of the 1980s. Outlines the author's recommended Blankenship, G. "Classroom Climate, Global teacher preparation coursework in the Knowledge, Global Attitudes, Political content and values of U.S. constitutional Attitudes." Theory and Research in Social democracy. Recommends, in particular, Education 18/4 (Fa111990): 363-386. the approach of the CIVITAS program for civic education. Examines the relationship between "open" classroom environmentsthose in which

PAGE 14 CLOSE-UP #19 36 Center for Civic Education. National Stan- address current world problems. Contact dards for Civics and Government. information is provided for many agencies Calabasas, CA: Center for Civic Education, and organizations concerned with global 1994. issues.

Specifies what students should know and Drisko, J. "The Responsibilities of Schools in be able to do in the field of civics and Civic Education.' Journal of Education government as they complete the fourth, 175/1(1993): 105-119. eighth, and twelfth grades. This U.S. Department of Education-funded docu- Identifies three elements that schools ment is based upon National Goals 3 and must provide as part of high-quality civic 6, which address knowledge and skills for education: (1) a curriculum based on the capable citizenship. fundamental principals of democracy as put forth in the nation's founding docu- Collins, H. T. "International Education for ments, (2) a school culture that is based on Tomorrow's Citizens." The School principles of democracy, and (3) opportuni- Administrator 50/8 (August 1993): 25-30. ties for students to apply their knowledge of democracy. Notes that American schools are not currently preparing globally literate Dynneson, T. L. "What's Hot and What's Not citizens, explains why global literacy is in Effective Citizenship Instruction." The important, and offers a series of recom- Social Studies 83/5 (September/October mendations for improving American 1992): 197-200. students' understanding of the world beyond U.S. borders. Reports the results of a survey of high school seniors undertaken to identify their Colville, J. K., and Clarken, R. H. Developing attitudes towards different kinds of citizen- Social Responsibility through Law-Related ship-related activities. Among the findings Education. Paper presented at the Annual were that studen4 were most interested Meeting of the American Educational in current events and activities pertaining Research Association, San Francisco, CA, to their personal interests and needs. Apri11992(FD 344 870). Makes recommendations based on findings. Describes and cites research showing the effectiveness oflaw-related education Eveslage, T. E. 'The Social Studies and (LEE) in developing socially responsible Scholastic Journalism: Partners in citizens by improving the knowledge, Citizenship Eck mtion." Social Education attitudes, and behavior of LRE students. 57/2 (February 1993): 82-86. LRE courses aim at developing both content knowledge and abilities such as Provides a review of the literature on the clear reasoning, critical thinking, empa- inadequacy of citizenship education in the thy, reflection, and decision making. LRE U.S., with a focus on the instructional, also requires in-depth teacher preparation resource, and ( urriculum practices that in the principles and laws on which Ameri- perpetuate this inadequacy. Advocates can society is based. integrating the social studies curriculum with school journalism in order to provide Drake, C. "Educating for Responsible Global in-depth, hands-on experiences of values, Citizenship." Journal of Geography 86/6 rights, and responsibilities associated with (November/December 1987): 300-306. citizenship.

Describes an array of pressing interna- Finkelstein, J. M.; Nielsen, L. E.; and Switzer, tional problemswidespread poverty, T. "Primary Elementary Social Studies overpopulation, human rights abuses, Instruction: A Status Report." Social environmental pollution, and so on Education 57/2 (February 1993): 64-69. discusses the interrelatedness of the world's nations; and makes recommenda- Discusses research on the ways young tions for actions U.S. citizens can take to children learn and the kinds of teaching

CLOSEAJP #19 PAGE 15 37 approaches that are congruent with Survey. Winston-Salem, NC: Center for those needs. Then reports the results of Research and Development in Law-Related a survey of more than 1200 primary-level Education, 1991 (ED 371 967). teachers on their preferred and actual approach to teaching social studies. Reports results of a survey of 1,284 teach- Teaching practices were found to be ers of grades K-12 regarding the kinds of seriously at odds with the recommenda- support they need for teaching law-related tions of early childhood specialists. Rec- and citizenship education. Also reports ommendations are offered. positive effects oflaw-related/citizenship education on student achievement, atti- Fowler, D. "Democracy's Next Generation.* tudes, behavior, class participation levels, Educational Leadership 48/3 (November and critical thinking skills. 1990): 10-15. Harwood, A. M. "Classroom Climate and Civic Reveals results of a survey of over 1,000 Education in Secondary Social Studies 15-24 year-olds and social studies teachers Research: Antecedents and Findings." about their views of citizenship and Theory and Research in Social Education citizenship education, and makes recom- 20/1 (Winter 1992): 47-86. mendations based on findings. Following findings about young people's detach- Reviews research from the 1960s4orward ment from public life, the discussion that investigated the relationships be- focuses on hands-on curriculum, commu- tween climate measures in social studies nity service, and voter registration as key classrooms and student attitudes toward elements in developing actively participat- the political process. In general, "open" ing citizens. classroom environments featuring student participation and free expression have a Franzosa, S. D. "Teaching Citizenship.' positive effect on student attitudes toward Magazine of History 412 (Spring 1989): 5-6. politics. Somebut lessevidence indicates that open classroom climates also Bemoans the lack of knowledge and positively impact political knowledge and understanding exhibited by contemporary politicalparticipation. high school students regarding the nature, rights, and responsibilities of citizenship. Harwood, A. M. The Effects of Close Up Discusses the changes that should be made Participation on High School Students' in the American history curriculum in Political Attitudes. Paper presented at the order to engage the interest of students Annual Meeting of the American Educa- and overcome their apathy and cynicism. tional Research Association, Boston, MA, Apri11990 (ED 320 846). Goodlad, J. I. "Fhe Learner At the World's Center." Social Education 50/6(October Compares the attitudes of Georgia second- 1986): 424-436. ary students who participated in a week- long, intensive, on-site, experiential Reviews historical forces leading to today's citizenship education program in Washing- social, economic, and educational needs ton, DC, with those of similar students and proposes ways to meet these needs. who participated in a citizenship education Emphasizes the need for today's students program at their home schools. Experien- to develop global awareness and under- tial program students exhibited more standing engage in active, contextualized positive change from pre- to post-test in learning and development of higher-order both political attitudes and political partici- mental activities; and have equal access to pation than did control students. knowledge and tools for dealing with the complexities of the contemporary world. Harwood, A. M., and Hahn, C. L. Controver- sial Issues in the Classroom. ERIC Digest. Hardin, J. P., and Johnson, G. Teachers Speak Bloomington, IN: ERIC Clearinghouse for Out on Law-Related Education. Summary Social Studies/Social Science Education, Report on the SPICE IV National Teachers' September 1990 (ED 327 453).

PAGE 16 CLOSE-UP 019 Proceeds from the assumption that "the Defmes and describes civic education as essence of healthy democracy is open it is currently conducted in the U.S.; dialogue about issues of public concern," discusses the inadequacy of most civic and identifies research fmdings about education for preparing knowledgeable effective approaches for holding classroom and participating citizens; and cites discussions on controversial issues. research fmdings on effective practices which, if more widely used, could im- Hastings, W. L. "Political Socialization prove the quality of civic education. Themes in the Post-Watergate Era." Social Education 50/6 (October 1986): 453- Hyland, J. T. Teaching About the Constitu- 457. tion: Relationships between Teachers' Subject Matter Knowledge, Pedagogic Compares the survey responses of three Beliefs and Instructional Decision Making populations toward democracy and govern- Regarding Selection of Content, Materials, ment "to discover whether... democratic and Activities: Summary of Research values have changed since 1968." Students Findings. Los Angeles, CA: Los Angeles who were in grade 12 in 1968, 1972, and Unified School District, 1985 (ED 273 557). 1984 completed the same -ttitude instrument. Results showed increased cynicism Reports results of an observational study over time in all subject areas investi- of junior high school teachers as they gatedthe social role of government, law taught eighth graders about the U.S. and legal procedures, minority rights, and Constitution. Researchers found the political participation. The author credits teachers' knowledge about the Constitu- this trend to events such as Watergate and tion very limited, their beliefs about the deficit increase of the Reagan years, teaching repressive, their attitudes toward which he feels have eroded the confidence students demeaning, and their instxuc- ofyoung adults. tional methods inadequate for giving students anything beyond the most super- Hepburn, M. A. Democratic Schooling and ficial knowledge about "the supreme law of Citizenship Education: What Does the our land." Resecrch Reveal? Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Social Science Kickbusch, K W. "Civic Education and Education Consortium, East Lansing, MI, Preservice Educators: Extending the June 1982 (ED 014 109). Boundaries of Discourse." Theory and Research in Social Education 25/3 (Sum- Examines four major research studies mer 1987): 173-188. comparing democratically operated classroom& and schools with more autocratic or Reports on a study in which seven student anarchistic ones. Democratic settings teachers in social studies classrooms were were characterized by encouragement of observed and interviewed to learn about student self-expression and self-monitor- their teaching goals and strategies. Sub- ing; opportunities for students to influence jects had a narrow range of pedagogical activities; fairness in disciplinary and skills and kept to the "centrist" position on reward structures; and cooperative efforts civic education, an approach characterized by administrators, teachers, and students. by passive learning and recitation of facts. By comparison with other kinds of set- The authors call for teacher preparation tings, the more democratically operated programs to educate aspiring teachers in a schools and classrooms exhibited less broader range of civics content and a wider violence, fewer crimes, better student array of teaching skills. attitudes and self-control, more student time on task, and more positive student Leppard, L. J. "Discovering a Democratic political attitudes. Tradit; on and Educating for Public Poli- tics."mica Education 57/1 (January Hoge, J. D. Civic Educaiion in Schools. ERIC 1993): 23-26. Digest. Bloomington, IN: ERIC Clearing- house for Social Studies/Social Science Argues that meaningful participation in Education, December 1988 (ED 301 531). politics requires active involvement in CLOSE-UP 019 PAGE17 3J study, deliberation, and interaction with Mullins, S. L. Social Studies for the 21st othersnot merely being fed information Century: Recommendations of the Na- and invited to choose between prepackaged tional Commission on Social Studies in the options. Indicates that the social studies Schools. ERIC Digest. Bloomington, IN: approach called National Issues Forums in ERIC Clearinghouse for Social Studies/ the Classroom provides a structure for Social Science Education, November 1990 meaningful involvement by helping (ED 329484). students to iaarn about issues and tascuss their meaning, importance, and potential Summarizes the recommendations made solutions and to achieve comensus with by the National Commission on Social others. Studies in the Schools for curriculum content and teaching strategies to be used Levitt, G. A., and Longstreet, W. S. "Contro- with each age group, K-12. Key recom- versy and the Teaching ofAuthentic Civic mendations include that students should Values." The Social Studies 8414 (July/ develop citizenship skills as well as knowl- August 1993): 142-148. edge via active learning approaches in reading, writing, observing, debating, role Argues that discussion of controversial play, simulations, use of statistics, decision matters in classrooms is essential to making, and problem solving. developing authentic civic values in students. Since this is itself a controver- Naylor, D. T. "Educating for Citizenship: LRE sial matter, the authors offer recommen- and the Social Studies.* Update on Law- dations for preservice teacher education Related Education 1412 (Spring 1990): 33- and guidelines to help teachers pursue 36, 56. more candid classroom discussionswithout alienating their communities orjeopardiz- Asserts that law-related education (LRE) ing their jobs. Includes two model lesson needs to be thoroughly integrated into outlines and a listing of resource agencies. social studies programs at the elementary and secondary levels, rather than being Mabe, A. R. "Moraland Practical Foundations relegated to a "special event" or high for Civic Education." The Social Studies school elective course. Identifies suitable 84/4(July/August 1993): 153-157. points in the typical social studies curriculum for inclusion of LRE activities. Argues that civic education must include moral education of a secular kind in order Newmann, F. M. Citizenship Education in the to develop the kinds of citizens we want. United States: A Statement of Needs. The author regards theories of social Paper presented at the National Confer- justice, the practice of democratic prin- ence on Civic Renewal, Boston, MA, ciples in schools and classrooms, and November 1987 (ED 307 203). community-based experiences as essential components of a civic/moral education Identifies reasons for the failure of reform program. efforts in citizenship education, despite widespread agreement that reform is Morse, S. W. "The Practice of Citizenship: needed. Specifies issues that reformers Learn by Doing." The Social Studies 84/4 should address and calls for teacher (July/August 1993): 164-167. involvement in reform efforts. Insists on instruction that includes direct student Identifies the kinds of school- and commu- experience with citizenship functions and nity-based activities students can pursue in issues. order to gain practice in the knowledge and skills of citizenship. Recommends Newmann, F. M. "Reflective Civic Participa- democratically run classrooms and com- tion." Social Education 53/6 (October munity service participation as means by 1989): 357-360,366. which students can build and practice citizenship skills. Argues that programs designed to foster civic participation in students must also include opportunities for them to reflect

PAGE 18 CLOSE-UP 019 about participation. Describes the kinds Asserts that cid-- aship education should of issues that emerge when people consciously and deliberately include engage in community participation and instruction and practice in ethics and suggests ways that educators can help values. Three reasons are offered and students to deal with these issues. argued: that it is impossible not to transmit values in education; that the effective Ochoa, A. Informed and Reasoning Citizens: functioning of a democracy demands An Interdisciplinary Matter. Paper pre- ethically grounded citizens; and that our sented at the Annual Meeting of tha social, relational lives are healthier and American EducationalResearch Associa- happier when guided by ethical principles tion, Washington, DC, Apri11991 (ED 338 such as caring and compassion. 519). Parker, W. C.; Mueller, M.; and Wendling, L. Argues that the preparation of informed "Critical Reasoning on Civic Issues." and thoughtful citizens requires two Theory and Research in Social Education qualities not commonly present in school 27/1 (Winter 1989): 7-32. social studies programs: (1) true integration of history, political science, geogra- Reports results of a study of the critical phy, and other disciplines and (2) instruc- reasoning aldlls of 24 senior high school tional approaches that build students' students as expressed in four-paragraph skills in raising questions, gathering and essays they were asked to develop follow- evaluating evidence, identifying assump- ing a specific format. Their simplistic tions, challenging arguments, defending arguments and poorly constructed counter- positions, and so on, rather than passively arguments indicated a need for instruction receiving lectures. Barriers to the imple- in dialectical reasoning on civic issues. mentation of such changes are identified. See Parker, Wendling, and Mueller (1988) below. Parker, W. C. "Assessing Citizenship." Educa- tional Leadership 48/3 (November 1990): Parker, W. C.; Wendling, L.; and Mueller, M. 17-22. Critical Thinking and Curriculum Design in the Civic Domain. Paper presented at Discusses the need for sound planning for the Annual Meetiqg of the American citizenship education within the social Educational Research Association, New studies curriculum. Identifies guidelines Orleans, LA, Apri11988 (ED 295 992). for developing effective citizenship education and assessments and cites specific Discusses the effect on thinldng critically examples of units for different grade levels and expressing ideas produced by student that can help schools meet their learning participation in a one-month residential goals for students. citizen leadership institute during the summer preceding their senior year. Parker, W. C. "Participatory Citizenship: Intensive analysis, discussion and writing Civics in the Strong Sense.' Social Educa- about civic problems from the local to the tion 53/6 (October 1989): 353-354. global level led to dramatic improvements in students' ability to prepare a cogent Identifies and describes the components of essay exhibiting complex dialectical a strong civics program, including relevant reasoning. Implications for curriculum knowledge, an environment that encour- design are drawn. Sze previous entry. ages students to think and act on behalf of the public good, and participation Patrick, J. J. Education on the U.S. Constitu- through sustained dialogue about issues of tion. ERIC Digest. Bloomington, IN: public importance. Also identifies ob- ERIC Clearinghouse for Social Studies/ stacles to implementing these elements. Social Science Education, May 1987 (ED 285801). . Parker, W. C. "Why Ethics in Citizenship Education?" Social Studies and the Young Provides a digest of information on the Learner 1/1 (September/October 1988): way the U.S. Constitution is taught in the 3-5. public schools, citizens' levels of knowl- CLOSE-UP #19 PAGE 19 41 edge about the Constitution, problems of tends that teachers should focus on the insufficient knowledge and understand- moral significance of all school subject ing, and recommendations for improve- matter as they teach so that students will ments in teaching about the Constitution. acquire both the disposition and the habit of acting for the public good. Patrick, J. J. Teaching the Bill of Rights. ERIC Digest. Bloomington, IN: ERIC Rowe, J. W. "To Develop Thinking Citizens." Clearinghouse for Social Studies/Social Educational Leadership 48/3 (November Science Education, October 1988(ED 298 1990): 43-44. 076). Describes elementary school social studies Summarizes research on the manner in students' use of a simulated town meeting which the Bill of Rights is taught in to address actual issues faced by their schools, the deficiencies in students' and community. Review and discussion of adults' knowledge concerning the Bill of issues called for development of content Rights and issues to which it pertains, and knowledge plus skills in critical thinking, approaches to teaching that could be decision making, problem solving, re- expected to improve students' knowledge search, communication and cooperation. and understanding of this important document. Rudner, L. M. Assessing Civics Education. ERIC Digest. Washington, DC: ERIC Patrick, J. J. Teaching the Responsibilities of Clearinghouse on Tests, Measurement, Citizenship. ERIC Digest. Bloomington, and Evaluation, May 1991 (ED 338 698). IN: Clearinghouse for Social Studies/ Social Science Education, Apri11991 (ED Provides general guidelines for those who 332929). will be assessing the civics learning of elementary and secondary students. Also Summarizes literature on the importance identifies a variety cf techniques that can of learning citizenship responsibilities, the produce more meaningful :.,nd accurate deficiencies in students' learning in this data than mulliple-choice or true-false area, and actions the home and the school tests, including group projects, interviews, can take to improve students' preparation essay questions, informal observation, for assuming the responsibilities of citizen- formal observation, and individual student ship. projects.

Pereira, C. Law-Related Education in Elemen- Rutter, R. A., and Newmann, F. M. "The tary and Secondary Schools. ERIC Digest. Potential of Community Service to En- Bloomington, IN: Clearinghouse for Social hance Civic Responsibility." Social Educa- Studies/Social Science Education, 1988 (ED tion 53/6 (October 1989): 371-374. 296948). Discusses fmdings from a study of the Defines law-related education (LRE), nature and outcomes of community service describes its role in the social studies programs. Since participants exhibited curriculum, cites research fmdings on growth in personal development but not on effective LRE practices, and recommends several measures of civic rreponsibility, staff development practices to equip the researchers recommend that commu- teachers to operate successful LRE pro- nity service programs be specifically grams. designed to foster civic responsibility in participants. Pratte, R. "Civic Education in a Democracy." Theory Into Practice 27/4 (Fall 1988): 303- Sinatra, G. M.; Beck, I. L.; and McKeown, 312. M. G. "A Longitudinal Characterization el Young Students' Knowledge of Their Describes problems with civic education as Country's Government." American Educa- it is usually practiced in the schools and tional Research Journal 29/3 (Fa111992): suggests an alternative approach. Con- 633-661.

PAGE20 CLOSE-UP #19 42 Examines the effect of fifth and eighth lum and instructional changes and grade social studies instruction on stu- barriers faced by those who support dents' understanding of the U.S. govern- changes. ment, particularly the notion of citizen representation. Students were inter- Torney-Purta, J. "Psychological Perspectives viewed on four occasions over a three-year on Enhancing Civic Education Through the pe ad, giving responses that were charac- Education of Teachers." Journal of terized by sameness rather than growth Teacher Education 3416 (November/ and focused on the structure of govern- December 1983): 30-34. ment rather than its historical or philo- sophicalunderpinnings. Reviews research on relationships between classroom climate and students' grasp of Stanton, G. E. "The Civic Education Back- and interest in citizenship in a democracy. ground of Future Teachers.' Social Makes research-based recommendations Studies Review 26/3 (Spring 1987): 36-46. for teacher education activities that enhance teachers' abilities to foster civic Presents findings from a study of the civic concern and participation in their stu- education knowledge of 425 college students. dents in teacher preparation programs in California. Findings indicate that most Tucker, J. L. Citizenship Education through teachers-in-training, particularly those the Eyes of Elementary School Principals. preparing to become elementary teachers, Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of had a very limited grasp of civic education the Social Science Education Consortium, concepts. Recommendations are offered Palo Alto, CA, June 1986 (ED 275 574). for improving the preparation of preservice teachers. Investigates the priorities placed by elementary principals in Florida on four Thomas, G. R. "Commitment and Action: dimensions of citizenship education New Directions in Citizenship Education moral and ethicakinterpersonal under- Research." History and Social Science standings, enculturation, and citizenship Teacher 19/4 (May 1984): 238-239. participation. Principals assigned a low priority to enculturation and citizenship Reviews literature on the relationship participation and seemed largely unaware between student participation in social that citizenship education is a major focus studies classes and commitment to civic of the social studies curriculum. activism. Concludes that most students are passive learners in the classroom and Tucker, J. L. Global Change and American passive citizens outside of schooL Sug- Citizenship Education: TheVital Role of gests approaches to teaching social studies History. Paper presented at the Annual which can help students become question- Meeting of the Social Science Education ing, critical learners and active citizens. Consortium, Evanston, IL, June 1990 (ED 337404). Titus, C. Civic Education for Global Under- standing. ERIC Digest. Bloomington, IN: Argues that citizenship education should ERIC Clearinghouse for Social Studies/ be linked with international education to Social Science Education, April 1994 (ED familiarize students with the global. 370882). context in which the actions of the U.S. take place. Claims that history instruc- Draws from the work of contemporary tion, too, should include the international social studies and social science program events and influences so often lacking developers to identify the civic education from discussions of America's history. content these experts recommend. Calls Identifies reasons that awareness of global for a shift to curricula that emphasize both contexts is becoming more important than U.S. history and government and acquaint ever before, and quotes many individuals students with the contemporary interna- and associations who are calling for tional context. Identifies proposed curricu- increased international focus.

CLOSE-UP #19 PAGE 21 43 VanSledright, B. A., and Grant, S. F."Citi- Wood, G. H. "The Hope for Civic Education." zenship Education and the Persistent Theory Into Practice 27/4 (Fall 1988): Nature of Classroom Teaching Dilem- 296-302. mas." Theory and Research in Social Education 22/3 (Summer 1994): 305-339. Refutes the widely held notions that the main purpose of public education is to Examines the citizenship education beliefs prepare young people for the workforce and teaching behaviors of three elemen- and that business and industrial problems tary teachers in relation to Cornbleth's are largely the fault of the schools. Argues description of citizenship education as that education's major purpose is to "illusory," "technical" or "constructive." prepare citizens to participate actively in Concludes that the active, self-directed, a democracy. Briefly describes projects democratic approach termed "constructive" that give both teachers and students is difficult to achieve in classrooms, practice in participatory citizenship. because democratic functioning is at odds with school goals and because curricular Wood, G. H. "Teaching for Democracy.' content is determined by administrators, Educational Leadership 48/3 (November school boards, and others outside the 1990): 32-37. classroom. Describes commonalities among several Wade, R. C., and Everett, S. 'Civic Participa- urban, suburban, and rural schools around tion in Third Grade Social Studies Text- the U. S. that give students a sense of books.' Social Education 55/8 (September community and direct experience as 1994): 308-311. participating citizens. Elements include (1) small home groups or "advisories' Discusses findings from a review of four where students can share with an adult texts for third graders to (1) identify the advisor and other students, and receive kinds of civic participation mentioned, academic and personal support, (2) compare them with portrayals in (2) student groups that stay with the texts from the 1960s and 1970s, and same teacher for more than one year, (3) determine whether civic participation (3) multiage grouping, (4) cooperative options for children were presented. In learning, (5) hands-on lessons for active general, the contemporary texts pre- learning, (6) learning activities that are sented a more active, involved portrayal relevant to students' lives, and of citizenship than the older texts, and (7) contributions to the larger community children in community service activities through service projects. were portrayed. Weinstein, M. Critical Thinking and Educa- General References tion for Democracy..Resource Publication Series 4, No. 2. Upper Montclair, NJ: Adler, S. A.; Luhn, C. A.; and Philbin, J. Montclair State College; New Jersey "Participatory Citizenship: Made and Institute for Critical Thinking, 1991 (ED Remade for Each Generation." Interna- 363573). tional Journal of Social Education 8/1 (Spring 1993): 67-74. Argues that instruction and practice in critical thinking is excellent preparation Provides a critique of the treatment of for students as they take on the responsi- citizenship education inAraerica 2000, bilities of citizenship. Theories of critical arguing that references to citizenship thinking experts are invoked to illustrate education are without substance and the suitability of critical thinking models pointing out that social studies as a for developing the capacity for "rational discipline is not even mentioned. The deliberation" that is needed for capable authors also claim that traditional testing citizenship. practices do not assess the kinds of bighcz- level reasoning good social studies instruction seeks to impart.

PAGE 22 CLOSE-UP #19 44 Avery, P.; Hoffman, D.; Sullivan, J.; Bird, K.; should be changed so as to encourage self- Johnstone, S.; Thalhammer, K.; Fried, restraint and concern for group welfare. A.; and Theiss-Morse, B. Tolerance for Diversity of Beliefs: A Secondary Cur- Callan, E. "Beyond Sentimental Civic Educa- riculum Unit. Boulder, CO: Social tion." The American Journal ofEducation Science Education Consortium, Inc., 1993 102 (February 1994): 190-221. (ED 365 595). Describes two extreme points of view Responds to the lack of in-depth examina- toward politics and governmenta blind, tion of key constitutional issues in uncritical patri m that the author views current curricula by offering a six-week, as "sentimental,' and a hypercritical eight-lesson curriculum focusing on outlook that leads to cynicism and apathy. tolerance and intolerance as political Offers a third positiona conception of concepts and as historical phenomena. political virtue that allows for both critical The curriculum is based on the authors' thinking and patriotic feeling. conviction that "tolerance for diverse beliefs is critical to a democracy...and an Congress of the United States. Goals 2000: important area of inquiry within citizen- Educate America Act. HR 1804. Washing- ship education," but no particular "right ton, DC: Congress of the United States, answers" are advocated. Learning January 25, 1994. activities include case studies, role playing, simulations, mock interviews, Identifies and describes national goals in and journal keeping. eight areas to be achieved by the year 2000, as ratified by Congress in 1994. The Barth, J. L. "America 2000 Goal 3: A Reac- areas addressed include school readiness; tionary Reform of Citizenship Education.' school completion; student achievement International Journal ofSocial Education and citizenship; teacher education and 811 (Spring 1993): 59-66. professional development; mathematics and science; adultliteracy and lifelong Offers a critique of the narrow conception learning, safe, disciplined, and alcohol- and of citizenship education presented in Goal drug-free schools; and parental participa- 3, claiming that political rather than tion. educational considerations have driven the goal development process. Argues for a Craig, E. "Want to Teach Social Responsibil- return to a broader conception of social ity? Start With Political Philosophy." studies and citizenship education and Educational Leadership 48/3(November encourages social studies teachers to join 1990): 87-88. him in working toward this change. Describes the We the People...program Brandhorst, A. R. "reaching Twenty-First developed by the Center for Civic Educa- Century Citizenship: Social Psychological tion in Calabasas, California. Offering Foundations." Theory and Research in activities for both elementary and second- Social Education 18/2 (Spring 1990): 157- ary levels, the program engages students 168. in examining concepts such as 'civic virtue" and "common welfare" by linking Claims that America's "economic model of them with students' own life experiences. human decision making,* which holds that Participation in activities such as simu- what is good for the individual is good for lated congressional hearings gives au- the group, has led to serious, worldwide . dents firsthand experience with the social dilemmas and needs to be replaced workings of government. by a "justice-based model" that focuses on the well-being of the group. Likewise Dynneson, T. L. "What Does Good Citizenship claims that the American focus on "pri- Mean to Students?" Social Education 56/1 mary control* (control of others and the (January 1992): 55-58. physical world) needs to be tampered with "secondary control" (control of self). Reports results from two studies under- Indicates that social studies curricula taken to determine what qualities high CLOSE-UP 019 BEST COPY AVAIIABLE PAGE23 45 school seniors believe to comprise good the National Conference on the Future of citizenship. From surveys completed by Civic Education, Washington, DC, October more than 700 subjects, researchers 1988 (ED 310 984). identified and rank ordered ten characteristics. Among the fmdings"ability to Projects U.S. demographic trends to make wise decisions" and "concern for provide a profile of the future U.S. popula- welfare of others" were the highest-ranked tion, with special focus on the school citizenship attributes. population for whom educators must begin planning. Shortly after the year 2000, Finkelstein, B. "Rescuing Civic Learning: (1) nearly half of all students will be Some Prescriptions for the 1990s." Theory ethnic minorities; (2) the school popula- Into Practice 27/4 (Fa111988): 250-255. tion will be characterized by poverty, cultural and language diversity, and Describes the approaches taken by differ- physical and emotional handicaps; and ent r tormers to improve civic education. (3) education is likely to compete with Uses .imilarities noted across the work of society's growing population of senior these refox mers as the basis for a vision of citizens for resources. The author calls civic education that incorporates the for serving all children, saying "we need intellectual and moral elements the author them all to do well." believes have been lost. Houston, J. E. (ed.). Thesaurus of EliIC Golden, K. "The Relationship Between Voting Descriptors. 12th Edition. Phoenix, AZ: Knowledge and Voting Attitudes of Se- Oryx Press, 1990. lected Ninth and Tenth Grade Students." Social Studies Journal14 (Spring 1985): Lays out the indexing system of the 10-15. Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC), including "scope notes"defini- Discusses a study conducted by the author, dons of educational terms based on the a high school social studies teacher, to way these terms are used across thou- determine whether ImproVements in sands of educational documents. student knowledge about voting would increase their sense of the importance of Miller, J. D. Effective Participation: A Stan- voting. The author concludes that atti- dard for Social Science Education. Paper tudes improved, but, unfortunately, she presented at the Annual Meeting of the gives little information about the treat- Social Science Education Consortium, ment, instruments, or other features of Racine, WI, June 1985 (ED 265 083). the study. Investigates the relationship between Goodman, J. "Education for Critical Democ- taking secondary social studies courses racy." Journal of Education 171/2 (1989): and levels of political participation follow- 88-116. ing high school. Data from two large-scale studies were used. Neither numbers nor Draws upon the work ofJohn Dewey to kinds of social studies classes correlated argue for a "connectionist" view of democ- with later political participation. What racy. Whereas democracy is generally were found to correlate positively with taught primarily as a form of government, postsecondary political participation were Goodman claims that eaucation should (1) involvement in a strong academic teach democracy as a mode of living with program and (2) involvement in extracur- one's fellows. Argues that there is too ricular activitiestwo variables also much focus on individualism in schools and positively related to high-SES. Thus, in society and that the teaching of democ- social studies coursework by lower and racy should therefore focus primarily on middle SES did not interrupt "the upper community and the public good. SES domination of the political process."

Hodgkinson, H. The Context of 21st-Century Parker, W. C. "Curriculum for Democracy." Civics and Citizenship. Paper presented at In Democracy, Education, and the

PAGE 24 CLOSE-UP #19 Schools, edited by R. Soder. San Fran- Pereira, C. Personal communication. No- cisco: Jossey-Bass, 1996, 182-210. vember 1995.

Discusses the inadequacy of the public Argues, in her response to a review draft school civics curriculum to educate knowl- of this paper, that examples of acting on edgeable, practicing democrats. Recom- behalf of the common good should be mends an approach to curriculum develop- provided, e.g., volunteerism, voting, ment that observes the key principles of serving on juries, and petitioning the "teaching the aim," knowledge-in-use (or government as an avenue to change. situated knowledge), face-to-face discussion, reflective dtizen action, diverse Pereira, C.; Dolenga, J.; and Rolzinski, C. A. perspectives, democratic values, and "Teaching Citizenship Through Commu- multiple associations with other in which nity Service." Social Studies and the issues of living and working in groups are Young Learner 3/2 (November/December addressed. Notes that "Problems of 1990): 1-4. Democracy" curricula have already incor- porated some of these principles and can Explains the w4s in which community be built upon by contemporary curricu- service experiences build citizenship lum developers. awareness and skills in students, identifies and describes suitable places in the school Pereira, C. Educating ESL Students for curriculum for community service Citizenship in a Democratic Society. ERIC projects, and cites the attributes of a Digest. Bloomington, IN: ERIC Clearing- quality community service program. house for Social Studies/Social Science Education, November 1993(ED 337 138). Petrini, G. C., and Fleming, D. B. "A History of Social Studies Skills." Theory and Draws from a variety of ESL and social Research in Social Education 18/3 studies sources to develop recommenda- (Summer 1990): 233-247. tions for programs to build the citizenship knowledge and skills of immigrant stu- Traces the history of social studies educa- dents. Major recommendations include tion in the U.S. to identify what were professional development activities for considered to be social studies skills during both ESL and social studies teachers different periods in the past. Citizenship, working with non-native speakers and the inquiry, study, and thinking skills appear use of cooperative learning strategies for in various combinations at different time building both language and citizenship periods. No definitive, agreed-upon list of social studies skills has ever emerged.

Pereira, C. "Educating for Citizenship in the Ross, D. D., and Bondy, E. "Classroom Man- Elementary Grades.* Phi Delta Kappan agement for Responsible Citizenship- 69/6 (F ebruary 1988): 429-431. Practical Strategies for Teachers.' Social Education 57/6 (October 1993): 326-328. Describes the Educating for Citizenship program, which involves students in Argues that, while the research on effec- grades K-4 in hands-on activities designed tive classroom management techniques is to develop an understanding of rights, valuable and useful, application of these responsibilities, and approaches to gover- techniques alone does not help students to nance in a democracy. Featuring class become responsible citizens. Offers a discussion, brainstorming, role play, series of recommendations that combine elections, divergent questions, decision classroom management research findings making and problem solving, the pro- with approaches for fostering responsible gram has been highly successful in citizenship. building citizenship skills in the more than 50 Maryland schools that use it. Sidelnick, D. J. "Effects of Ability, Grade, and Gender on Three Measures of Citizenship with High School Students.' The Social Studies 80/3 (May/June 1989): 92-97.

CLOSE-UP #19 PAGE 26 4 Examines the relationships between Watts, W. D.; Matlock, D. T.; and Short, A. characteristics of ninth and twelfth grade Patterns of Social Fragmentation and survey respondents and the citizenship Cohesion: The Social Context of 21st variables of respect for law, attitude Century Education for Citizenship. toward others' opinions and beliefs, and Paper presented at the National Confer- freedoms as guaranteed by the Bill of ence on the Future of Civic Education, Rights. The most notable finding was that Washington, DC, October 1988 (ED 307 the views of low-ability students were 194). considerably more dogmatic 'and less democratic than those of other students. Calls attention to the economic, demo- The author makes curriculum recommen- graphic, political, and social forces that are dations based on findings. shaping the modern world and argues that civic education needs to include aware- Sleeper, M.; Strom, M. S.; and Zabierek, H. C. ness of these forces and strategies for "Facing History and Ourselves." Educa- dealing with the issues they raise. Calls tional Leadership 48/3 (November 1990): for civic education that includes global 84-86. awareness, acceptance and celebration of cultural differences, and activities to Describes the program, Facing History "rebuild the lost sense of community." and Ourselves, in which junior and senior high school students study events sur- Wnite, C. S. "Information Technology and rounding the Holocaust and apply the Representative Government: Educating lessons of those historical events to an Informed and Participative Citizenry.' actual and potential events in their own Journal of Social Studies Research 13/1 lives. They learn that "evil and injustice (Winter 1989): 8-14. begin with small steps of conforming, accepting, and not thinldng about what is Discusses the potential of technology for happening.* helping citizens to become more informed and involved in the democratic process. Tworek, R. J. The Effeclivenes of Videotape Identifies which effects on citizen knowl- Recordings in Teaching on the Achieve- edge and participation are truly possible ment of Ninth Grade Students in Citizen- and reasonable to expect and which are ship Classes. Atlanta, GA: Georgia State unlikely to occur. Recommends activities University, 1992 (ED 346 833). that are more likely to arouse citizen interest in social and political issues than Compares the examination scores of ninth merely maldng information technology graders who viewed three videotapes as available on a large scale. part of a unit on taxes in American history with the scores of students who Wolf, A. "The Fate of Teaching Constitutional studied the same material without Principles to Middle School Students." viewing the videotapes. There was no Social Studies Review 30/1 (Fa111990): 15- statistically significant difference be- 26. tween the test scores of the groups. Presents and documents three issues: Warren, D. "Original Intents: Public Schools that the Constitutional rights of public as Civic Education." Theory Into Practice school students in California (and else- 27/4 (Fa111988): 243-249. where, speculates the author) are frequently ignored; that California students Traces the history of education in the frequently are not taught about the U.S., focusing on the evolution of attitudes Constitution and Bill of Rights until grades about the role of the school in preparing 11 or 12, in violation of state guidelines; people to function in citizenship roles. and that many California teachersare Claims that the ambivalence people teaching social studies without a credential express today about the civic role of in the subject area and/or perform poorly education has roots in the recurring on a 10-item multiple choice test about conflicts that have occurred throughout Constitutional principles. the nation's history.

PAGE 26 CLOSE-UP 019 Womack, S. T., and King, 0. R. A Case for Citizenship Education in the Early Years. Durant, OK: Southeastern Oklahoma State University; Huntsville, TX: Sam Houston State University, March 1982 (ED 220357).

Reports results of a survey of students in grades 5, 8, and 11 regarding their attitudes toward eight societal components related to citizenship: country, state, neighborhood, voluntary membership organizations, religious organizations, school, home, and self. Since attitudes were already Sstablished by grade 5, the authors recommend beginning citizenship education early in children's school experience.

Wraga, W. G. "The Interdisciplinary Im- perative for Citizenship Education." Theory and Research in Social Educa- tion 2113 (Summer 1993): 201-231.

Argues that only well-designed interdisciplinary programming will equip young people with the knowledge and skills necessary to function effectively as citizens. Briefly describes an interdisciplinary program for citizenship education and identifies teacher preparation and other requirements for its implementation.

4=IINIMMEMMINIMI This publication is based on work sponsored wholly, or in part, by the Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OER), U.S. Department of Education, undei Contract Number RP91002001. The content of this publication does not necessarily reflect the views of OERI, the Department, or any other agency of the U.S. Government.

This publication is in the public domain and may be reproduoed and disseminat id without permission. Please acknowledge NWREL as the developer.

May 1996 CLOSE-UP #19 PAGE 27 4 9 SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT RESEARCH SERIES "Research You Can Use"

Close-Up #20

School Size, School Climate, and Student Performance

Kathleen Cotton

If restructuring truly is an aim of School districts, too, have decreased in num- school reform, then the scale of school- ber and increased in size during this time ing is a major structural issue. period. The 117,108 school districts that Craig Howley, 1994 existed in 1940 have experienced dramatic consolidation; they have decreased by C7 Is it possible to get people to pay percentto 15,367 (Walberg 1992). Not attention to the virtues of smallness as surprisingly, the largest schools can generally well as the virtues of scale? be found within the largest districts (Williams Kent McGuire, 1989 1990). Smith and DeYoung (1988) identify several factors driving this long-term consolidation Introduction trend. One has been the desire of school administrators to "demonstrate their commit- There is a natural predilection in ment to the forces of science, progress, and American education toward enormity, modernization' by seeking to make schooling and it does not serve schools well. "'efficient,' a notion importantly borrowed from William J. Fowler, Jr., 1992 the private sector' (3). Smith and DeYoung also cite the 1957 launching of the Soviet space Schools keep getting bigger and bigger. . satellite Sputnik and the contemporary belief Between 1940 and 1990, the total number of that catching up with the Soviet Union re- elementary and secondary public schools quired bigger schools that could produce more declined 69 percentfrom approximately scientists. Furthermore, they note that 200,000 to 62,037despite a 70 percent compliance with the school desegregation increase in the U.S. population (Walberg 1992; and special entitlement programs originating Howley 1994). Consequently, the average school enrollment rose more than five times-- in the 1960s have resulted in additional from 127 to 653. In today's urban and subur- school mergers. ban settings, high school enrollments of 2,000 Smith and DeYoung and many others note and 3,000 are commonplace, and New York that James Conant's 1959 book, The American City has many schools with enrollments High School Today, greatly accelerated the nearing 5,000 (Henderson and Raywid 1994). momentum of the school consolidation move-

Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory 101 S.W. Main Street, Suite 500 School, Community and Professional Portland, Oregon 97204 itt Telephone (503) 275-9500 Development Program

50 ment (Pittman and Haughwout 1987; Stockard instead of) student populations. Forty-nine and Mayberry 1992; Walberg 1992; Williams of the reports cite the effects of school size, 1990). Conant argued that, in order to be cost nine look at outcomes produced by alterna- effective and to offer a sufficiently large and tive schools, and eleven examine the effects varied curriculum, a secondary school had to of school-within-a-schod (SWAS) arrange- have at least 100 students in its graduating ments. class. Conant claimed that the small high school was the number-one problem in educa- Researchers and reviewers have investigated tion, and that its elimination should be a top the effects of school and unit size on many priority (37-38).1 student performance, attitude, and behavior measures. These include: The push for school and district consolidation continues into the present (Schoggen and Achievement - 31 documents Schoggen 1988). That is unfortunate because, Attitudes (toward school or particular as the balance of this report documents, school subjects) - 19 . research has repeatedly found small schools to Social behavior problems (discipline be superior to large schools on most measures problems, vandalism, drugs/alcohol, and equal to them on the rest. This holds true etc.) - 14 for both elementary and secondary students of Levels of extracurricular participa- all ability levels and in all kinds of settings.2 tion - 17 Feelings of belongingness vs. aliena- The Research Base tion - 6 Interpersonal relations with other students and school staff - 14 WHAT THE RESEARCH IS ABOUT Attendance - 16 Dropout rate - 10 I reviewed 103 documents which identify a Self-concept (academic and general) - 9 relationship between school size and some College-related variables (acceptance, aspect(s) of schooling. Because several of the completion, etc.) - 6 reviews cover the same Tesearch studies, and some of the studies are reported in more than In addition, 12 of the reports address teach- one article, I deleted the redundant materials ers' attitudes and collaboration, 10 concern from my analysis and placed them, along the quality of the curriculum, and 11 focus on with the non-research articles, in the Gen- schooling costs. Many of the reports are eral References section of the annotated concerned with more than one outcome area. bibliography. I retained 69 documents-49 primary sources (studies and evaluations), 14 secondary sources (reviews and syntheses), WHAT IS MEANT BY "LARGE" AND and six documents that report both reviews "SivtAu." ScHools and studies. These form the basis of my analysis and are cited in the Key References There is no clear agreement on the section. dividing line between small and large schools.Davant T. Williams, 1990 Forty of the key documents are concerned with secondary students, five with elementary "One might note that the term 'small school' students, nineteen with students at both has no concrete numerical limits," write Green levels, and ten with school staff as well as (or and Stevens (1988, 11). One certainly might. In the first place, of the 69 key reports, only 27 mention any numbers at all in their analyses 1 Conant's idea of an adequately large high schoolone of large versus small schools. In the second with 300 (grades 10-12) or 400 (grades 9-12)would be considered a small school today. As several researchers place, the upward limit for a "small" school in have pointed out, Conant never advocated the schools with those 27 documents ranges from 200 to 1,000 thousands of students for which his book was used as a students; and the range for a "Is,e" school is rationale. 2 Some researchers (e.g., Friedkin and Necochea 1988; 300 to 5,000 students. Williams, however, Howley 1995) have found that large schools benefit writes that, high-SES students and hamper low-SES students to an even greater degree (see the annotated references). The majority of the research, however, indicates that small schools are beneficial to all students. PAGE 2 CLOSE-UP #20 51 On average, the research indicates within-a-school plans are presented in a that an effective size for an elementary separate section following the school size school is in the range of 300-400 fmdings. students and that 400-800 students is appropriate for a secondary school QUALM OF TEE CURRICULUM (7-8). It does not follow necessarily that more While many researchers argue that no school opportunities exist in larger schools. should be larger than 400 or 500 students, I Kent McGuire, 1989 use Williams's numbers in this report, since my own sense of the research is very similar Many educators past and present have argued to his. for large schools on grounds of curriculum quality. Following James Conant's original Research Findings line of reasoning, they argue that larger schools can offer more numerous and more "Professional faith in the virtues of larger varied curricular offerings than small schools schools persisted, virtually unchallenged, at can. Therefore, goes the argument, operating least through the mid-1960s," writes Howley small schools with more limited curricula is (1989, 3). The challenges began with Roger unfair to the students who attend them. Barker and Paul Gump's 1964 book, Big School, Small School: High School Size and While this has a certain common sense appeal, Student Behavior. Barker and Gump's reexamination of the research reveals that there search revealed that both the number and the simply is no reliable relationship between variety of extracurricularactivities in which school size and curriculum quality (Fowler and students participate are significantly higher in Walberg 1991; Gregory 1992; Howley 1994, small schools than in large ones. The small- I 1996; McGuire 1989; Melnick, et al. 1986; school student was also more likely to hold Monk 1987, 1992; Monk and Haller 1993; important positions in the activities in which Nachtigal 1992; Pittman and Haughwout he or she participated and to derive greater 1987; Rogers 1987; Williams 1990). For one satisfaction from participating. Although there thing, researchers have found that "it takes is no conscious intent to deny participation a lot of bigness to add a little varietrthat opportunities to many students, large high is, "on the average a 100% increase in enroll- schools nevertheless have this effect, leading ment yields only a 17% increase in variety of Barker and Gump to conclude that small offerings" (Pittman and Haughwout, 337). schools are best and that the supposed Moreover, "Whe strength of the relationship superiorities of large schools are "illusions* between school size and curricular offerings (195). diminiRhes as schools become larger. In- creases in the size of very small schools are In the more than 30 years since Barker and associated with greater curricular gains than Gump published their research, many other increases in the size of larger schools" (Monk investigators have challenged the assumption 1992). that bigger schools are better schools. Their findings are presented in the sections that For another thing, researchers have found follow. Findings from the research on school- that the allegedly richer curriculum that larger schools are able to support tend to be made up, not of higher-level courses in, say, math or foreign languages, but rather of additional introductory courses in non-core 3 The Barker and Gump research shows that, in a small areas. For still another, investigators have school, every atudent is needed to populate teams, found that only five to twelve percent of the offices, and club., and thus even marginal students are encouraged tc, participate and made to feel that they students in large schools avail themselves of belong. As schools grow larger, opportunities for the extra courses these schools typically offer extracurricular participation also growbut not (McGuire 1989; Monk 1992; Rogers 1987). proportionately.Typically, a twenty-fold increase in school population leads to only a five-fold increase in participation opportunities. Thin, in larger ichcols, a Finally, Monk, in his 1987 study of the size- greater proportion of students ere unneeded to fill participation slots"redundant,' as Barker and Gump curriculum relationship, concludes that, "it is put it. possible to offer at the 400 pupil level a cur- CLOSE-UP #20 PAGE 3

BEST COPY AVAILABLE 52 riculum that compares quite favorably in ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT terms of breadth and depth with curriculums offered in much larger setengs" (27). Size-achievement relationship is not clear, though some research indicates Beyond these findings, the development and smaller schools facilitate higher use of distance learning and other technologies achievement. Alan M. Burke, 1987 in isolated settings is increasing and can be expected to further ameliorate curriculum About half the student achievement research inequalities. finds no difference between the achievement levels of students in large and small schools, COST-EFFECTIVENESS including small alternative schools (Burke 1987; Caldas 1987; Edington and Gardner 1984; Small high schools cost more money Fowler 1995; Gregory 1992; Haller, Monk, and only if one tries to maintain the big- Tien 1993; Howley 1996; Huang and Howley school infrastructure.... Thomas B. 1993; McGuire 1989; Melnick, et al. 1986; Gregory, 1992 Smith and DeYoung 1988; Stockard and Mayberry 1992; Walberg 1992; Way 1985). Some educators and legislators have also The other half finds student achievement in argued that large schools are more cost- small schools to be superior to that in large effective. Again, a closer look reveals that this schools (Bates 1993; Eberts, Kehoe, Mid Stone is not necessarily true. Researchers have 1982; Eichenstein 1994; Fowler and Walberg found that the relationship between size and 1991; Kershaw and Blank 1993; Miller, costs varies depending on individual school Ellsworth, and Howel11986; Robinson-Lewis circumstances (Gregory 1992; Howley 1996; 1991; Walberg 1992): None of the research McKenzie 1983; Melnick, et al. 1986; Nachtigal finds large schools superior to small schools in 1992; Robertson 1995; Rogers 1987; Walberg their achievement effects. Consequently, we 1992; Williams 1990). Many small schools are may safely say that student achievement in operated very economically, while many large small schools is at letz.ot equaland often ones have exorbitant per-pupil costs. superior--to student achievement in large schools. Achievement measures used in the McKenzie (1983) argues that many analyses of research include school grades, test scores, the school size-cost relationship are simplistic honor roll membership, subject-area achieve- and do not yield useful information. He then ment, and assessment of higher-order thinking provides a mathematical depiction of that relationship, which shows that it is U-shaped; that is, average per-pupil costs do decline up to In reporting these conclusions, researchers a point as enrollment increases, reach a are careful to point out that these results are minimum, and then rise with further school found even when variables other than size growth. Researchers (e.g., Gregory 1992, student attributes, staff characteristics, time- Robertson 1995) claim that the large staff on-task, etc.are held constant (Eberts, needed to manage and control large numbers Kehoe, and Stone 1982, 27; Fowler and of students accounts for this upturn in costs as Walberg 1992). Since many small schools are schools become larger and larger. rural schools, investigators have also won- dered if it might be the ruralnessrather than Following an examination of both the curricu- the smallnessof these schools that is benefi- lum quality and cost-effectiveness issues, cial to students; research shows that smallness Gregory (1992) writes, is beneficial, regardless of the setting of the small school (Stockard and Mt yberry 1992; The perceived limitations in the Walberg 1992). Walberg writes, program that small high schools can deliver and their presumed high cost ...even discounting the positive effects regularly have been cited as justifica- of rural location, smaller high schools tions for our steady march toward yielded greater achievement and years giantism. The research convincingly of attained education after high school. stamps both of these views as mis- Thus, smaller schools showed long- conceptions (10). range effects independent of rural advantages(10). PAGE 4 CLOSE-UP 4120 5 d Finally, whereas the research fmds that The research linking school size to social small schools produce equal or superior behavior has investigated everything from achievement for students in general, the truancy and classroom disruption to vandal- effects of small schools on the achievement ism, aggressive behavior, theft, substance of ethnic minority students and students of abuse, and gang participation. This research low socioeconomic status are the most shows that small schools have lower inci- positive of all (Berlin and Cienkus 1989; dences of negative social behavior, however Eberts, Kehoe, and Stone 1982; Fowler 1995; measured, than do large schools (Burke 1987; Friedkin and Necochea 1988; Howley 1994, Duke and Perry 1978; Gottfredson 1985; 1995; Huang and Howley 1993; Jewell 1989; Gregory 1992; Kershaw and Blank 1993; Miller, Ellsworth, and Howell 1986; Rutter Rutter 1988; Stockard and Mayberry 1992). 1988; Stockard and Mayberry 1992). To put The social behavior of ethnic minority and this v little differently, these researchers low-SES students is even more positively have found that large schools have a more impacted by small schools than that of other negative impact on minority and low-SES students. students than on students in general. I will return to this point in a later discussion ErTRACURRICULAR PARTICIPATION about school size as an equity issue. Small schools allow greater student STUDENT AT1TTUDES participation in extracurricular activities. James M. Kearney, 1994 Students in a small high school experience...an increasingly more As Barker and Gump first noted in their 1964 positive attitude toward school. study, levels of extracurricular participation Thomas B. Gregory and Gerald R. are significantly higher in small schools than Smith, 1987 in large ones (Burke 1987; Cawelti 1993; Foster and Martinez 1985; Fowler 1995; Considerable research effort has been ex- Fowler and Walberg 1991; Grabe 1981; pended studying the relative effects of large Hamilton 1993; Holland and Andre 1991; and small schools on student attitudes toward Howley 1996; Kershaw and Blank 1993; school in general and toward particular school Iiittman and Haughwout 1987; Rogers 1987; subjects. The research on student attitudes Schoggen and Schoggen 1988; Smith and overwhelmingly favors small schools over DeYoung 1988; Stockard and Mayberry 1992; large ones (Aptekar 1983; Bates 1993; Walberg 1992). These researchers have also Edington and Gardner 1984; Fowler 1995; found that students in small schools are Fowler and Welberg 1991; Gregory 1992; involved in a greater variety of activities and Gregory and Smith 1983, 1987; Howley 1994, that they derive more satisfaction from their 1996; Kershaw and Blank 1993; Miller, participation than students in large schools. Ellsworth, and Howel11986; Rutter 1988; According to Hamilton's research, Smith and DeYoung 1988; Smith, Gregory, and Pugh 1981; Walberg 1992). As with achieve- Students in the large schools were ment, the research indicates that the attitudes more polarized, with a group of active of low-SES and minority students are espe- participants at one end of the con- cially sensitive to school size and benefit tinuum and a large group of students greatly from attending small schools. who did not participate in any extracurricular activities at the other. In SOCIAL BEHAVIOR the small schools there were few students who did not participate in Behavior problems are so much greater anything (70). in larger schools that any possible virtue of larger size is canceled out by In addition, at the conclusion of their large- the difficulties of maintaining an scale 1988 study, Schoggen and Schoggen orderly learning environment. Jean report that, although large schools offer more Stockard and Maralee Mayberry, 1992 varied activities, ...the average large school student does not utilize these opportunities. CLOSE-UP #20 PAGE 5 .5%k Although the small school does not favoring small schools (Fetler 1989; Gregory provide such a wealth of activities, 1992; Jewell 1989; Pittman and Haughwout the average student has a better 1987; Rogers 1987; Smith and DeYoung 1988; experience as measured by the Stockard and Mayberry 1992; Toenjes 1989; amount of involvement in the avail- Walberg 1992), with the other document able activities (292). reporting mixed results. Toenjes concludes his study of the 21 largest school districts in The greater and more varied participation in Texas with this observation: extracurricular activities by students in small schools is the single best-supported finding in [IR may be that...the relevant condi- the school size research. Like the findings in tions that exist in the smaller high other areas, findings about participation hold school are much more conducive to true regardless of setting and are most appli- keeping students in school than are cable to minority and low-SES students. the conditions in the larger high Because research has identified important schools. If this is true, it raises a new relationships between extracurricular partici- equity issue, based not on how many pation and other desirable outcomes, such as dollars per pupil are spent, but on the positive attitudes and social behavior, this size of the school to which the pupils fmdingis especially significant. are assigned (15).

ATTENDANCE In later sections of this report, I give further attention both to the "relevant conditions" for The attendance rate ofparticipating keeping students in school and to the matter students was better than that of a of equity. comparison group. Mary Lou McGanney, Dolores M. Mei, and Jan BELONGINGNESs/ALIENATION Rosenblum, 1989 Several studies suggest that students The pattern of findings favoring small schools in small high schools...have a greater continues with the research on student 'sense of belonging" to the group than attendance. Not only do students in smaller students in larger schools.Jean schools have higher attendance rates than Stockard and Maralee Mayberry, 1992 those in large schools (Fowler 1995; Fowler and Walberg 1991; Gregory and Smith 1992; Concerned about the emotional effects of Howley 1994; Kershaw and Blank 1993; Smith different kinds of school environments, some and DeYoung 1988; Walberg 1992), but stu- researchers have studied the degree to which dents who change from large schools to small, students feel a sense of belonging in their alternative secondary schools generally exhibit schools. Given the foregoing findings about improvements in attendance (Bates 1993; other student variables, it is not surprising Duke and Perry 1978; McGanney, Mei, and that these investigators have found a much Rosenblum 1989; Robinson-Lewis 1991; Rutter greater sense of belonging (sometimes ex- 1988). Again, the minority or low-SES student pressed as a lower level of alienation) among is the moat profoundly affected. students in small schools than in large ones (Burke 1987; Campbell, et al. 1981; Edington DROPOUTS and Gardner 1984; Foster and Martinez 1985; Fowler and Walberg 1991; Gregory 1992; Strictly from the perspective of avoid- Gregory and Smith 1983, 1992, Howley 1994; ing high rates of dropouts, it may be Pittman and Haughwout 1987; Smith, Gre- that smaller is better. Laurence A. gory, and Pugh 1981; Stockard and Mayberry Toenjes, 1989 1992; Stolp 1995: WalhArg 1992).

Measured either as dropout rate or graduation Feeling alienated from one's school environ- rate, the holding power of small schools is ment is loth a negative thing in itself and is considerably greater than that of large schools. often found in connection with other undesir- Nine of the ten documents that address this able outcomes. Foster and Martinez's review topic reveal differences favoring or greatly of previous research, plus their own study of

PAGE 6 CLOSL-UP 020 student participation and attitudes, led them Pugh (1981); Kershaw and Blank (1993); to conclude that, Pittman and Haughwout (1987); Rutter (1988); Smith and DeYoung (1988); and Student alienation and student par- Stockard and Mayberry (1992). None of the ticipation in cocurricular activities research consulted for this report found have been found to be negatively equal or superior interpersonal relations in correlated... Unfortunately, alien- large schools. ation affects confidence, self-esteem, and responsibility for self-direction COLLEGE VARIABLES (57-58). [Students) did not differ in terms of SELF-CONCEPT grade-point averages or persistence in college, regardless of their school Evidence of increases in social bonding district's characteristics, including size to teachers and school, self-esteem, of graduating class.William J. academic self-concept, locus of control Fowler, Jr., 1992 and sociocentric reasoning suggest that [small alternative programs can Some who have argued for large schools on respond constructively to students' grounds of curricular size and variety have underlying needs.RobertA. Rutter, also claimed that this alleged curricular 1988 superiority provides better preparation for college. Like the curriculum argument, the Foster and Martinez's observations about assertions about college readiness have been students' perceptions of themselves is borne disproved by research. Six documents address out by Grebe (1981), Rutter (1988), and the relative merits of large and small schools Stockard and Mayberry (1992). These re- vis avis college-related variablesentrance searchcrs have found that both personal and examination seores, acceptance rates, atten- academic self-regard are more positive in dance, grade point average, and completion. smaller schools. Closely related to this are the Five found small schools equal (Rogers 1987; fmdings on the quality of the intarpersonal Fowler 1992; Jewel11989). or superior (Burke milieu in these environments. 1987; Swanson 1988) to large ones in their capacity to prepare students for college en- INTERPERSONAL RELATIONS trance and success.

Students perceive the most positive TEAcHERATnrums conditions of the alternative school to be the interpersonal relationships with Large schools appear to promote facuity members, the supportive negative teacher perceptions of school atmosphere of the school, and the administration and low staff morale. opportunities provided by the school. Denise C. Gottfredson, 1985 Cheryl A. Kershaw and MaryAnn Blank, 1993 There is less research on school size in relation to teacher or administrator variables, but Some researchers approach the matter of what there is favors smaller schools (Eberts, school size from a slightly different angle, Kehoe, and Stone 1982; Gottfredson 1985; querying students about the interpersonal Gregory 1992; Johnson 1990; Miller, climate in their schools. This research focuses Ellsworth, and Howell 1986; Stockard and on elements such as relations among students Mayberry 1992). These researchers exam- and between students and teachers, especially ined administrator attitudes toward their teacher attention and demonstrations of caring work, and teacher attitudes toward their toward students. Positive correlations be- work, their administration, and one another, tween small schools and favorable interper- as well as the incidence of cooperation/ sonal relations have been found by Bates collaboration with their colleagues. (1993); Burke (1987); Fowler and Walberg (1991); Gottfredson (1985); Gregory and Smith (1982, 1983); Smith, Gregory, and r; 6 CLOSE-UP #20 PAGE 7 School-Within-A-School Plans RESEARCH FINDINGS

The major challenge to schools within Findings about the effects of schools-within- schools has been obtaining sufficient schools must be regarded as tentative. Com- separateness and autonomy to permit pared with the research on the effects of staff members to generate a distinctive school size, the research on SWAS structures environment and to carry out their is less extensive, less conclusive, and often own vision of schooling. Mary Ann less rigorous (e.g., surveys of teacher percep- Raywid, 1985 tion rather than comparative studies). Fur- ther, the reports of these studies do not always WHAT THEY ARE identify the extent to which the SWAB is a truly self-contained and distinct entity within a larger school building. This is important to In addition to the research on school size, know, because some researchers (Howley there is a growing body of literature on school- within-a-school (SWAS) plans. SWAS arrange- 1996; Meier 1995; Raywid 1985) assert that ments are intended to mitigate the negative establishing schools-within-schools will not allow us to reap the benefits associated with effects of large schools by organizing their students into smaller groups. SWAS plans are small schools unless they are "separate of different kinds and have different purposes, entities, administratively, programmatically, culturally, and probably with respect to aims" as identified by Cawelti (1993, 19-21): (Howley 1996). Meier makes this point even Vertical house plans. In these ar- more forcefully: rangements, students in grades 9-12 (or 10-12) are assigned to groups of a few A small school must be a schoolnot a hundred each within a large high school. school-within-a-school (whateverthat Each "house" has its own discipline plan, is) or a "mini-schoor or a house or a parent involvement, student activity family. It can be just one of many program, student government, and social housed in a shared building, but a activities. building does not equal a school. A school must be independent, with all Ninth grade house plan. Ninth grad- that the word implies, with control ers have their own "house" within a large over a sufficient number or para- high school and have smaller classes and meters that countbudget, staffing, counseling for students to ease the transi- scheduling, and the specifics of curricu- tion into high school. lum and assessment', just to mention a few. And power indeed to put toilet Special curriculum schools. Students paper in bathrooms. And mirrors, too are organized into houses based on (1995, 115). special interests or needsEnglish-as-a- Second-Language, for example. By this standard, some of the SWAS arrangements described above and, indeed, some Charter schools. These are similar to programs reviewed for this paper, would not special curriculum schools, except that the be likely to produce benefits of the magnitude motivation for creating them tends to small schools are able to confer upon their come from groups of teachers or parents students and staffs. who have recognized a particular focus needed by students.' With these important qualifications, we can say that such research as there is on the effect of SWAS arrangements generally finds them beneficial. Whether SWAS students are compared with non-SWAS peers in large schools or with their own pre-SWAS performance, researchers have noted benefits in the ' Cawelti also discusses teacher-advisor programs and following areas: block scheduling as strategies for arranging students in small groups within large schools, but since these are not actual SWAS plans, I have not included his discussion of here. PAGE 8 57 CLOSE-UP #20 Academic achievement (Burke 1987; Closely related to the participation factor is Bo loz and Blessing 1994; Eichenstein the observation that people in small schools 1994; Levine and Sherk 1990; Robinson- and units come to know and care about one Lewis 1991; Way 1985; Welch and another to a much greater degree than is McKenna 1988) possible in large schools. This applies to relationships among students, among staff 'Social behavior (Burke 1987; Fouts 1994; members, between staff and students, and Goldberg 1982; Way 1985; Welch and between the school and its surrounding McKenna 1988) community (Bates 1993; Berlin and Cienkus 1989; Miller, Ellsworth, and Howell 1986; Attitudes (Burke 1987; Bo loz and Blessing Rutter 1988; Schoggen and Schoggen 1988). 1994; Way 1985) Students who have moved from a large school to an alternative school or school-within-a- Satisfaction (Burke 1987; Eichenstein school nearly always cite the attentive, caring 1994; Nick le, et aL 1990) staff as the reason for their academic and attitudinal improvements. Student-teacher relations (Bo loz and Blessing 1994; Goldberg 1982; Welch and The higher rates of parent involvement in McKenna 1988) smaller schools/units is frequently cited as a major positive influence on student achieve- Attendance (Eichenstein 1994; Fouts 1994; ment and attitudes (e.g., Berlin and Cienkus Gordon 1993; Robinson-Lewis 1991) 1989; Burke 1987; Raze 1985; Walberg 1992). Walberg writes, Why Smaller Is Better Parents...are more likely to know the Why does smaller seem to work principal and teachers, be informed better?...people seem to learn., to about their children's progress, partici- change, and to grow in situations in pate more fully in school activities, and which they feel that they have some influence decision raaking. This can control, some personal influence, some occur partly because the school is efficacy. Barney M. Berlin and smaller but also because it is hitely to Robert C. Cienkus, 1989 be physically and psychologically close to students' homes (21). Finding that small schoold and schooling units are at least equal and often superior to large Staff and students generally have a stronger ones, researchers and reviewers have sought sense of personal efficacy in small schools and to identify the factors responsible for the units (Berlin and Cienkus 1989; Rutter 1988; impressi/e attainments of these schools. In Stockard and Mayberry 1992). Students take doing so, they draw from their own observa- more of the responsibility for their own tions and from survey responses given by learning, learning activities are more fre- school staff and students in large and small quently individualized, classes are smaller, and schools. Not surprisingly, many of the prac- scheduling is much more flexible (Duke and tices identified are in operation largely be- Perry 1978; Kershaw and Blank 1993; Nickle, cause they are so much easier to implement et al. 1990). The learning needs of students, and manage in smaller environments than in not the organizational needs of the school, large ones. drive school operations (Berlin and Cienkus 1989; Rutter 1988). One key feature of small schools and units is that everyone's participation is needed for In terms of instructional approaches and clubs, teams, and student government to have strategies, teachers in small schools/units are an adequate number of members. It is there- more likely to form teaching teams, integrate fore much less likely that students in small their subject-matter content, employ multiage environments will be redundant, overlooked, grouping and cooperative learning, and use or isolated. Noted earlier in this report, this alternative assessments. There is also, in point is discussed in detail in Schoggen and these schools and units, a greater emphasis on Schoggen (1988). learning which is experiential and relevant to CLOSE-UP #20 53 PAGE 9 the world outside of school (Fouts 1994; 1.School consolidation has been carried out Kershaw and Blank 1993; Nick le 1994; Raze through much of this century, resulting in 1985; Rutter 1988; Walberg 1992). many fewer and much larger schools and school districts. Consolidation efforts School Size and continue into the present time. Educational Equity 2.The research base on the relative effects of large and small schools is large and quite It appears that keeping schools rela- consistent. The research base on the tively small might be more efficacious effects of school-within-a-school (SWAS) and may exhibit rare consensus as a arrangements is smaller and less conclu- goal of educators, the public, and those sive. seeking equality of opportunity for students. William J. Fowler, Jr. and 3.There is no clear agreement among Herbert J. Walberg, 1991 researchers and educators about what constitutes a "small" school or a large" We know that, in general, the states with the school. Many researchers, however, largest schools and school districts have the indicate that an appropriate and effective lowest school achievement, highest dropout size is 300-400 students for an elementary rates, and least favorable teacher-student school and 400-800 students for a second- ratios (Jewell 1989; Walberg 1992). We ary school. know, too, as documented earlier in this report, that the students who are most ad- 4.Much school consolidation has been based versely affected by attending large schools are on the beliefs that larger schools are less members of racial minority groups and those expensive to operate and have higher- from low socioeconomic backgrounds. quality curricula than small schools. Research has demonstrated, however, that Unfortunately, it is also the case that minority neither of these assertions is necessarily and low-SES students ap primarily "concen- true. tyated in states that have large school districts and school districts that have large schools" 5.Academic achievement in small schools is (Jewell 1989, 150). Jewell writes, at least equaland often superiorto that of large schools. "...if minority students must struggle more to achieve a solid public educa- 6.Student attitudes toward school in general tion and if large districts and large and toward particular school subjects are schools find it increasingly difficult to more positive in small schools. achieve solid educational results for their students, we may be actii 7. Student social behavioras measured by contrary to the interests of all con- truancy, discipline problems, violence, cerned by organizing our public theft, substance abuse, and gang participa- education system in a manner which tionis more positive in small schools. assigns high proportions of minoilty youngsters to large schools within very 8.Levels of extracurricular participation are large school districts." (152) much higher and more varied in small schools than large ones, and students in Summary and Conclusion small schools derive greater satisfaction from their extracurricular participation. Our data, based upon general tenden- cies, persist in repeating a single C. Student attendance is better in small messagesmaller seems to be better. schools than in large ones. Robert W. Jewell, 1989 10. A smaller percentage of student drop out The following list highlights the major points of small schools than large ones. identified in this paper:- 11. Student have a greater sense of belonging in small schools than in large ones.

PAGE 10 CLOSE-UP 020 5 12. Student academic and general self- 17. The evidence for the effectiveness of concepts are higher in small schools than school-within-a-school(SWAS) arrange- in large ones. ments is much more limited, but it, suggests that students benefit from this 13. Interpersonal relations between and form of organization if the SWAS is among students, teachers, and administra- sufficiently separate and distinct from the tors are more positive in small schools other school(s) housed in the same build- than in large ones. lug.

14. Students from small and large high schools 18. Poor students and those of racial and do not differ from one another on college- ethnic minorities are more adversely related variables such as entrance exami- affectedacademically, attitudinally, and nation scores, acceptance rates, atten- behaviorallyby attending large schools dance, grade point average, and comple- than are other students. Unfortunately, tion. poor and minority students continue to be concentrated in large schools. 15. Teacher attitudes toward their work and their administrators are more positive in Despite this persuasive support for small small schools t.han in large ones. schools, a gap remainsindeed grows between research and practice regarding 16. Attributes associated with small school school size. "the preponderance of profes- size that researchers have identified as sional literature in the past decade," writes acco.mting for their superiority include, Williams,

a.Everyone's participation is needed to indicates that educational researchers populate the school's offices, teams, support the concept of small school clubs, etc., so a far smaller percentage effectiveness. It appears, however, of students is overlooked or alienated. that the determinants of school size are seldom the mesa of research.... b.Adults and students in the school know More often, school size is the result of and care about one another to a other factorspolitical, economic, greater degree than is possible in large social, demofgaphic...(12). schools. We who have become convinced of the superi- c.Small schools have a higher rate of ority of small schools have, as our next chal- parent involvement. lenge, the task of communicating our findings to those who have the power to influence d.Students and staff generally have a decisions about the size of our schools. stronger sense of personal efficacy in small schools. Key References

e.Students in small schools take more of Aptekar, L. "Mexican-American High School the responsibility for their own learn- Students' Perception of School.' Adoles- ing; their learning activities are more cence 18/70 (Summer 1983): 345-357. often individualized, experiential, and relevant to the world outside of school; Reports the results of a study comparing classes are generally smaller; and the attitudes ofjuniors and seniors in two scheduling is much more flexible. predominantly Hispanic high schoolsone small and one very smalltoward several 1. Grouping and instructional strategies aspects of their school experience, includ- associated with higher student perfor- ing policy, school as a whole, teachers, mance are more often implemented in administrators, and involvement in school small schoolsteam teaching, inte- activities. Students at the very small grated curriculum, multiage grouping school had more positive outlooks regard- (especially for elementary children), ing most of the study's 120 variables. cooperative learning, and performance assessments.

CLOSE-UP 020 BEST COPY AVAILABLE PAGE 11 GO Barker, R., and Gump, P. Big School, Small camaraderie, higher student achieve- School: High School Size and Student ment, and better attitudes toward Behavior. Stanford, CA: Stanford reading than a group of control students. UniversitY Press, 1964. Brown, J. Missouri Teachers Experience Reports research on the relative merits of Stress. 1984 (ED 253 313). large and small schools in terms of their effects on both academic and extracurricu- Seeks to identify the levels and kinds of lar outcomes. One fmding is that levels of stress experienced by the 271 Missouri extracurricular participation are much elementary teachers who responded to a higher in small schools than in large ones. mail survey. Older teachers experienced This study is frequently cited by subse- less stress over administrative and paren- quent researchers investigating the effects tal factors than younger ones, and teach- of school size. ers of higher grade levels experienced more stress over student values and Bates, J. T. "Portrait of a Successful Rural attitudes. Respondents found overcr ovded Alternative School." Rural Educator 14/ classes stressful, but the only effect of 3 (Spring 1993): 20-24. large school enrollments wan that teachers experienced parent values and atti- Descrilms a successful rural alternative tudes as more stressful. school for at-esk secondary students, identifies the practices that appear to Burke, A. M. Making a Big School Smaller: account for its success, and presents The School-Within-a-School Arrangement results of a survey of its students. Finds for Middle Level.Schools. Orting, WA: that the key features are the school's Orting Middle School, May 1987 (ED 303 small size, its caring staff, its flexibility, 890). and its close relationship with its community. Reviews a large body of literature on secondary and elementary school size and Berlin, B. M., and Cienius, R. C. "Size: The on school-within-a-school arrangements to Ultimate Educational Issue?" Education derive implications for middle/junior higll and Urban Society 21/2 (February 1989): schools. Concludes that small middle 228-231. schools and SWAS arrangements are desirable for these young adolescents on Summarizes key findings from this issue of grounds of achievement, behavior, atti- Education and Urban Society and provides tudes, and teacher and parent satisfaction. an orientation to the individual articles. Emphasizes three main findings: (1) Caldas, S. J. "Reexamination of Input a smaller is better for districts, schools, and Process Factor Effects oa Public School classes; (2) low-SES children benefit more Achievement." Journal of Educational from smallness than higher-SES children; Research 86/4 (March/Apri11987): 206-214. and (3) children's instructional needs, rather than the schools organizational Examines data from the Louisiana public needs, should determine how instruction is schools to determine the effects of verleus organized and conducted. background and school-controllable variables on student achievement. Found that Boloz, S. A., and Blessing, C. Walking on background variables exert a muchmore Sacred Ground: A Navajo School-within-a- powerful influence on achievement than School Model. 1994 (ED 3667 515). school-controllable variablesof which only school attendance had a significant Describes a SWAS in rural Arizona that effect. School size was unrelated to school

serves 450 at-risk and limited-English- achievement. proficient Navajo children in grades K-2 using a child-centered, process-oriented, Campbell, W. J. Cotterell, J. L.; Robinson, literacy-based model. Preliminary out- N. M.; and Sadler, D. R. "Effects of comes include high student-teacher School Size upon Some Aspects of

PAGE 12 CLOSE-UP #20 Personality." The Journal of Educa- achievement was higher in small and tional Administration 19/2 (Summer medium-size schools than in large schools. 1981): 201-231. Edington, E. D., and Gardener, C. E. "The Reports the result of an Australian study Relationship of School Size to Scores in the in which large-school and small-school Affective Domain from the Montana students (who would be called seventh Testing Service Examination." Education graders in the U.S.) were Surveyed on 105/1 (Fa111984): 40-45. eight personality dimensions to determine ways in which school size might affect Compares responses in five affective areas adolescent development. Most strongly by sixth and eleventh grade students from affected were the variables "concern for large and small schools in Montana over a persons" and "sense of cohesion." two-year period. Several subgoals were measured in the areas of communication Conant, J. The American High School Today: attitude, attitude tr ward school, character, A First Report to Interested Citizens. New cooperation, and change. Students from York: McGraw-Hill, 1959. smaller schools expressed more positive responses on nearly all measures than Argues that small schoolsthose with less those from larger schools. than 100 students per classare not able to provide an adequately diverse curricu- Edington, E. D., and Martellaro, H. C. "Does lum to serve the needs of American high School Size Have Any Relationship to school students. Favored the establish- Academic Achievement?" Rural Educator ment of "comprehensive* high schools that 11/2 (Winter 1989-1990): 6-11. could provide rich curricular offerings. This has been an extremely influential Examines data on school size, student book, leading to the establishment of high achievement, and other variable such as schools considerably larger than Conant Title I eligibility and ethnicity, to deter- ever envisioned. mine which variables were related to the achievement of New Mexico students over Duke, D. L., and Perry, C. "Can Alternative a four-year period. School size and Schools Succeed Where Benjamin Spock, achievement were unrelated. Title I Spiro Agnew, and B. F. Skinner Have eligibility and the presence of Native Failed?* Adolescence 13/51 (Fall 1978): American and Hispanic American popula- 375-392. tions were negatively related to achievement. Analyzes data from surveys said on-site observations at 18 alternative high schools Eichenstein, R. Project Achieve, Part I: in California to determine why these Qualitative Findings 1993-94. Brooklyn, schools have so few discipline problems NY: Office of Educational Research, New compared with regular putAic high schools. York City Board of Education, August 1994 Identifies sev eral factors, including the (ED 379 388). smaller size of the alternative schools. Identifies the structures, practices, and Eberts, R. W.; Kehoe, E.; and Stone, J. A. outcomes of "house units" operating within The Effect of School Size on Student 10 New York City public high schools. Outcomes. Final Report. Eugene, OR: Averaging 250 students each, the houses Clnter for Educational Polifor and Manage- feature heterogeneous grouping and a ment, University of Oregon, June 1982 variety of support services. The units had (ED 245382). positive effects on student attendance, responsiveness, and grades, and students Uses data from 300 school districts nation- expressed satisfaction with the "house" wide to identify relationships between arrangement. school size and many other factors. High- lights include that teacher satisfaction was Feder, M. "School Dropout Rates, Academic greater in smaller schools, and student Performance, Size, and Poverty: Corre- lates of Educational Reform." Educational

CLOSE-UP #20 PAGE 13 62 Evaluation and Policy Analysis 11/2 Fowler, W. J., Jr., and Walberg, H. J. (Summer 1989): 109416. "School Size, Characteristics, and Out- comes." Educational Evaluation and Identifies relationships among dropout Policy Analysis 1312 (Summer 1991): rates, achievement, school size, and AFDC 189-202. recipient status using data from all Califor- nia secondary schools over a two-year Examines data from nearly 300 public period. Various relationships were identi- secondary schools in New Jersey to fied, including a correlation between high identify relationships among school and achievement and low dropout rates and pupil characteristics and school outcomes. between large size and high dropout rates. Large school size was negatively related to student achievement, participation in Foster, C. M., and Martinez, I. "The Effects of school activities, satisfaction, attendance, School Enrollment Size in the Middle and feelings of belonging, and school climate. Junior High School on Teacher and Student Attitude and Student Self-Con- Friedkin, N. E., and Necoohea, J. "School cept.' Research in Rural Education 3/2 System Size and Performance: A Contin- (Winter 1985): 57-60. gency Perspective.' Educational Evalua- tion and Policy Aneysis 10/3 (Fa111988): Examines the relationship between school 237-249. size and student and teacher variables at the middle and junior high school levels in Advances and provides empirical support three states. School enrollments ranged for a theory of the differential effect of from 200 to 1500. Junior high school school sy3tem size in different kinds of teachers preferred larger schools, and settings. Concludes that large systems middle school teachers preferred smaller benefit high-SES populations because they ones. Junior high and middle school have greater resources and a lower students' attitudes toward school and self- incidence of students with exceptional concepts were both unrelated to school problems and needs. Large systems have size. negative effects on low-SES populations because of more limited resources and a Fouts, J. T. X School within a School: Evalu- higher incidence of students with excep- ation Results of the First Year of a Re- tional problems and needs. structuring Effort." Kent. WA: Kent- Meridian High School, January 1994 (ED Goldberg, M. F. "What's Happening in... 370195). Shoreham-Wading River High School?" Phi Delta Kappan 64/2 (October 1982): Evaluates the implementation and initial 132. results produced by a health/science SWAS serving 70 students in a large Washington Provides an overview of the "House high school. First-year I esults indicate Groups" arrangement at a New York high tnat program students exhibited more school, which features long-term, support- growth in writing slells, fewer absei Ices, ive relationships between students and and fewer discipline referrals than a their staff advisors. In operation since randomly selected comparison group. 1973, the plei ,. is credited for the school's positive climate and low incidence of Fowler, W. J., Jr. "School Sile and Student graffiti and vandalism. Outcomes." Advances in Educational Productivity 5 (1995): 3-26. Gordon, R. "The School within a School Program. Preventing Failure and Dropout Reviews research on the relationship among At-Risk High School Students." between school size and student attitudes, ERS Spectrum 11/1 (Winter 1993): 27-30. achievement, attendance, extracurricular participation, and satisfaction. Findings in Reports outcomes of evaluations of the Des all areas favor small schools, especially for Moines, Iowa school-within-a-school minority students. program, which provides basic skills,

PAGE 14 CLOSE-UP #20 6ti career guidance, and counseling support Cites findings about the failure of large to at-risk students in grades 7-10. The high schools to meet the needs of either program operates in five high and two students or teachers. Identifies the middle schools. Outcomes include a advantages of small schools, such as reduced dropout rate, increased atten- better attitudes and student behavior, dance, and progress toward graduation that are consistently found by research. requirements. Argues that school organization and fmancing can be managed in such a way Gottfredson, D. C. School Size and School that very small high schools (with 250 Disorder. Baltimore, MD: Center for students or less) can offer excellent Social Organization of Schools, Johns learning programs affordably. Profiles a Hopkins University, July 1985 (ED 261 highly successful small Colorado high 456). school.

Uses national secondary school survey Gregory, T. B., and Smith, G. R. "Alternative data to identify relationships among school Schools." In Encyclopedia of Educa- size, school disorder, and many other tional Research, Fifth Edition, Volume 1, school variables and student characteris- edited by H. E. Mitzel. New York: The tics. Results show that large schools are Free Press, 1982, 120-125. negatively related to school safety and that the communications problems and lack of Draws from the research on the nature staff involvement that often occur in large and effects of alternative schools for this schools are related to school disorder. section of the encyclopedia. Claims that While some studies suggest that large the research base is small, but so far schools are more disorderly because they indicates that these schools meet students are impersonal, this study produced no needs; reduce delinquency, crime, vandal- such finding. ism, absenteeism, and tardiness; and enhance self-concept, social skills and Grebe, M. "School Size and the Importance of attitudes toward school. Identifies small School Activities." Adolescence 16/61 size, choice, informality and student (Spring 1981): 21-31. empowerment as reasons for these schools' success. Compares students from large high schools with those from smaller high schools in Gregory, T. B., and Smith, G. R. Differences terms of their levels of participation in BetweenAlternative and Conventional school activities, their self-concepts, and Schools in Meeting Students' Needs. their feelings of alienation. Smaller school Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of students were more involved in school the American Educational Research activities and in more diverse activities Association, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, than those in larger schools, and participa- April 1983 (ED 232 257). tion levels were positively related to self- concept. Data indicate that smaller school Compares responses of students and students were also more alienated, and the teachers in 14 alternative and 11 conven- researcher offers possible reasons for this tional secondary schools in 10 states as to outcome. how well the schools are meeting students needs. Questionnaires covered variables Gregory, T. "Small Is Too Big: Achieving a relating to security, social interaction, Critical Anti-Mass in the High School." In esteem, and self-actualization. Both Source Book on School and District Size, students and teachers in the alternative Cost, and Quality. Minneapolis, MN: schools rated their schools much higher in Minnesota University. Hubert H. Hum- all areas than did the teachers and stu- phrey Institute of Public Affairs; Oak dents in the conventional high schools. Brook, IL: North Central Regional Educa- tional Laboratory, 1992, 1-31 (ED 361 159). Haller, E. J. "High School Size and Student Indiscipline: Another Aspect of the School

CLOSE-UP #20 64 PAGE 15 Consolidation Issue." Educational relationships between school size and Evaluation and Policy Analysis 14/2 self-esteem. Both males and females (Summer 1992): 145-156. from smaller schools were more likely to participate in extracurricular activities Uses data from the large-scale High than those from large schools. School and Beyond study to determine whether it is the ruralness or the small- Howley, C. The Academic Effectiveness of ness of small rural schools that is respon- Small-Scale Schooling (An Update). ERIC sible for the lower levels of truancy and Digest. Charleston, WV: Clearinghouse disorder in these schools as compared on Rural Education and Small Schools, with larger suburban or urban schools. June 1994 (ED 372 897). Findings indicate that consolidating small rural schools into larger ones would Summarizes research on the school size- create only trivial increases in these academic achievement relationship and discipline problems. concludes that smaller schools correlate with higher achievement for students in Haller, E. J.; Monk, D. H.; and Tien, L. T. general and for disadvantaged students "Small Schools and Higher-Order Thinking most of alL No significant relationships Skills." Journal of Research in Rural were identified between school size and Education 9/2 (Fa111993): 66-73. higher-order thinking skills. Argues that school size is a restructuring issue deserv- Compares the performance of tenth ing greater attention from reformers. graders from small and large schools on measures of higher-order thinking in Howley, C. B. "The Matthew Principle: A mathematics and science. Although West Virginia Replication?* Education students from large schools had more Policy Analysis Archives 3/18 (November advanced math and science courses 15, 1995): 1-25. Electronic journal: http:// available to them than those from small seamonkey.ed.asu.edu/epaa/v13n18.html schools, there were po differences between the two groups on measures of higher-, Replicates and expands a 1988 Calife; order thinking skills. study of elementary and secondary r hools showing that large schools benefit tne Hamilton, S. F. "Synthesis of Research on the affluent and that small schools benefit the Social Side of Schooling." Educational economically disadvantaged to an even Leadership 40/5 (February 1983): 65-72. greater degree. This study corroborated the findings of the earlier one (see Fried- Discusses the purposes and methods of kin and Necochea 1988 above). The ecological research, then applies these to researcher notes that West Virginia has the study of particular small and large unfortunately closed 20 percent of its schools in order to identify differences, schools, most of them small, since 1990 particularly in levels of student participa- when the study was conducted. tion in extracurricular activities. Students in small schools had both more and more Huang, G., and Howley, C. "Mitigating varied activities than those in large high Disadvantage: Effects of Small-Scale schools. Schooling on Student Achievement in Alaska." Journal of Research in Rural Holland, A,and Andre, T. "The Relationship Education 9/3 (Winter 1993): 137-149. of Self-Esteem to Selected Personal and Environmental Resources of Adolescents." Examines data on more than 13,000 Adolescence 29/114 (Summer 1994): 345- Alaska fourth, sixth, and eighth graders 360. who had been in the same school district for at least four years in relation to school Examines relationships among school size, size and socioeconomic status. Disadvan- gender, gender role identification, extra- taged students in small schools signifi- curricular activities, parent variables, and cantly outperformed those in large schools self-esteem. There were no consistent on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills.

PAGE 16 65 CLOSE-UP #20 Jewell, R. S. "School and S liool District Levine, D. U., and Sherk, J. K. Effective Size Relationships: Costs, Results, Implementation ofa Comprehension- Minorities, and Private School Enroll- Improvement Approach in Secondary ments." Education and Urban Society Schools. Kansas City, MO: Center for the 2112 (February 1989): 140-153. study of Metropolitan Problems in Educa- tion, Missouri University, May 1990 (ED Compares data on school system size, 327 830). district size, and school size to other variables including income levels, school Depicts activities undertaken to improve coats, minority enrollments, college test students' reading comprehension at scores, graduation rates, teachers' sala- several urban secondary schools, including ries, pupil/teacher ratios, private school eight schools-within-schools for low- enrollments, and tax rates for public achieving students in grade 9. Participat- education. Finds, among other things, ing teachers used local variations of a that small schools and districts have program intended to help them acquire higher graduation rates, even after con- and use comprehension-improvement trolling for the proportion of minority strategies. Teacher surveys revealed students, and that most minority students positive results, including gains in reading are enrolled in large schools and districts. comprehension, at all participating schools. Johnson, S. M. Teachaers at Work: Achieving Success in Our Schools. New York: Basic Lindsay, P.The Effect of High School Size on Books, 1990. Student Participation, Satisfaction, and Attendance." Educational Evaluation and Reports on a study of 115 teachers re- Policy Analysis 4/1 (Spring 1982): 57-65. garded as "very good* by their principals. Teachers described their experiences and Looks at the relationship between school beliefs regarding workplace, quality, home- size and the attendance, participation school relations, school governance, pro- levels, and satisfaction of high school fessional growth, and other topics. One seniors across the U.S. Even after adjust- finding: teachers in small schools had ing for the effects of setting, SES, and much more influence on the ways their academic ability, smaller school size was schools functioned than teachers in large found to be positively related to all three schools. dependent variables for both girls and boys. Kershaw, C. A., and Blank, M. A. Student and Educator Perceptions of the Impact of an McGanney, M. L.; Mei, D. M.; and Rosenblum, Altervative School Structure. Paper J. Ninth Grade Houses: The Program and presented at the Annual Meeting of the Its Impact in New York City Public High American Educational Research Associa- Schools. Paper presented at the Annual tion, Atlanta, GA, Apri11993 (ED 360 729). Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Francisco, CA, Reviews literature on alternative school March 1989 (ED 306 284). programs and reports the results of a study on the effects of one alternative Presents information on the implementa- school. The perceptions of students, tion of ninth-grade house plans in 97 New teachers, counselors, and an administrator York high schools. Participating teachers are reported and compared with conditions and administrators had favorable views at the larger "base" schools that student toward the program, and the attendance subjects had also attended. Respondents rates of participating students was better felt the smaller, more structured, and than that of a comparison group. Includes more personable environment of the recommendations for program continua- alternative school was beneficial to stu- tion. dents. McGuire, K. "School Size: The Continuing Controversy.* Education and Urban Society 2112 (February 1989): 164-174.

CLOSE-UP #20 PAGE 17 66 Discusses biases and other flaws in the more students) had higher dropout rates methods usually used to determine the than smaller schools, unless the grade relationship between school size and cost, levels served are taken into account. and between school size and educational Large schools serving grades 7-12 had quality. Speculates that factors other than significantly lower dropout rates than size itselfsuch as whether students those serving only 9-12 or 10-12, presum- engage in active or passive learningare ably because students experience fewer the main determinants of educational transitions. success. Miller, J. W.; Ellsworth, R.; and Howell, J. McKenzie, P. The Distribution of School Size: "Public Elementary Schools Which Deviate Some Cost Implications. Paper presented from the Traditional SES-Achievement at the Annual Meeting of the American Relationship.' Educational Research Educational Research Association, Quarterly 1W3 (1986): 31-50. Montreal, Quebec, Canada, April 1983 (ED 232 256). Reports the results of a study that sought to identify reasons that elementary schools Remarks that many analyses of the school exhibit reading achievement that is either size-cost relationship are simplistic and do significantly higher or significantly lower not yield useful information. Discusses than the socioeconomic levels of the and provides mathematical formula for the student population would predict One key dispersion-cost relationship, which reveals finding is that higher-than-expected that average per pupil cogs decline up to a reading performance was exhibited by low- point as enrollment increases, reach a SES students attending small schools. minimum, and then rise with further school enrollment size increases. Monk, D. H. "Modern Conceptions of Educa- tional Quality and State Policy Regarding Melnick, S. A.; Shilles, M. R.; Gable, R. K.; Small Schooling Units." In Source Book and Grzymkowski, Y. A Comparative on School and District Size, Cost, and Study of the Relationships between School Quality. Minneapolis, MN: Ainnesota District Size and Selected Indicators of University, Hubert H. Humplia.ey Institute Educational Quality. Hartford, CT: of Public Affairs; Oak Brook, IL: North Connecticut Association of School Admin- Central Regional Educational Laboratory, istrators, Small/Rural Schools Commit- 1992, 34-49 (ED 361 160). tee, February 1986 (ED 305 215). Discusses research and contemporary Compares small schools and large, non- thinking about the relationship between urban schools in Connecticut in terms of educational quality and the size of schools costs, staffing, curriculum, achievement, and school districts. Argues that, despite attendance, dropouts, and graduate the trend toward reorganization of small preparation. No significant differences schools and districts into fewer and larger were found on most measures, but large ones, such reorganization does not guaran- schools were found to offer more advanced tee improvements in student access to courses and have higher percentages of courses or in student outcomes. Encour- students continuing to higher education, ages policymakers to consider several and smaller schools had a larger teacher- suggested alternatives to the elimination student ratio. of small schools and districts.

Merritt, R. "The Effect of Enrollment and Monk, D. H. "Secondary School Enrollment School Organization on the Dropout and Curricular Comprehensiveness." Rate." Phi Delta Kappan 65/3 (Novem- Economics ofEducation Review 6/2 (1987): ber 1983): 224. 137-150.

Presents findings from a study of dropout Looks at the relationship between school rates at 272 secondary schools in Missis- size and the breadth and depth of the sippi. Larger schools (those with 400 or curriculum. Finds that increasing school

PAGE 18 CLOSE-UP 020 67 size up to about 400 students tends to Pittman, B. B., and Haughwout, P. "Influ- bring with it a richer curriculum. For ence of High School Size on Dropout various reasons, increases beyond 400 Rate.' Educational Evaluation and students do not generally broaden or Policy Analysis 9/4 (Winter 1987): 337- 1 deepen the curriculum. Recommends 343. maintaining secondary enrollments at the 400-student level. Scrutinizes data on 744 high schools to determine the relationship among school Monk, D. H., and Haller, E. J. "Predictors of size, school climate factors, and the High School Academic Course Offerings: dropout rate. Concluded that large size The Role of School Size.' American contributes to the dropout rate indirectly Educational ResearchJournal 30/1 (Spring but dramaticallyby lowering the quality 1993): 3-21. of school climate, composed of the variables of cohesion, levels of participation in Examines relationships among the factors school activities, interaction with faculty, of size, SES, unionization of teachers, and magnitude of school problems. setting, and grade configuration on the scope of the high school curriculum. Finds Raze, N. Instructional Implications for differential effects of size on curriculum Small Schools: A Review of the Litera- owing to the influence of the other factors, ture. Redwood City, CA: San Mateo suggesting that there is no one optimal County Office of Education, SMERC high school size. Information Center, February 1985 (ED 272 347). Monk, D. H., and Kadamus, J. A. "The Reform of School District Organizational Reviews literature on the relative merits Structure.* Advances in Educational of small and large elementary schools, Productivity 5 (1995): 27-47 concluding that, overall, small schools are more desirable, not only in rural settings, Discusses issues involved in using re- but in suburban and urban locales as well. search to influence educational policy, Cites schooling practices that are particu- descrthes a process for analysis and larly suited to small school environments, decision making regarding district organi- including multiage grouping, team teach- zation, and offers a case study of the ing, experiential learning, and parent events and problems associated with ParticiPation- difitrict reorganization in New York State. Robertson, P. Reinventing the High School: Nachtigal, P. "Remapping the Terrain: School The Coalition Campus School Project in Sizei Cost, and Quality.' In Source Book on New York City. Paper presented at the School and District Size, Cost, and Annual Meeting of the American Educa- Quality. Minneapolis, MN: Minnesota tional Research Association, San Fran- University, Hubert IL Humphrey Insti- cisco, CA, Apri11995. tute of Public Affairs; Oak Brook, IL: North Central Regional Educational Discusses the Coalition Campus School Laboratory, 1992, 52-71 (ED 361 161). Project, which has begun eleven new, small high schools in New York City. Traces research showing that large schools Provides data showing that tiese schools are not necessarily more cost-effective are appreciably lowering their costs by than small schools, nor do they necessarily using staff differently than large schools offer better programs of study. Argues do. Argues that the ultimate cost to that when small, rural schools engage in society of operating small schools is community development and community- probably far lower than operating large based learning, what we are accustomed to ones. This is because the proven positive thinking of as schooling 'costs" actually effects of small schools on students extend become investments in the community's into adulthood, increasing their productiv- fliture. ity and reducing the likelihood that they will be burdensome to society.

CLOSE-UP #20 PAGE 19

BEST COPYAVAILABL68E 0

Robinson-Lewis, G. Summative Evaluation Examines the relationship between high of the School-Within-A-School (SWAB) school size and student participation in Program: 1988-1989, 1989-1990, 1990- voluntary extracurricular activities by 1991. Kansas City, MO: Kansas City reviewing yearbook information on over School District, August 1991 (ED 346 10,000 seniors in nonurban settings in 203). New York state. Corroborated results of earlier studies that revealed much higher Presents findings emerging from an levels of participation in smaller schools. evaluation of the Kansas City, Missouri SWAS program for at-risk students in Simmons, R. G. "Social Transition and grades 7 and 9. Compared with their Adolescent Development' New Direc- performance prior to program participa- tions for Child Development 37 (Fall tion, SWAS student had higher ITBS 1987): 33-61. scores, high grades, and better attendance. Recommendations for future operations Cites research on the events and particu- are included. lar stresses of adolescent development, especially as they affect disadvantaged Rogers, R. G. "Is Bigger Better? Fact or students. Discusses adolescent develop- Fad Concerning School District Organiza- ment in relation to research on school tion.* ERS Spectrum 5/4 (Fall 1987): 36- structures and sizes. Recommends that 39. young adolescents attend smaller schoolsor, if they attend larger schools, Challenges Illinois State Board of that they be placed in "smarter, stable, Education's conclusion that large schools intimate subgroup environments within offer a better and broader education than the school." small schools. Examines data from small schools in 34 Illinois districts to deter- Smith, D. T., and DeYoung, A. J. "Big School mine the relationship between secondary vs. Small School: Conceptual, Empirical, school size and curriculum, costs, extra- and Political Perspectives on the Re- curricular participation, college atten- emerging Debate." Journal of Rural and dance and success, and dropout rates. Small Schools (Winter 1988): 2-11. Findings in all areas favor small high schools. Restates the arguments that have been used in support of consolidating small, Rutter, R. A. Effects of School as a Commu- predominantly rural schools into larger nity. Madison, WI: National Center on units, and cites research fmdings demon- Effective Secondary Schools, 1988 (ED strating that the case for consolidation is 313 470). unsound. Identifies a range of small- school and -district advantages similar to Identifies qualities of conventional, large those cited in other research investiga- secondary schools that make them unsuit- tions. able for meeting the needs of at-risk students. Examines more and less suc- Smith, G. R., and Gregory, T. B. Major cessful alternative secondary programs Contrasts in the Social Climates of Two and identifies the qualities of those that High Schools in the Same Town. Paper are enabling at-risk young people to presented at the Annual Meeting of the succeed. Important differences relate to American Educational Research Associa- the interpersonal support and individual- tion, Washington, DC, April 1987. ized attention that are possible in smaller learning environments. Uses a climate assessment instrument, a series of in-depth interviews, and data on Schoggen, P., and Schoggen, M. "Student student performance to identify differences Voluntary Participation and High School between a comprehensive high school with Size.' Journal of Educational Research 811 1,000 students and an alternative school 5 (May/June 1988): 288-293. with 175 students. The alternative school's teachers and students were

PAGE 20 69 CLOSE-UP #20 much more satisfied than those in the Ethnic Group. Austin, TX: Texas Center large school and their sense of commu- for Educational Research, August 1989 (ED nity was much stronger. The alternative 324783). school's students also exhibited higher achievement test scores. Studies dota on the largest 21 school districts in Texas to determine the rela- Smith, G. R,.; Gregory, T. B.; and Pugh, R. C. tionship of school size and ethnicity to 'Meeting Student Needs: Evidence for dropout rates. Whites had the highest the Superiority of Alternative Schools.' dropout rates (compared to blacks and Phi Delta Kappan 62(8 (April 1981): 561- Hispanics), and there was a strong positive 564. relationship between school size and dropout rate. Investigates the relative opinions of comprehensive and alternative school Walberg, H. J. "On Local Control: Is Bigger students and teachers as to how well their Better?" In Source Book on School and schools meet the students' needs in the District Size, Cost, and Quality. Minne- areas of security, social relationships, apolis, MN: Minnesota University, Hubert esteem (expectations of success), and self- H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs; actualization. Alternative schools re- Oak Brook, IL: North Central Regional ceived much higher ratings than compre- Educational Laboratory, 1992, 118-134(ED hensive schools by both students and 361164). teachers, with school size being a "potentially confounding variable' rather than a Provides data on increases in the past 50 clear cause of the differences. years of school and district size, reviews literature on the effects of school and Stockard, J., and Mayberry, M. "Resources district size, and presents findings from an and School and Classroom Size.' Chapter analysis indicating that the higher the 3 inEffective Educational Environments. percentage of school costs provided by the Newbury Park, CA: Corwin Press, Inc., state, the lower the achievement of 1992,40-58. students in that state.

Summarizes key documents from the Way, J. W. Evaluation of the School Within a school size literature, ranging from James School, 1984-85. Kansas City, MO: Kan- Conant's The American High School Today sas City School District, August 1985 (287 to the present. Concludes that some of the 911). assumptions supporting the move to larger and larger high schools are inaccurate and Investigates the effects of school-within-a- cites research findings in support of small school programs for low-achieving ninth schools and district& and tenth graders in five secondary schools. Program students compared Stolp, S. 'Every School a Community: The favorably with comparison students and eadernin Value of Strong Social Bonds with their own previous performance on Among Staff and Students.' OSSC measures of reading achievement, aca- Bulletin 39/1 (October 1995): entire demic self-concept, attitudes toward issue. school, and discipline interruptions. Math performance was superior but not signifi- Cites research and case studies demon- cantly so, and attendance data were strating the beneficial effects of school confounded. environments characterized by shared purpose, belongingness, mutual support, Welch, J., and McKenna, E. SWAS: School and other features of community. Notes within a School. A Miadle Level Dropout that many of these environmental features Intervention Program. North Kingstown, are best achieved in small schools or small RI: North Kingstown Public Schools, sub-units within schools. November 1988 (ED 302 919).

Toenjes, L. A. Dropout Rates in Texas School Describes the SWAS program serving at- Districts: Influences of School Size and risk middle school students at Davisville CLOSE-UP 020 BEST COPY AVAILABLEPAGE 21 7u Middle School Program students re- Reviews the implementation of five ninth enter the regular Davisville program grade SWAS units in New York City that when their achievement and teacher focus on dropout prevention. At this recommendations warrant doing so. A early stage, the report does not focus on key components is required parent student outcomes, but rather critiques involvement. During the period studied, implementation activities and makes 84 percent of participating students had recommendations for improvement. In improved grades, and teacher percep- general, evaluators felt that the SWAS tions of student behavior and attitudes arrangements were too similar to tradi- were positive. tional high schools and should have more administrative support, student choice, Williams, D. T. The Dimensions of Education: and flexible scheduling. Recent Research on School Size. Working Paper Series. Clemson, SC: Clemson Barker, B. 0. The Advantages of Small University, Strom Thurmond Institute of Schools. ERIC Digest. Las Cruces, NM: Government and Public Affairs, December ERIC Clearinghouse on Rural Education 1990 (ED 347 006). and Small Schools, February 1986 (ED 265 988). Reviews 30 research studies on school size and its relationship to other factors, such Summarizes research on the advantages of as class size and district size. Finds that small schools (defined as 300 or fewer large schools are not necessarily more students) in the areas of student achieve- cost-effective, nor do they necessarily ment; personal relationships among provide ahigher-quality education, than students, teachers, administrators, par- small schools. Quotes extensively from ents, and community members; student the studies reviewed. participation in extracurricular activities; student and staff morale; feasnility of General References using effective instructional meth ods; and incidence of discipline problems. Alberta Department of Education. Small School /Large School Comparative Analy- Cawelti, G. "Restructuring Large High sis.Edmonton, Alberta: Planning and Schools to Personalize Learning for All." Research Branch, Alberta Department of ERS Spectrum 11/3 (Summer 1993): 17-21. Education, October 1984 (ED 257 609). States the generally accepted findings from Discusses the relative merits of small and the school size esearchthat large large schools in Alberta, particularly in schools have negative effects on student the rural communikes that make up most attitudes, participation, and achievement. of the province. Cites research indicating Describes the kinds of structures that are that them are no significant achievement being developed in some large high schools differences, but finds that small schools to mitigate those effects: "house plans" or are costlier. Supports the continuation of schools-within-schools, special curriculum small, rural schools and cites conditions schools, teacher-adviser programs, and required for quality education in such block scheduling. settings. Cohen, B. P. The Effects of Crowding on Bank Street College of Education, and Public Human Behavior and Student Achieve- Education Association. Making Big High ment in Secondary Schools. Philadelphia, Schools Smaller. A Review of the Imple- PA: Philadelphia School District, Office of mentation of the House Plan in New York Curriculum and Instruction, 1975 (ED 188 City's Most Troubled High Schools. New 279). York: Bank Street College of Education; Public E du cation Association, January Reviews research literature on the differ- 1989 (ED 347 212). ential effects of small and large secondary schools as a prelude to presenting design ideas for an effective secondary school.

PAGE 22 CLOSE-UP #20 Found small schools to be superior to Reviews research literature on the large ones in terms of dropouts, student effects of school size on levels of student interest and involvement, vandalism, participation in school-related activities absenteeism, achievement, leadership and student achievement. Concludes development and sense of identity. that students in small schools exhibit academic performance at least equal to, Conway, G. E. Small Scale and School Cul- and sometimes higher than, those from ture: The Experience of Private Schools. larger schools and that their levels of Charleston, WV: ERIC Clearinghouse on participation are considerably higher. Rural Education and Small Schools, November 1994 (ED 376 996). Gregory, T. B., and Smith, G. R. "The Case for Small High Schools." In High Schools Examines school size in relation to educa- as Communities: The Small School tional quality and school culture in private Reconsidered. Bloomington, IN: Phi schools. Small size enables private schools Delta Kappa, 1987, 68-85 (ED 278 518). to establish shared purposes, personal loyalties, and common sentiments that are Summarizes research pointing to the often absent from large public schools. superiority of small high schools over large ones. Findings concern costs, curricular Edington, E. D., and Martellaro, IL C. Vari- richness, and benefits accruing to teachers ablesAffectingAcademicAchievement in and students. New Mexico Schools. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Henderson, H., and Raywid, M. A. "'Small' Educational Research Association, New Revolution in New York City.* Journal Orleans, LA, April 1984 (ED 271 267). of Negro Education 63/1 (1994): 28-45.

Investigates the relationship between Discusses the development of several school size and achievementboth with dozen new alternative high schools in New and without considering the influence of York City establiahed largely in response other variablesin New Mexico schools to research indicating that smaller schools over a four-year period. This reiports on serve studentsand especially disadvan- the same study as Edington and taged studentsbetter than larger, more Martellaro (1989-90), above. compartmentalized and bureaucratized schools. Fowler, W. J., Jr. What bo We Know about School Size? What Should We Know? Howley, C. 'Literature Review.' In Sizing up Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of Schooling: AWestVirginia Analysis and the 4merican Educational Research Critique. Unpublished Doctoral Disserta- Association, San Francisco, CA, Apri11992 tion, West Virginia University, Morgan- (ED 347 675). town, WV, 1996.

Reviews research on the relationship Reviews the literature on school size and between secondary 'school size and other concludes that size, rather than being a variables such as curricular offerings and mere "container' for other variables, is a the student outcomes of achievement key structural variable in its own right. attitudes, extracurricular participation, Asserts that school size interacts with SES and college behavior. Research indicates in such a way that high- and low-SES that small schoolsthose with no more student populations will be affected differ- than 400 studentsproduce more desir- ently by the size of school they attend. able outcomes in all of these areas than large schools. Howley, C. B. Personal communication, March 21, 1996. Green, G., aod Stevens, W. "What Research Says about Small Schools." The Rural Calls attention, in a letter accompanying Educator 1W1 (Fa111988): 9-14. his review draft of the present paper, to

CLOSE-UP #20 7 2 PAGE 23 the fact that the research on small vs. and that minority and at-risk students large schools is more extensive and benefit the most from small school envi- conclusive than that on SWAS plans. ronments. Remarks on the necessity for the SWAS to be a separate entity from the other Lomotey, K , and Swanson, A. D. "Urban and school(s) in the same building. Rural Schools Research: Implications for School Governance." Education and Howley, C. B. "Synthesis of the Effects of Urban Society 2114 (August 1989): 436- School and District Size: What Research 454. Says About Achievement in Small Schools and School Districts.' Journal of Compares rural schools, typical urban Rural and Small Schools 4/1 (Fall 1989): schools, and eCective urban schools on 2-12. many characteristics, including size, nature of student population, achievement, Summarizes the reasoning behind the school culture, discipline, administrative large-scale school consolidation movement leadership, teaching staff, curriculum, and of this century, cites early research on the others. Finds that many of the virtues of effects of school size, explains the superior- rur& schools are related to their relatively ity a more recent research methods, small size. shares the results of methodologically sound school size research, and discusses Lund, D. R.; Smith, J. A.; and Glennon, M. L. the implications of these findings for "What's Happening in...East Williston, planners. Finds small schools more New York?* Phi Delta Kappan 64/7 (March beneficial to students than large schools in 1983): 503-504.. a variety of ways. Traces the history of the school-within-a- Huling, L. "How School Size Affects Student school at Wheatley School, an alternative Participation, Alienation.' NASSP secondary program featuring shared Bulletin 64/438 (October .1980): 13-18. decision making, nontraditional teaching methods, and student self-evaluation. Reviews research on the relationship of Identifies problems encountered, out- high school size to student participation in comes and recommendations for im- cocurricular activities and to student provement. alienation. Reports that large size corre- lates negatively to participation and Martellaro, H. C., and Edington, E. Relation- positively to alienation, especially for ship of School Enrollment Size to Aca- "marginal" students. Recommends that demic Achievement in New Mexico. Paper educators and board members consider presented at the Annual Meeting of the these findings along with academics, cost, Rural Education Association, Manhattan, and convenience when making decisions KS, October 1983 (ED 234 956). related to school size. Reports on the same research study as Kearney, J. M. The Advantages of Small that summarized in Edington and Rural Schools. Final Report to the Idaho Martellaro (1984), above. Rural School Association. Moscow, ID: University of Idaho, College of Educa- Meier, D. The Power of their Ideas. Lessons tion, February 1994 (ED 373 934). for America from a Small School in Harlem. Boston: Beacon Press, 1995. Reviews research on small and rural secondary schools, discusses the character- Describes the history and operation of the istics of rural education, analyzes Idaho highly successful Central Park East, high school data, and presents arguments comprised of four public schools which, for and against consolidation of rural collectively, serve students in grades K-12, schools. Among the findings are that most of whom are low-SES African Ameri- small schcols produce achievement out- cans and Hispanics. The author draws comes superior to those of larger schools from her CPE experience to argue fora

PAGE 24 CLOSE-UP 020 73 t,

kind of school reform in which all chil- Oxley, D. 'Organizing Schools into Small dren would attend small schools. Units: Alternatives to Homogeneous Grouping.' Phi Delta Kappan7517 etdarch Mergendoller, J. R. To Facilitate or Impede? 1994): 521-526. The Impact of Selected Organizational Features of Secondary Schools on Adoles- Cites research findings about the negative cent Development. Ecological Perspectives effects of lame high schools and tbe for Successful Schooling Practice. San practice of academic tracking as a lead-in Francisco: Far West Laboratory for to a discuasion of the virtues of small EducationalResearch and Development; units of heterogeneously grouped stu- Madison, WI: Wisconsin Center for dents at the secondary level. Discusses Education Research, 1982 (ED 233 501). two schools one German and one Americenwhich are structured in this Presents a theory of adolescent develop- way and which focus on successfully ment and reviews reaearch findings in educating all of their students. light of the alleles theory. Argues that the greater participation levels in smaller Parrett, W. H. "Eeperienees of Alternative schools benefit students' development, Secondary Schools Can Help Rural because they are able to experience Schools.' Action in Teacher Education 4/4 multiple roles, feel needed, and develop (Winier 1982): 45-49. friendships with fellow participants. Identifies educational practices that have Nickle, M. N Flynt, F. C.; Poynter, S. D.; und proved effective in alternative schools and Rees, J. A., Jr. "Does it Make a Difference recommends that rural scheols, which if You Change the Structure? School- because of their small size can also imple- within-a-School.' PhiDelta Kappan 72/2 ment these practices, review and make (October 1990): 148-152. use of them. Among practices cited are use of adapted materials, attention to Describes a SWAS program developed by students personal issues, community four teachers in a Springdale, Arkansas learning experiences, soliciting student high rehooL Featuring an interdiscipli- input for learning experiences, and indi- nary program, flexible scheduling, and vidualizinglearning activities. common planning periods, the program became part of the Coalition of Essential Piper, P. S. "Schoole-Within-A-Schoal: The Schools. Students surveyed identified Kapa'a Elementaiy School Model.* Educa- several reasons for preferring the SWAS to tional Innovations in the Pacific 211 "regulars schoolless pressure, taking (September 1994). (ED 375 469). more responsibility for their learning, interrelatedness oflearning content, and Discusses the development and implemen- relevance of the instructional program to tation of several subject-area school- *real life within-a-school structuresthose focusing on math, science, creative and critical Ornstein, A. C. "SchoolSize and Effectiveness: thinking, technology, language arte, etc. Policy Implications.* The Urban Review Though initial parent, staff, and student 2213 (September 1990): 239-245. attitudes were positive, several problems and their proposed solutions are tdentified. Gives a brief overview of research findings Rezommendations for succeuffil echools- on the relationship between school size within-scftools are included. (elementary and secondary) and variables such as cost, curricular richness, and Ramiree, A. 'Size, Cost, and Quality of affective characteristics of students. Schools and School Districts: A Question Identifiee appropriate elementary school of Context.' In Source Book on School size as 200-600 and appropriate secondary and District Size, Cost, and Quality. . school size as 300-1000. Minneapolis, MN: Minnesota University, Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public

CLOSE-UP 020 74 PAGE 25 "

Affairs; Oak Brook, IL: North Central ing the need to move away from bureau- Regional Educational Laboratory, 1992, cratic authority, change school structures, 72-93 (ED 361 152). and decrease school size. Reviews literature on the relationship Sparkee, R. L., and McIntire, W. G. "Com- between school and district size on one munity and School Size as Factors in the hand, and course offerings, teacher Job Satisfaction of Principals in New- qualifications, student behavior, student foundland and Labrador." Journal of participation, and school climate on the Rural and &nail Schools 2/3 (Spring other. Concludes that size per se is 1988): 11-15. unrelated to student achievement and that the organization of classrooms"the Reports findings from a survey of over 400 basic unit of contact"is the key element principals in Newfoundland and Labrador of a schcals' success or failure. on measures ofjob satisfaction, and conelates these with school and commu- Raywid, M. A. "Family Choice Arrangements nity size. Principals of large schorls in Public Schools: A Review of the (those with 16 or more teachers) in large Literature." Review of Educational communities (*hose with populations Research 55/4 (Winter 1985): 435-467. over 1,500) exhilited greater professional satisfaction than those in sinallpr schools Reviews the history of family choice and/or communities. Recommendations opportunities in public schools and dis- include better recruitment procedures cusses the range of motives behind fami- and professional development activities lies' exercise of school choice. Describes for principals of: small schools. several choice models, including alternative schools and SWAS Stevens, N. G., and Peltier, G. L. "A Review of Research on Small-School Student Rogers, B. "Small Is Beautiful." In Source Participation in Extracurricular Activities." Book on School and District Eize, Cosi, Journal ofResearch in Rural Education and Quality. Minneapoliti, MN: Minne- 10/2 (Fall 1994): 116-120. sota University, Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affain; Oak Brook, IL: Cites research on the beneficial effects of North Central Regional Educational attending small schools, including greater Laboratory, 1992, 96-116 (ED 361 163). participation in extracurricular activities, leadership opportunities, learning motiva- Cites researcli findings regarding tin tion, and feelings of being needed and advantages of small secondary schools and valued. Effects of greater participation in illustrates these with anecdotal reports school activities were fount; to be long- gathered from participating schools in the lasting. Coalition for Essential Schools. Discusses reasons the vision of the krge, "compre- Swanson, A D. "The Matter of Size: A hensive" high school is unsuitable for Review of the Research on Relationships meeting the needs of today's students. between School and District Size, Pupil Achievement and Cost." Research in Rural Sergiovanni, T. J.Organizations or Communi- Education 5/2 (Spring 1988): 1-8. ties? Changing the Metaphor Changes the Theory..Paper presented at the Annual Reviews research on the relative merits of Meeting of the American Educational small and large schools and school dis- Research Association, Atlanta, GA, April tricts, giving consideration to both the 1993 (ED 376 008). achievement and affective qualities outcomes of students in different settings. Argues that we should regard schools as Findings include that smaller schools communities, rather than regarding them foster more positive student attitudes as organizations. Because communities and interpersonal relationships and are focus more on the personal and interper- not so deficient in their range of curricu- sonal than do organizations, this shift lar offerings as was once believed. brings with it several implications, includ- PAGE 26 7 CLOSE-UP #20 Walberg, H. J., and Walberg, H. J., III. "Losing Local Control.'Educational Ilesearchet23/5 (June/July 1994): 19-26. Examines relationships in 38 states among school size, district size, percentage of schooling costs paid by the state, percentage paid locally, and student achievement. Smaller schools exhilit higher achievement than larger schools at the secondary and particularly the elementary level. States in which states provide a smaller percentage of costs and local government pays a larger percentage have higher achievement than states in which the reverse condition prevails.

110111MIIIMINIr This publication is bawd on work sponsored wholly, 4r in part, by the Office of Nucational Research and Improvement (CERA U.S. Department of Education., under Contract Number RP91002001. Tho content of this publication does not neceesarily reflect the views of OERI, the Department, or any other agyncy of the U.S. Government.

This imblication hi in the public domain and may he reproduced and disseminated Irithout permission. Pierre acknowledge NWREL as the developer.

Mey1996 CLOSE-UP 020 FAGE 27 Sam% IMPROVEMENT RESEARCH SERIES "Research You Can Use" rim Snapshot #37 slimmalmNommumswAammo, Providing Integrated Services in an Inner-City School The Family .Academy New York, New York Joan Shaughnessy

a.Learn about the array of medical and Research Findings social service providers in the community and how to access them. In the heart of the Herlem neighborhood of New York City, a small public elementary d.Assist needy families to access school named the Family Academy has de- appropriate health and social service signed an approach that successfully integrates facilities and providers in the com- social services with academic learning. The munity. scLool raises funds that pay for additional staff and supplemental learning experiences, so that it can address problems that are usually e.Identify needy children and families early in the children's school experi- beyond the purview of educators. By creating ence and work with community a community, and then by addressing the basic agencies on prevention and interven- needs of the families in this community, the school has been able to provide an enriched tion activities. atmosphere of learning foir its students. 2.8.1 Administrators and Teachers The research-supported practices that are Involve Parents and Community exemplified in the Family Academy have been Members in Supporting the summariled in the Northwest Regional Instructional Program. Education Laboratory'sEffectiveSchooling Administrators and teachers: Practicee:AResearch Synthesis 11995 Update (Cotton 1995). These include: a.Communicate repeatedly to parents 2.7.3 School Leaders and Staff that their involvement can greatly Collaborate with Community enhance their children's school Agencies to Support Families with performance, regardless of their own Urgent Health and/or Social Service level of education. Needs. c.Strongly encourage parents to School leaders and staff: become involved in activities that support the instructional program.

Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory 101 S.W. Main Street, &lite 500 Portland, Oregon 97204 School, Community and Professional Telephone (503) 275-9500 Development Program

1 7 ,t)

d.Provide parents with information fence. The first two stories of the iuiIding and techniques for helping students contain one of the city's regular schools and a learn (e.g., training sessions, hand- Head Start Program, while the third floor books, make-and-take workshops, houses the academy. etc.). Enrollment statistics show that the academy's e.Est Nish and maintain regular, population is comparable to other Harlem frequent home-school communica- neighborhood schools. Eighty-five percent of tions. This includes providing the families in this school are on some form of parents vrAth information about public assistance, and more than 40 percent of student progress and calling atten- the academy's families live in public housing tion to any areas of difficulty. units. The majority of the children are members of minority groups; most come from 2.8.2 Administrators and Teachers African American and Latin American cul- Involve Parents and Community tures. Members in School Governance. The founders of the Family Academy chose to Administrators and teachers: s.orve this population in a unique way.Their dream was to start with a small educational b.Communicate clearly to parents the community and to nurture it as it grew. In procedures for involvement and use the academy's first year (1991-92), the school the ptscedures consistently. selected just 50 kindergarten children and then continued to add another 50 kindergart- c.Engage parent and community ners each of the subsequent years. The participation on school-based man- selection criterion for applicants has been that agement teams. the families live within walking distance of the school. From that pool of interested families, E Work with cultural minority parents 50 kindergartners are chosen randomly each and community members to help year. To prevent the separation of siblings, children cope with any differences in families with children already enrolled in the norms noted between the home and school are given first preference when selec- the school tions are made.

g.Involve parents and community The school receives standard funding from the members in decision making regard- New York City Board of Education but supple- ing school governance and school ments those dollars with grant money from improvement efforts. corporations, individuals or charitable foundations. With these dollars, the academy runs h. Munitor and evaluate parent/commu- additional programs and has designed a nity involvement activities and support structure for the entire family unit. continually work to keep participa- Family services are housed under the tion effective. academy's roof, providing a broad range of assistance for family problems on site. The i.Publish indicators of school quality academy also helps families to access an even and provide them to parents and broader array of services from local commu- community members periodically to nity organizations. foster communication and stimulate public action. School Philosophy Context The Family Academy is dedicated to ensuring that inner city children receive the same The Family Academy serves 250 children in opportunity to learn Es children in more grades K4 in the Harlem neighborhood of affluent school settings. To that end, the New York City. It is housed in a three-story school creates a stimulating and nurturing concrete slab monolith that has a small, poorly environment for its students and extends the equipped asphalt "yard" encased in a chain link school day and year to provide plenty of time

PAGE 2 SN, 42SHOT #37 715 for learning. Instead of ending at 3:00 p.m., tional program, support for staff, and the small the Family Academy classes run until 5:00 school size. p.m., adding valuable hours for classroom instruction. The school also continues most of SOCIAL SUPPORT STRUCTURES the summer, scheduling only a short vacation period. This means that students' growth and To ensure that there are enough specialists to development does not lose ground during supplement the educational mission of the summer months. Academy staff also provide school by serving social needs, a Child and enriching experiences in music, drama and Family Service Center operates at the school. physical education during the summer. This center includes a family worker, a learning specialist, a child psychologist, and a School staff operate from several key convic- college intern to work with children when tions about the root causes of educational teachers need a break from class. failure in this community. They believe that students' learning falters when they are Having a building-based social worker is a distracted by health problems, family crucial component of this school. Her respon- struggles, isolation, personal anonymity, poor sibilities include conducting all family intake language skills, or other disadvantages. Any interviews and coordinating social services for or all of these hamper learning and communi- the families She knows the problems of all cation. The academy's founders believed that families served by the academy, and she despite these many problems, students can carries a beeper with her at all times so as to excel academically if a responsive and suntain- be accessible to the families 24 hours a day. able support structure makes learning pos- She maintains communication with families to sible. The academy provides organizational minimize situations that could interfere with mechanisms that address critical family and learning. The problems she addresses include health issues, while at the same lime enabling health and housing problems, interpersonal teachers to focus on classroom instruction. family struggles, and legal issues. The school emphasizes a challenging, comprehensive curriculum that fosters language skills Having specialized help to work with troubled and critical thinking. families means that school staff can intensify their focus on the academic work of school. The academy's curriculum and its parent Contacts made by staff of the Child and Family classes are geared to help both adults and Service Center make it possible for academy children in this community develop their staff to learn about family concerns. The extra language capacity. Staff recognize that oral staff in the center focus on solving children's communication may initiallyhe difficult and problems immediately instead of passing uncomfortable for both the parents and the these on to another agency. children,-but they also know that with support and encouragement, the parents and their Other support structures back up the instruc- children can improve their communication tional work of the school. For example there skills and broaden their horizons via both the are two staff members working on fundraising written and spoken word. This is reflected and public relations with funding agencies. throughout the school. Por example, the Their success means that students and staff strong schoolwide emphasis on language arts receive additional help from interns, busi- is evident in the library, where books are nesses and community volunteers. This chosen to promote and respect the students' outreach increases adult contacts and person- self-concepts, and also to provide examples of alized attention for all students. successful conflict resolution. SUPPORT PROVIDED TO STAFF Effective Structures of the Because the Family Academy is part of the Family Academy public school system, it recruits its staff from a pool of certificated applicants. Once staff are What makes the Family Academy successful? chosen, academy personnel orient them to the Three unique features stand out: social school's unique way of operating. By providing support structures supplementing the instruc- additional support for the staff in the form of

SNAPSHOT #37 71 PAGE3 professiomil development, additionalvolun- mean that staff are not rushed and can take teers, and college interns in the classroom, the the extra time to foster open communication school makes it possible for teachers to focus with and among the students. Staff model on student learning and to work more effec- conflict resolution in their relationships with tively. It is particularly important to value each other and with the children. Children and support the staff in a school like this, are frequently asked to "look me in the eye" because the days here stretch well beyond the when they are talking to an adult and are 8:00 a.m.-to-3:00 p.m., September-to-June prevented from retreating into a passive length of the normal school day and school stance by staffs persistentbut caring year. Teachers who expect to leave the school probes to learn aboL2 students' personal building at 3:00 o'clock would find themselves problems. Academy staff have learned that out of sync with the school philosophy. At the being insistent pays off; problems and inci- same time, there is a recognition that acad- dents that are ignored surface repeatedly until emy staff have full lives beyond their work, they are addressed. Staff approach these and they are asked to share this with the matter-of-factly, bringing their interpersonal families in the school Staff share their sIdlls to their relationships with each other, hobbies, their interests, and their skills, which the children, and their parents, and model a makes it possible for them to be an integral sense of community by revealing their whole part of the school's year-round community. person to each other.

SCHOOL SIZZ A small school is a safer place to share personal interests and passions. The extended Another goal is to build the self-esteem of day and extended year mean that work at the community members, and here, the small, school is a major part of life; in the intimate intimate environment of the school plays an environment, staff make their long days important role. Urban anonymity can meaningful and personally relevant threaten self-concept, so the school has created a place where all members of the Program Features community are known and cared about. Staff at the school know all children and all parents Remy INTAKE INTERVIEWS AND STUDENT by their first names and bring personal ASSESSMENT touches to their interactions with families. Staff greet all members of the family warmly Intake interviews are conducted for all new when students are being dropped off or picked kindergarten students entering the school up. They invite whole families to get involved These interviews take from thirty minutes to in the school and then provide a welcoming two hours. During the interview, the social atmosphere. worker completes a family profile, describing the medical history of all family members, Personal contact turns out to be a great housing needs, and child welfare concerns. To contributor to community development. promote a sense of trust, parents receive a Parents are more likely to participate in tour of the file storage area and learn about school-related events 'when they are ac- the security measures used to maintain quainted with academy staff; and students confidentiality. The academy warns parents respond better when school staff have a that the interview might be uncomfortable, personal relationship with their whole family. but that the social worker can provide better By consciously designing a system that fosters service if the family situation is explained in a sense of community ownership, the academy full. Parents are asked to sign consent forms draws more parents into the school. Over that will make it easier for the social worker time these adults join together through a to serve as an advocate on their behalf. common commitment to improving student performance. COORDINATION OF SERVICES

Because the school started small, it was At the Family Academy, the school 'becomes possible to establish a norm of honest and the introductory point of contact for coordi- direct communication. Issues are dealt with nated or expanded services for families. In the directly, and adulte and children to learn to "be academy's neighborhood, most families receive straight" with one another. The longer days

PAGE 4 SNAPSHOT 037 piecemeal services provided by local walk-up mother to go along. At first, the mother was clinics. The typical Harlem clinic is not anxious and unwilling to ride along, but after a equipped or funded to address chronic or few doctor visits, she agreed to accompany her complicated problems that need long-term daughter to the doctor's office. The staff solutions, such as in-depth counseling or member was able to talk with the mother, extendAd care. Instead, a person needing encourage and support her through the service typically arrives with a specific acute unfamiliar and uncomfortable experience of problem, and that emergency is dealt with on going to the doctor's office. After a few of the spot. these accompanied trips, the mother became ready to take the girl herself; without the The Family Academy, through its social assistance of the staff member. worker, seeks ongoing services for the whole family. It coordinates management of the Family Academy staff consider helping families family's needs and locates the most compre- to use resources appropriately to be part of hensive services available Because of the their responsibility. Helping a mother gain social worker's intervention, health services communication skills so she can work with a are offered to both adults and children simulta- health care professional is part of the school's neously in a coordinated fashion This often domain. By accompanying the staff member, means that the family must travel beyond the mother could observe the staff's relation- their own neighborhood to a new provider with ship with the doctor and slowly learn to trust specialized services. If this is the case, the the system. school makes these arrangements, too. By serving as the coordinator of family cases, the Working on these problems takes a lot of academy enhances communication and en- commitment and perseverance. In one sures that pertinent information will be shared conversation, a staff member said that many of across service providers. the schools efforts are fueled by the word; wr at this school stands for "follow-through.' In addition, having an on-site social service Once they initiate a set of inquiries, staff team ensures that problems are assessed members do not allow themselves to be quickly and solutions are sought Members of discouraged by bureaucracy. They continue to the entire social service team are available to call and to nag until one of two things happen: make the family's contact with service provid- either they develop a personal relationship ers go smoothly. They may help out by with agency social workers and receive per- providing a caae history to the agency prior to sonal attention, or they gain a reputition for an appointment or by educating the family so being "pests." In either case, local agency staff parents bring needed materials to an appoint- 'know we will not go away,' and have begun to ment. By ensuring that the family has the respond to Family Academy requests. necessazy paperwork, the precise name for a medical condition, aradlor the description of a The Family Academy also uses networking to problem identified during assessment, the learn about all available services. One ex- experience at the doctor's office becomes less ample is the academy's dealings with Child traumatic for the family. Welfare. Recommendations made by Child Welfare social workers vary; not all arrange FACILITATION OF SERVICES for the comprehensive service for families. For example, Child Welfare can provide a Not only are the services located by school homemaker to a family; this person hells with staff, but having extra support staff means that laundry, advises about nutritional need], etc., the school can make appointments for services but some welfare workers were not prescrib- and help family members get to these appoint- ing this service. Once this was recognized, the ments. The school staff described a recent academy decided to pressure Child Welfare to example: When a student's health problem recommend the most appropriate services for was noted, and high-quality services were academy families. located in a neighborhood a cab ride away from the school, the girl's mother resisted taking FOCUS ON TEACHING SOCIAL SKILLS the girl to her appointment. So, a school staff member transported the girl to her appoint- In addition to academic instruction in the ment a few times, each time inviting the classroom, Family Academy students are

SNAPSHOT 03 7 PAGE 5 BEST COPY AVAILABLE -17

specifically taught many interpersonal coping Staff believe that the one-on-one consultation mechanisms, such as using words to express and the parent sp group time have proven to feelings and finding acceptable ways to resolve be the most successful ways to gain parental conflicts. For example, when any kind of support at home. Oral communication in an argument or controversy breaks out among informal setting seems to. provide the best the students, any adult (administrator, environment for helping parents learn skills teacher, or college intern) in the vicinity steps that promote student learning. in and tells the children that this kind of behavior is not acceptable at school. Adults Parental skills are tapped and their ability to ask the student to use language to talk about organize and manage social events are encour- the conflict and/or offer a solution. aged to provide positive and well-rounded community events for the children that PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT IN SCHOOL LEARNING support academic instruction.

Parental involvement is a crucial aspect of the The schoors effort to communicate with Family Academy program, and many ap- parents is noteworthy. The parent newsletter proaches have been used to encourage their is written in simple sentenceswith no jargon participation in the learning community. or educational "double-speak." The newsletter Learning opportunities are provided to parents could be read by a third grader and is laid out in four ways. First, classes are held to assist in a user-friendly format. Important.informa- parents in curriculum-related topics such as tion is highlighted. math instruction or language arts. The most popular course offered at the school has been COMMUNITY PROBLEM SOLVING an African American literature course. Parents often find that the problems in the Second, materials that can guide parents are wider community influence how they function made available for parental checkout in the and the kinds of opportunities that they can small school library. When parents drop by provide to their children. For example, the the library (which is open at the beginning and parent rap group determined that it is often end of each day), the librarian wheels a cart of unsafe for parents to take their children to the parental books out from behind the desk and local park on Setup:Lys because the park is describes the available books to parents. He littered with dirty needles, broken glass and collects materials of interest to parents at the used condoms. The parents felt they were local library and keeps them informed about often held hostage in their own homes because local events. Thirty to forty parents use the they could not take their children out for library services regularly. healthy exercise on the weekends. A group of mothers strategized a solution: early on A third way that parents are engaged is Saturday morning, two of the mothers drop through direct one-on-one consultation. Staff their children off with another family and head meet with parents and hear about the specific over to the park to clean it up. They scour the concerns or confusion parents are experienc- playground area for a half-hour and remove ing about ways to support their children's any dangerous objects. Then the other learning. Then staff explain the kind of families in the group bring all the children to reinforcement that parents can prcvidee.g., the park to play. The mothers have an phonics practice at home, recognizing letters opportunity to ch at with one another and to of the alphabet, or understanding uses of form the kind of connections needed to sustain arithmetic when shopping at the store. All of a sense of community. theae strategies are explained directly to parents at teachable moments. Family Academy In Action

A fourth way that parents receive help is During each quarter of the year, the school during a weekly parent rap group meeting. holds a festival which supports and promotes a These informal meetings help parents learn theme that is currently being taught. For from each other and share their information example, in the spring of 1995, the entire about successful strategies. Parents express school focused on multicultural issues. Be- their concerns and problem solve with one cause the community itself is multicultural, another.

PAGE 6 SNAPSHOT 137 this event was a excellent opportunity for is done and handed in to the teachers in the parent involvement. The school council school. These data show a steady growth in requested that parents help organize and the amount of work that students do outside of orchestrate many of the activities during this school. In kindergarten 36 percent of the multicultural experience. Each classroom students turn in their homework, and in first studied one country and prepared an "experi- grade 65 percent do so. By the second grade, ence" for the other students in the school to 83 percent of the students are completing and attend. submitting their homework assignments.

For their part, parents orchestrated a theme- School records show that the academy's related Spring Fest in the park. This day emphasis on language and literacy is taking included ethnic foods, music and dance from hold. Over 95 percent of the families check other countries, including a meringue dance out books from the schoors library. In fact, group and a Capoeira demonstration (Capoeira with only 200 children enrolled in the school, is a dance form with African-Brazilian roots 10,000 books were checked out over the course that combines sport, dance, traditional instru- of the year. This number only includes the ments, singing and martial arts). Parents books that children check out themselves, not made the arrangements for the food, served as the added books that the librarian circulates to the seamstresses for the dancers' costumes, the classroom for teacher use. Not only are and located a storyteller for the event. books frequently checked out, they are also treated with respect. According to the hirer- CLASSROOM EXPERIENCES ian, there is less vandalism and book damage in this school than in comparable schools in A visit to Angel Gonzalez's classroom reveals the area. what a school day looks like to a first grader. With its cubbies for each student and its class One of the significant outcomes of increasing space divided into learning stations, this room parental involvement is improved commitment seems .much like the first grade classrooms in to getting students to attend school regularly. more affluent neighborhouds. The environ- In the fall of 1994, the Family Academy had ment is stimulating: art posters, lists of the best attendance of any school in district common words on colorful construction paper, #3an area that includes all schools in the and laminated pages from picture books all upper west side of Manhattan. In September, embellish the room. The first-graders have 98 percent of the students attended, and in just completed a unit on architecture and sire October the attendance rate was 96 percent. now using what they have learned to create a Over the course of the full school year, third model of Old San Juan in Puerto Rico as part grade students averaged only 7.5 days absent. of the schoolwide theme of multicultural . awarenese. It is unusual for a school to gather as much data as the Family Academy has, and even Today the lesson includes a discussion of mere unusual for a school to make specific maps. The students have a chance to look at a plans based on analysis of the data. For floor plan of the Museum of Natural History example, the school staff have learned that the and a subway map of New York City. The oldest group of students in the building (cur- first graders are brimming with observations rently fourth graders) have not shown the from their own experience and with questions. language achievement evident in later classes. The discussion shifts to treasure maps and To address this situation, the school has now pirates who marked with an "x" the location of implemented a special program with half of hidden treasure. the fourth graders to ensure that they are up to grade level in language skills. The school Grrnm Rzsuurfa DATA ON FAMILY ACADEMY anticipates that additional data will be avail- SUCCESS able in the coming months.

Collecting data showing that the school makes More information about this schoors program a difference is an important issue for the is available by contacting Christina academy, and staff have developed a variety or Giammalva, Family Academy, 220 West 121st ways of studying its impact. For example, the Street, New York, New York, 10027. The school monitors the amount of homework that academy's phone number is (212) 749-3558. SNAPSHOT 037 PAGE 7 83 This publication is based on work sponsored wholly, or in part, by the Office of Educational Research and Improvement (0EIU), U.S. Department of Education, under Contract Number RP91002001. The content of this publication does not necessarily reflect the views of OERI, the Department, or any other agency of the U.S. Government. This publication is in the public domain and may be nproduced and disseminated v.ithout permission. Please acknowledge NWREL as the developer. January 1996

PAGE 8 SNAPSHOT #37 SCHOOL ImPROVEMENT RESEARCH SEIUES "Research You Can Use"

Snapshot #38 Integrating Middle School Curriculum Around Real-World Issues Waldo Middle School Salem, Oregon James W. Hushman

c.Engage students in projects requir- Research Findings ing knowledge and skill across several traditional content areas. Engaging students in real-world problem d. Make use of other resources, includ- solving as they acquire the skills and knowl- ing hands-on material, in addition to edge needed for success in work and life is as textbooks. important for middle school students as it is f.Uee performance assessments that for those in high schooL Among the many allow students to demonstrate personal transitions middle school students knowledge and skills from several make is that they begin to think about school traditional sabject-matter areas. as preparation for life. Helping students see the connections between school and life can be accomplished by an interdisciplinary curricu- 1.3.7 Teachers integrate workplace lum rooted in real-world topics that are readiness skills into content-area exciting and timely. Learning can be further instruction. enhanced through a performance orientation that allows students to practice and be as- Teachers b.Focus on developing the higher- sessed on important work and life skills. This order skills required in the modern tipproach.represents a blending of curricular workplaceproblem-solving and and instructional practices that research has decision-makingskills, learning shown increase student engagement and strategies, and creative thinking. learning. According to Effective School Prac- e.Assign tasks like those carried nit tices: A Research Synthesis11995 Update by people in real work settings. (Cotton 1995), these praCticea include: f. Function as facilitators and coaches rather than lecturers or order- 1.1.2 Teachers provide instruction that givers, giving older students much of integrates traditional subjects as the responsibility for their own appropriate. learning. Select workplace problems to illus- Teachers 3. a. Use thematic units as the organizing trate how basic academic skills are principle for instruction in agreed- applied in real-world settings. upon areas.

INV Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory 0 101 S.W. Main Street, Suite 500 School, Community and Professional Portland, Oregon 97204 II% Telephone (503) 275-9500 Development Program v

1.6.2 Teachers make use of alternative number of poor and minority studentsa assessments as well as traditional change that will accelerate as school boundary shifts raise the percentage of students on free and reduced lunch from about 60 percent to an Teachers expected 75 percent. c.Begin by using alternative assessments on a small scale. They Waldo is part of the largely urban Salem- recognize that the best assessments Keizer School District, which has been en- are developed over time and with gaged in the process of school and districtwide repeated use. improvement for the past decade. The district operates from a conviction that all students 2.1.3 Administrators and teachers inte- can learn successfully and has established a grate the curriculum, as appropri- set of 21st century student learning goals that ate. are well reflected in Waldo's own philosophy and goals. A dominant partof Waldo's ap- Administrators proach is to provide students with an educa- a.Explore the feasibility of integrating tion that is tied to their lives and life skills, traditional subject-area content including the application and use of technol- around broad themes, and identify ogy. The school boasts that over 90 percent of areas where this approach is appro- its students work with technology as part of priate. their instructional program. c.Make other resources available for use in integrated curriculum units in Waldo has been committed to the process of addition to textbooks. school improvement for some time, beginning d.Pursue curriculum integration with its implementation of the Northwest gradually, so that staff can make Regional Educational Laboratory's Onward to adjustments, gain feelings of owner- Excellence (OTE) program about eight years ship, and evaluate the success of ago. Through the OTE process, the school each effort. . formed a school improvement leadership team, developed profiles of student performance, set 2.1.4 Administrators and teacLers pro- improvement goals based on profile data, and vide computer technology for in- used research-based practices to improve structional support and workplace learning for all students. While Waldo no simulation. longer views itself as an "OTE school," it has internalized many of the OTE principles and Administrators practices, including reviewing research, c.Provide computer activities that profiling student performance, and making use simulate workplace conditions and of site-based leadership that involves staff and tasks to build employability skills for community members. all students. d.Make use of computers and word Waldo and the entire Salem-Keizer District, processing software to foster the have been revising curriculum, instruction, development of writing skills. and assessment in response to Oregon's sweeping education legislation (House Bill 3565), which calls for a restructuring of schools Situation to better prepare today's children for work and Waldo Middle School is located in the capital life in the 21st century. This requires re- thinking curriculum and instruction so that city of Salem, Oregon. The sprawling blue- learning is organized around application of gray and red-brick building is "home" to just over 1,000 students in grades 6-8, about one- knowledge and skills, rather than merely quarter of whom are Hispanic or members of accumulating credits in isolated subjects and other minority groups. The schuol is nestled discF tlines. It also necessitates more authen- within a residential neighborhood of older tic, performance-based assessments around homes, and the portable classrooms behind the specific learning outcomes. In addition to the school reflect a growing and changing popula- push from the state, the Salem-Keizer district tion. One significant change is an increasing established its own 21st century student learning goals and has been working for the

PAGE2 SNAPSHOT 038 past several years to improve alignment of collaboration, and communication (speaking, curriculum, instruction, and assessment with writing, and visual forms). these goals. The Endangered Species project runs for eight Context weeks and is offered twice per year to accommodate two groups of seventh grade students. The eight weeks are organized into a coordi- The seventh grade Endangered Species project nated sequence of activities across a number of at Waldo Middle School is a model of how discipline-based courses, primarily life sci- schools can develop, experiment with, and ences, writing, and computers. To a lesser refine a more integrated and performance- extent, content is also integrated into math, based approach to teaching and assessment, social science, and art courses. Students still with technology at the center. Administrators attend their regular classes during the eight and teachers at Waldo have been developing weeks, but their teachers collaborate on a an integrated curriculum, hands-on and sequential curriculum that begins with stu- technology-driven instruction, community dents learning about endangered species and learning, and alternative assessments for conducting individual reseamh; continues with several years. small groups of students developing their recovery plans and multimedia presentations The Endangered Species project is the brain- of the plans; and culminates in formal presen- child of a highly motivated and creative tations to a panel of zoo experts and faculty, teacher named Mike Weddle, but it is far from who evaluate and critique the student work. a solo pedormance. The project has been a true collaborative effort involving the schoors leadership team, faculty members across a Current Practice: number of disciplines, and professional scien- The Endangered Species tists and other community members who have provided input and participated directly in Project instruction and assessment. The project was pil.ot tested in the spring of 1994 and com- PRASE I: STUDENT RESEARCH AND PAPER pleted its first full year of implementation during the 1994-95 school year. The project begins in life sciences class where students learn about endangered speciesa The project has four components, three of topic which seems to excite many students which have undergone considerable develop- because of children's natural love of animals ment. The three established components are: and because it is a timely environmental issue. Students conduct individual research on a 1.Integrating tho seventh grade curriculum particular animal, choosing from a list of 25 in life sciences, writing, computers, math, endangered species. In their research, they and social studies around a contemporary, draw from a rich set of materials and from real-world issue that engages students experts in the field. Thus, a student might (Le., endangered animals). first gather information from the CD-ROM, Encyclopedia of US Endangered Species;a 2.Applying technology and pursuing other recent copy of the periodical, Wildlife Conser- hands-on learning experiences in ways vation (a good example of a journal that is that relate to real problems gyid tasks appropriate for a seventh grade reader); and which people face in the world f work. other library resources.

3.Linking with the community to provide As the project progresses, students interact rich information resources, community with biologists and conservationists from learning, and a sense of realism to the regional zoos and from around the country project. who have agreed to participate as expert resources. They communicate by voice, The fourth component, which is still in the Internet, and in person. One group working experimental phase, ia conducting student on the Florida panther, for example, hele. performance asac oments in the areas of conference calls with a leading conservation applied math and science, technology use, biologist in Florida, who is actively involved in saving the state's endangered panther popula- SNAPSHOT #38 PAGE tion. He provided information and advice as projects, students attend a "Safari Day," in the students developed their recovery plan. which local zoo experts visit the school and Another resource is an Internet user group of talk about animal groups said their habitats in conservation scientists called CONSUNK, a mini-fair format. which students can connect to via the schsors computers. PHASE 2: DEVELOPING"RECOVERY PIAN"

An important part of the groundwork for this In the second phase of the course students project was building a rich resource base, work in small groups to develop a recovery which was accomplished with a lot of effort by plan for their endangered animal. Students the lead teacher and a small external founda- self-select into these groups based on the tion grant. The resources include CDs on animal of interest. This gives students choice, animals, habitats, and endangered species; . an important ingredient in engaged learning. conservation and nature journals that provide technical information at an appropriate level About two weeks before presentation day, for middle-sclaool readers; and other special- student groups were observed working in their ized resourcea which are not typically aveable life sciences and computer classes On their in general school libraries. Many letters were recovery plans. Life sciences class was a buzz sent and personal contaats made with zoos, of activity, as students worked in groups of wildlife parks, and leading individuals in the fame to five individuals with a combination of field to develop a network of regional and excitement and anxiety as the deadline drew worldwide experts for the project to utilize. nearer. Groups we2e huddled over large Without these rich resources, the course sheets of butcher paper that showed lists of would lack the depth and realism it has ideas or rough drawings of habitat theme achieved. parks for their animals. The teacher roamed from group to group asking questions about After conducting research, students are given progress and about the specifics of the plan. an individual writing task as part oftheir She also prodded them to plan a timeline and a English class. As they complete their initial division of labor to complete the work. Stu- research, each student writes a report that dents were given a worksheet list of possible describes ths animal, its species and family, tasks so that each student could sign up for habitat, behavior, how it became endangered, one or more tasks. The list included compuier and current conservation efforts. They work tasks, such as designing a three-dimensional with members of their group to develop and image of the park or an informational bro- write up a recovery plan on a word processor chure, and non-computer tasks, such as in computer class. building a real model or drawing a poster. Students must divide the work, and each One student's portfolio included a well-written person is expected to make an individual piece about three single-spaced pages long contribution to the team effort. with a bibliography. The English teacher requires students to stress concepts in their In the Florida panther group, students dis- writing rather than facts; copying definitions agreed over how large the habitat should be, or sentences from a book is not acceptable. how much roaming range the animal needs, Students need to show they understand the and howarrange the space. One student definitions and concepts and write in a persua- asked the another, "What does the research sive manner with an introduction that "grabs" say about roaming range?" At that point, the the reader and a strong argument for their teacher came by and suggested they investi- recovery plan at the end. gate what wildlife parks do and talked about the concept of "shift cages" which zoos some- While students are researching and writing times use. The students decided that during during the early part of the project, they ai their next conference call with their Florida learning about the environmental and political consultant, they would ask for some expert issues surrounding endangered species in advice. They were engaged in problem solv- social studies. In math, the teacher explains ing. how probability relates to genetic variability, which is a key concept in explaining and Students are challenged to design a recovery preventing species extinction. Early in their plan that can take the form of a habitat theme

PAGE 4 SNAPSHOT #38 park (like Seaworld), a plan to preserve the must present and defend their plan, convincing animal in its natural habitat, or developing a the board that the proposal deserves funding. captiva breeding program within an existing The panel asks questions and offers a critique zoe. A popular choice is the habitat theme at the end, and a teacher who worked closely park, but it is not enough to simply design a with the group completes a performance fantasy theme park. Cost, available land, and evaluation sheet. (Parents may also attend other real-life constraints muzt be considered the presentations; additionally, there is a ir the design. In computer class, for example, practice night to which parents are invited.) students are given the unit price of concrete, fencing material, and trees, and then use Ten presentations were obeerved. In a typical spreadsheets to develop a construction budget. presentation, students took turns taring from They also need to figure out how to raise the prepared notes on index cards and used a revenuea challenge which the students number of visual aids. They talked about the typically approach through a fundraising plan, animal, its habitat, its current status and charging admission, and concession sales. Of recovery efforts, and then gave a detailed course, the park must also include a scientifi- presentation and defense of their recovery cally defensible plan for animal breeding and plan, which often took the form of a habitat recovery. theme park. Through these presentations, students demonstrated their skills in writing, In computer class, students were using a computers, art/design, problem solving, and variety of software, including word processing, public speaking. Many groups developed spreadsheets, hyper-text stacks, and computer- brochures or informational pamphlets to aided design. Many students were producing promote their wildlife parks, some done on computer models of their theme parks using word processors with sophisticated computer Swivel-3D software by which one takes a quick graphics and color maps, and others done visual tour from different angles and perspec- more simply by hand. Slides and video clips tives. Accompanying these computer drawings were often woven in to provide background were hyper-text stacks that allow quick about the animal and habitat Some groups retrieval of information by clicking on high- demonstrated coinputer hypercard stacks by lighted text with the computer mouse. These which a visitor to the park could *point and and other computer products become part of click" cn an exhlit terminal to find informa- the student presentations. tion about animals and park exhilits (as people do today in modern museums). Some students PRAM 3:RAESINTATIONECTO ME "BOARD OF showed off their computer expertise, while DMRCTORS" others showed what they could do with hand- built models or drawings. Some of the displays The project culminates with a group presenta- were very intricate and others very simple. tion of therecovery plan to a hypothetical zoo "board of directers.* An entire day is set aside Students had to persuade the panel by talking for presentations so that regional zoo experts about such things as the needs of a particular can participate. On the day of the observation, species and how their plan promotes animal members of the Metro Washington Park Zoo health and breeding. In the case of a theme (Portland, Oregon) and the Point Defiance Zoo park, students talked about how the park and Aquarium (Tacoma, Washington) were would attract customers and raise revenue, sitting on the board of directors along with a and the acquisition of land and breeding stock. well-respected scientist named Ray Erickson. The zoo experts often asked tough queetions, After a full career in conservation biology, although they also offered advice at the end of Erickson retired in Salem and is now an active presentations. The questions from the panel community participant in the Endangered tested students on their knowledge of animal Species prcject. Using zoo profesoionals and behavior and on the thoroughnese with which scientists adds credibility and realism to the they had thought through their plan. One zoo project and, of course, shows students that expert saw his role as providing "a reality careers do indeed exist in this area. check for students without too much reality" in other words, challenging students to con- Each student group gives a 16-minute presen- sider the real issues, but doing so without tation to the hypothetical board made up of the making students feel hopeless about saving zoo professionals and teachers. The students their species. SNAPSHOT #38 PAGES One challenge is that some students and The Performance graups will need more time than others, and Assessment this means providing some flexibility (i.e., finding extra time during or after school for The staff at Waldo are currently in the process some groups to complete their projects). of developing performance assessments around the Endangered Species project that focus on Many of the students interviewed were also five areas: 1) applying concepts of conserva- excited by the project. They value the ap- tion biology in the recovery plan, 2) collaborat- proach of making learning more real and, at ing with the group to share knowledge and the very least, they recognized this class as develop the recovery plan, 3) word procesring something really different and more interests the research paper, 4) presenthig the recovery ing Clan the standard curriculum. Some plan, and 5) develcping support materials students described the experience as difficult using a computer and other media. Staff and stressful at times, but they also noted that members are developing rubrics for these it was worth it in the end, because it provided areas. Each student is rated individually. a sense of accomplishment and real learning. Thus, a teacher rater must observe the group The only complaint heard was that, in some and individual contributions throughout the groups, one or two students in the group were entire project to be able to make individual doing most of the work. student ratings at the end. Students also develop individual portfolios from their prod- Finally, one issue that struck this observer is ucts, including their writing samples, com- the need for a grouping strategy between puter products, etc. This facet of the project is student choice and creating heterogeneous still in the developmental phase, and the staff learning groups. Allowing students to self- do not yet feel that they have achieved reliable select into groups by the animals that interest and valid performance assessments. them is a good tactic for increawIng student engagement and giving middle school students Anecdotal Evidence: some reasonable control over their learning. Yet, in the seventh grade class observed, Staff, Student; and Observer students seemed to segregate themselved into Perceptions girl groups, boy groups, and to some extent by race (i.e., two of the groups were made up While conducting the observations at Waldo, predominantly of minority students). Judging some staff members and students were esked from the final presentations, there might have to share their perceptions of the project. In been some unintentional separation into high- general, staff members were excited about this ability and low-ability groups, since some project and felt that this integrated approach presentations were really outstanding, while would be made easier ah the school moves to otheri reflected less effort and lower quality block scheduling in the near future. When work. This observation is offered as a caveat asked to relate scme anecdotal evidence about since the research also makes it clear that the program's effectiveness, teechers men- cooperative learning and heterogeneous tioned several things: Students are generally groups help ensure that all students learn. A very engaged in this class. It is a contempo- real challenge is giving students the choice rary topic and a vehicle for achieving a deeper they need to feel ownership for their projects, understanding of a real-life problem. Students while also trying to create more heteroge- talk abeut their projects a loteven in rela- neous, mixed-ability groups This is a chal- tion to things they see and hear outside of lenge which the staff at Waldo continues to school, such as nature shows on the Discovery work on as the project evolves. Channel or things they might come across in National Geographic. Continuous Improvement

The class also teaches responsibility: Teams While everyone at Waldo feels they have a have to manage and work together on their good thing going with the Endangered Species projects. The use of professional scientists project, it is a fledgling effort at the time of allows students see that real people are this writing, and the teaching staff is continu- working on these issues and that such jobs ing to fine-tune it in order to make a good require a foundation of knowledge and skills. PAGE 6 SNAPSHOT 38 cl 0 thing even better. As mentioned above, one The project can be expected to continue organizational change that facilitates this growing as a highly engaging and meaningful thematic approach is block scheduling, which learning experience for middle school stu- Waldo will be implementing in the near dents. Those desiring more information about future. With the block scheduling, for ex- Waldo's Endangered Species project may ample, life sciences will extend for a full contact Mike Weddle, Waldo Middle School, semester instead of eight weeks. This will 2805 Lansing Avenue NE, Salem, OR 97303- allow more time to set the stage with a firmer 1599, (503)399-3215. grounding in life sciences concepts before students embark on their intensive eight-week endangered species projects.

A second challenge is the need for continued upgrading of information resotkrces in a topic area such as endangered species, where the scientific knowledge and social/political discourse is continuously evolving. The project will be making more use of World Wide Web sites on the Internet to keep current on new knowledge and changes in the field. The number of Web sites related to endangered species is mushrooming, and many of these sites will be added to the information base for student research.

Finally, teachers participating in the project are always looking for ways to improve their practice. One example of this is the continuing effort to fully integrate valid and reliable performance assessments into the project Another offshoot is a community service learning component in which students who" complete ths endangered species work volunteer as guides in the participating zoos. They receive further training about an animal of interest at the zoo and then act as guides for visiting elementary students. Finally, teachers continue to work collaboratively to addresses the complex challenges of an integrated, thematic curriculum.

This publication is based on work spmeored wholly, or in part, by the Office of Educational Research and Improvement ((JERI), U.S. Department of Education, under Contract Number RP91002001. The content of this publication does not necessarily reflect the views of ()ER!, the Department, or any other agent; of the U.S. Government.

This publication is in the public domain and may be reproduced and disseminated without permission. Please acknowledge NWREL se the developer. January 1996

SNAPSHOT #38 PAGE 7 SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT RESEARCH SERIES "Research You Can Use" Snapshot #39

Improving Elementary School Climate

Bonneville Elementary School Pocatello, Idaho Kathleen Cotton

Research Finding's them. Rewards are chosen because they appeal to students. Staff of Bonneville Elementary School in Pocatello, Idaho based their plan for improving Parents are told about students' their schoors climate on research findings successes and requested to help presented in the first edition of Effective students keep working toward Schooling Practices: A Research Synthesis excellence. (Northwest Regional EducationalLaboratory 1984).* Mese include Awards are set at several different levels of performance, providing all 1.11 Personal Interactions Between students with opportunities for Teachers and Students Are Posi- success and recognition. tive Incentives and rewards are appropri- Teachers make sure they let stu- ate to student developmental levels, dents know they really care. are meaningful to recipients and are structured to build persistence of Students are allowed and encouraged effort and intrinsic motivation. to develop a sense of responsibility and self-reliance. Situation

1.12 Incentives and Rewards tor Stu- Together, Pocatello and nearby Chubbuck are dents are Used to Promote Excel- home to nearly 60,000 people. The 14,000 lent* , students in the Pocatello School District attend fifteen elementary schools, five junior All students know about the rewards high schools (including an alternative school), and what they need to do to get and two high schools. Bonneville Elementary School has 435 students, including a Montes- sori preschool for children three to five years While this document has been updated twice, in 1990 old. and 1996, I have preserved the wording and numbering of the 1J84 document, since Bonneville staff used that versioa for their planning.

Northwest Regional Educelionel Laboratory 0 101 S.W. Main Street, Suite 600 School, Community and Professional Portland, Oregon 97204 It Telephone (503) 275-9500 Development Program

9)- BEST COPYAVAILABLE Bonneville's student population is extremely These findings came as no surprise to many &verse. In addition to children from the Bonneville staff members, who were troubled school's immediate, working-class neighbor- about the negative effects of competitive hood, the student body also includes children activities in the school's program. Many bused in from a trailer court at the edge of students, for example, found participation in town and from the affluent Sagewood Hills the schoolwide Spelling Bee and Geography neighborhood. There is a 30 percent student Bee extremely stressfulso much so that mobility rate at Bonneville, due in part to the some responded by crying or throwing up. fact that many students are the children of Likewise, the annual Science Fair was struc- temporary residents who come to Pocatello to tured in such a way that student winners attend Idaho State University. Many children received ribbons and accolades and gave come from single-parent homes. presentations on their projects, while the efforts of other participating students were Bonneville's student population is 81 percent virtually ignoi ed. white, 12 percent Hispanic, 2 percent African American, and 2 percent Native American, Another area of competition was the school's with the remainder being Asian or Pacific Field Day. Structured much like the Science Islander. Sixty-three percent of Bonneville's Fair, Field Day activities led to ribbons and children are eligible for free or reduced lunch. glory for the most athletic youngsters, who The schools staff and students call themselves frequently added insult to injury by lgrding the Bonneville Bees. their success over other children. Context In recounting Bonneville's competitive activities, staff members *woke of the infamous lunchroom competition of former days. Under INCEPTION AND IMPLEMENTATION this system a teacher's aide observed the lunchroom behavior of students, rewarded Marjean Waford became Bonneville's principal well-behaved classrooms of children with a in 1986. With her extensive background in staff development and strong belief in its "whale" or other "good* animal symbols, and importance, Ms. Waford worked with her staff gave "pigs" or other "bad" animal symbols to to identify areas of need for training and set up classes exhibiting leas desirable behavior. Classes that had amassed the most "good' a staff development program. animals were then permitted to go to lunch In 1988, in response to an invitation from the first, while others followed, with the recipients of the most pigs or other 'ad" animals going Pocatello district superintendent, Ms. Waford attended a meeting to introduce Pocatello to lunch last. Staff members say that the administrators to NWREL's Onward to Excel- friction this system caused among students was nothing compared to the friction it pro- lence (OTE) school improvement program. duced ernong teachers, many of whom wanted Finding OTE's approach compatible with her convictions, Ms. Waford engaged her staff in to go first and have a longer lunch break, and the steps of the OTE program, which began subsequently became involved in petty bicker- with establishing a leadership team, learning ing. about research, and developing a school Staff members assert that competition at the profde. classroom level also had a divisive effect on When it became time to formulate a school- students, with top academic and behavioral wide goal as called for in the OTE process, performers consistently winning and gloating, Bonneville staff focused on the disturbing and other students being visibly distressed results of administering the "My Class Inven- over repeated experiences of failure. tory" (MCI) to students. An instrument used to measure levels* of cohesiveness, friction, Together, the MCI findings and staff percep- (academie) difficulty, (overall) satisfaction, and tions led Bonneville staff to formulate the competitiveness in elementary classrooms, the following goal: MCI revealed unacceptably high levels of friction and competitiveness. Student attitudes should improve regarding the levels of friction and competition by lowering toward the

PAGE 2 SNAPSHOT #39 95 mean over the next two years as continues to observe behavior and award measured by the School Climate the coveted Whales, dreaded pigs, and Inventory Instrument. animals in between; but acknowledgment of good lunchroom behavior occurs The plan undertaken to achieve this goal chiefly at the classroom level, where included many elementselements intended teachers might offer the incendve of a to enhance student self-esteem as well as popcorn party when the class earns ten reduce friction and competition. Key changes whales. The only interclass competitive included the folloWing: element is that the class awarded the most whales earns the right to have Some staff studied the work of educational "Willy the Whale," a stuffed animal, in consultant Alfie Kohn, a leading educa- their classroom for a specified period of tional researcher and writer, on the time. negative effects of competition and beneficial effects of cooperation in schools. Instead of pitting children against one Kohn's book, No Contest: The Case another, Bonneville's academic awards Against Competition (Houghton-MiMin system extends "Super Top-Noteh Bee" 1986) helped to shift staffs thinking away status to all students meeting prespecified from competitive activities. standards. Recipients are honored with a certificate, a picture of him/herself on a The schoolwide, compulsory Spelling and classroom bulletin board, and often other Geography Bees are things of the past. acknowledgment, such as being first in They have been replaced by lower-profile line. verrions, in which participation is elective, and the events do not take place before the Other means of acknowledging excellence entire school. or improvement in students' achievement or behavior include displays on the "Wall The Science Fair, now called "A Celebra- of Excellence,' the provision of 'Positive tion of Science," no longer involves desig- Kid Tickets' when staff observe students nating winners and losers. Instead, each behaving in poeitive ways, quarterly student who develops an exhibit receives a schoolwide recognition ceremonies that participation rilbon and gives a presenta- include acknowledgment of good citizen- tion of his or her project to special guests ship and attendance, and an array of from outside the school, such as county classroom-level recognition strategies. commissioners and columnists from the local newspaper. Teachers received Teacher Expectations and Student Achievement (TESA) training The school Field Day is now comprised to increase their awareness of the ways chiefly of noncompetitive games, many teachers' behaviors toward students can selected from The Cooperative Sports and inspireor deflatetheir motivelon to Games Book: Challenge without Competi- learn and excel. tion (by Terry Orlick, Pantheon Books, 1978). Such competitions as there are Staff have implemented a cross-age tug-o'-war, sack races, relays, etc.are tutoring program to help younger students "just for fun," says Ms. Waforcl, and do not learn and to reduce their apprehension involve awarding ribbons or prizes. around older students, as well as enhance the self-esteem of older students. The lunchroom competition now takes an entirely different form. For one thing, Snasagultir YzAas students in grades four through six, who tend to eat faster, now go to lunch before In the years since Bonneville began its eCorts the younger children, who are more likely to improve the school's climate, staff have to dawdle, become distracted, and require gone on to establish and pursue other school- more time. Within each group (K-3 and wide goals using the OTE process. However, 4-6), classes take turns going first, in addition to their successful improvement second, and so on. The teacher's aide work in language arts and, more recently, in

SNAPSHOT 039 PAGE3 mathematics, they have maintained and nity resource referrals for children from expanded their efforts to improve school drug- or alcohol-affected homes or other climate. dysfunctional environments. The school counselor and one of Bonneville's teachers One such addition is the "BEST' (Building participated recently in an Impact program Esteem in Students Today) program, whose training and are working to engage staff overall goals include improved school climate, interest in implementing the Impact Team development of student character strengths, concept. and enhanced student self-esteem. Among the unit themes in the BEST program are cour- Other activities focus on increasing the use of tesy, responsibility, caring and sharing, goal democratic processes in classrooms and setting, honesty, feelings, health and preven- helping teachers to increase their repertoire of tion, and esteem. nonpunitive methods for dealing with children. "It's difficult," muses Ms. Waford, "to move out The mutual caring theme is further reinforced of a punitive mode. Implementation of school through the "Kids Care* program. Ms. Waford activities requires modeling from teachers-- remarks, "We have some 'tough' tads here increasing democratic processes. We are kids we need to work with continuously in working hard to get teachers to see that their areas related to caring. The Kids Care pro- approach to dealing with problems teaches an gram is helpful in teaching and reinforcing approach to dealing with problems.* caringbehavior." "Only so much can be accomplished through In a "Shoot for Grades* program involving the the use of rewards," she continues. "Especially local Kiwanis Club and athletes from Idaho with older stlidents,- we need to work harder State University, students meeting certain on building the values of sharing and coopera- academic standards have their names entered tion at both the classroom and school levels." in a drawing, with winners receiving prizes Since, as Ms. Waford notes, "these values such as going out for pizza or attending an ISU cannot be successfully taught by people who do basketball game. ISU students also work with not model them,* the school counselor and Bonneville students in a mentoring program others are developing activities to increase that, depending on the wishes of the classroom staff commitment to key features of teacher, might include homework help, Bonneville's code of ethics: listening atten- tutoring, or helping children develop social tively to children and each other, treating skills. students with respect, working to enhance the physical and psychological well-being of Tux PRZSIDfr AND Furuaz students, and tieing open to student input into school and claoom operations. Additional Since recent MCI survey results show an training in classroom management will be unacceptably low level of cohesiveness among offered, and a TESA review is also planned to Bonneville's students, the school's current keep teachers focused on communicating high work in building a positive school climate expectations to their students. focuses on this area. Ms. Waford spoke of several new and planned activities aimed at Practice: In the Classroom increasing cohesiveness. One of these is to implement activities from Developing Capable Glum 1: Ms. KEW' People by Jane Nelsen, Lynn Lott, and H. St when Glenn (prima publishing, 1993), which A visit to Ms. Kelly's first grade class revealed ar o. designed to teach children how to deal teacher and c. 'iren holding a class meeting pouitively with conflicts and other interper- and reviewing the agreements they had made sonal problems. Several Bonneville teachers as a class: attended an inservice activity presented by I will love myself and others. Stephen Glenn in the fall of 1995 and shared I will work quietly so I can learn. their learning with other staff. I will be nice, kind, and friendly so we can have fun. Efforts are also underway to establish and I will obey all adults. make use of a school Impact Team, which can help to identify and make appropriate commu-

PAGE 4 SNAPSHOT #39 9. When mistakes are made, I will forgive Teacher Interviews or apologize. I will do what works best. Two teachersVirginia Kelly and Pauline Lyonsboth of whom have worked at This review included several key concepts Bonneville since before the school climate for learning and reinforcement. Ms. Kelly improvement goal was established in 1988, emphasized that everyone makes mistakes shared their perceptions of the effort and its sometimes, including herself and other effects upon students. adults. Much of the discussion focused on the importance of keeping agreements. At According to Ms. Kelly, a former OTE leader- Ms. Kelly's prompting, students told per- ship team member, "it takes a whole school to sonal stories of times when others broke change a climate. When teachers compete their agreements and hew this made the with one another, it teaches kids to be com- children feel, as well as times when they petitive." For this reason, Ms. Kelly has broke an agreement with someone else. She removed her name from "Teacher of the then discussed with the class what a "vision" Year" competition, believing that it encour- is and engaged them in developing a vision ages an inappropriate focus. "I don't have to around the concept, "How will our school be do the best; I have to be my best, and that's if everyone keeps their agreements?' the outlook I take into my classroom.' She also reports having her students develop and Based on a classwide decision made at the say personal affirmations in the form of a beginning of the school year, 'Bee Buttons* "self-pledge that focuses on doing one's best. were given out to those children who had kept certain prespecified agreements. "This is my Ms. Kelly teaches her students that "the way of thanking you for keeping your prom- 'winnee [in en academic activity or game] is ises," said Ms. Kelly. the person who /earns something new.' She emphasizes that learning is not to be regarded GRADE 42 MRS. Camas as a race or other kind of contest. "I don't ask my students if they're finished with an activ- A BEST program activity was underway in Ms. ity; I ask them if they're working hard and Crooks' classone that involved a discussion learning something they didn't know before. of symbolism as it applies to the state of Idaho On their papers, I correct wrong answers and to Bonneville schooL A question-and- without marking them `wrong'." answer session established that a symbol represents/stands for/means something else Asked what changes she's observed as a result and is often used to express pride in whatever of Bonneville efforts to improve school climate, the symbol represents. Children identified the Ms. Kelly asserts that the amount of physical state flower, seal, bird, tree, gem, and so on, conflict among students has decreased. Ulm proceeding on to identifying rymbols of their others on the staff, she has observed a marked schoolits song, colors, flag, motto, and decline in student stress since the previously mascot high-profile competitive activities have either become low key or been eliminated. The Next, Ms. Crooks engaged the children in school's cross-age tutoring program has, in her folding large sheets of paper so as to make a view, improved relations between older and *magic book,' each page of which would be younger students. Finally, she notes that dedicated to one of the Bonneville symbols. whereas posters, student products, and other Like published books, these books were to be items on display often disappeared from the laid out with a cover picture, title, author's walls or were destroyed in times past, such name, and page numbers. As this activity things now occur much less frequently. proceeded, Ms. Crooks circulated around the room, praising children's work and offering As she was leaving to rejoin her class, Ms. help as needed. Kelly shared a final thought: 'The more we as teachers grow in our self-esteem and appropriate use of power, the more we can enhance learning and social experiences for our children and the school as a whole."

SNAPSHOT #99 CAGE 5 For her part, Ms. Lyons noted a dramatic Ms. Waford speculates that, because these reduction in the level of conflict on the play- older students are often involved in sports and ground as a result of Bonneville's efforts to other competitive activities outside of school, improve its climate. She credits work done at they introduce a competitive mood into the the classroom level to build students' self- school environment. In addition, she notes esteem for much of this change. "You don't that the nature of the student population has need to fight and compete with one another to changed in the years since the climate im- feel good about yourself You need to be the provement program began, with a considerable best you can be." increase in children from low-income and single-parent homes and an increase in As an example of the harmful effects of compe- student mobility. tition, Ms. Lyons said that the intense Science Fair competition of former years actually Neither Ms. Waford nor her staff, however, reduced student participation. "It was so see these factors as reasons to relax their stressful for them," she said, "and the parents efforts to improve Bonneville's climate. sometimes did the projects themselves so that Indeed, additional elements are being intro- their children would win. The kids seem to duced to raise student self-regard and enhance enjoy it a lot more the way it is now." cohesivenesselements supported by research on building cooperative school cultures. In the Remembering the effect the original MCI meantime, both student data and staff percep- fmdings had on the staff, Ms. Lyons said, "It tions indicate real progress in several areas basically made us more aware. I don't think and, as Ms. Waford observes, "it's so nice not we realized how much the competition was to have to worry about winning all the time.' affecting the children and their parents. I just hope that we are helping them build strong More information about Bonneville's program enough self-esteem to deal with the competi- is available from Marjean Waford, Principal, tion that they will face when they go on to Bonneville Elementary School, 320 North junior high school." Eighth Avenue, Pocatello, Idaho 83201, (208) 232-2872. "My Class Inx.rentOry" Data

Because of changes in the instruments used to measure classroom climate, it is not possible to make strict year-by-year comparisons of findings. In genrral, however, the data show positive effects on children in first through third grade, particularly on measures of cohesiveness, satisfaction, iind difficulty of academic work. Outcomes for fourth through sixth graders, however, are mixed. While overall satisfaction ratings remain high for these students and some increases in cohesiveness w.--re noted, friction and competition scores, in particular, remain unacceptably high.

This publication is in the public domain and may be reproduced and disseminated without permission. Please acknowledge NWREL as the developer. May 1996 PAGE 6 SNAPSHOT #39 47

SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT RESEARCH SERIES "Research You Can Use" Snapshot #40 Leading an Inner-City School to "Overall Excellence" Thurgood Marshall Elementary School' Seattle, Washington Kathleen Cotton 1111=1111111111111111111131111111.111=1111111111111111111111111111111=1111=11 2.3.1 Leaders Undertake School Restruc- Introduction turing Efforts as Needed to 'Attain Agreed-Upon Goals for Students. Receiving national recognition for overall excellence would be a great honor for any Administrators and other leaders schooL Receiving such recognition from two C. Identify kinds of staff development different prestigious sources is even more needed to enable school leaders and impressive. And it is especially striking that other personnel to bring about Seattle's Thurgood Marshall Elementary desired changes. Schoolonly five years old and having a d.Study restructuring efforts con- largely low-SES, minority populationshould ducted elsewhere for ideas and be the recipient of these coveted national approaches to use or adapt. honors. 2.8.2 Strong Leadership Guides the The driving force behind Marshall's attain- Instructional Program. ments is the inspired, eneigetic leadership provided by its principal, Edward 0. Jefferson, Administrators and other instructional and key members of his staff. Not surpris- leaders: ingly, their leadership activities are highly a.Believe that all students can learn congruent with the research findings on and that the school makes the effective leadership. Drawn from NWREL's difference between success and Effective Schooling Practices: A Research failure. Synthesis-1995 Update (Cotton 1995), these c.Have a clear understanding of the findings include school's mission and are able to state it in direct, concrete terms. They establish an instructional focus that unifies staff. Seek out innovative curricular 1 Early in 1996 the school's name was changed from programs, observe these, acquaint Cobnan Elementary School to Thurgood Marshall staff with them, and participate with Elementary School. This change resulted from a request by the staff and community that this predomi- staff in discussion about adopting or nantly minority school be renamed in honin of the late adapting them. Supreme Court justice.

Vie Northwest Regional Educational laboratory 101 S.W. Main Street, Suite 500 . School, Community and Professional Portland, Oregon 97204 Itit Telephone (503) 275-9500 Development Program fr 1. Check student progress frequen,;, Marshall's students are limited-English relying on explicit performance data. proficient, and about 17 percent qualify for They make results public, and work special education services. There is a 52 with staff to set standards, use them percent annual mobility rate. Half of as points of comparison, and address Marshall's students qualify for free or reduced discrepancies. lunch, and 62 percent live in arrangements other than two-parent families By design, 2.3.3 Administrators and Other Leaders Marshall imposes no suspensions or expul- Continually Strive to Improve sions. Instructional Effectiveness. Context Administrators and other leaders: a.Expect that educational programs will be changed so that they work A NEW NEIGHBORHOOD SCHOOL better; they are never complacent about student achievement. In response to community preference, Seattle d.Review programs and practices Public Schools, like many other districts, is shown to be effective in other school moving away from an era of intensive busing settings for their potential in helping of students to achieve racial integration, and to meet school needs. toward a return to neighborhood schools. So it was that Thurgood Marshall Elementary g.Secure and encumber resources to support improvement activities, School was created2 in 1990 to serve students acquire resources from many in its inner-city neighborhood, who for many sources including the community, years had been bused to schools in Seattle's and make resource allocations based north end. on instructional priorities. Newly hired as the school's principal, Ed 2.5.1 Administrators and Teachers Pro- Jefferson, an African American and onetime vide Programs and Support to Help student at the old Colinan Elementary school, High-Needs Students Achieve School brought considerable personal insight into the Success. needs of the community. In addition, he familiarized himself with the research on 2.5.2 Administrators and Teachers Work schools that successfully serve inner-city to Achieve Equity in Learning school populations, with their particular Opportunities and Outcomes. configuration of needs. He instituted a hiring procedure aimed at securing the kind of staff 2.7.3 School Leaders and Staff Collabo- described in the research: he wanted teach- rate with Community Agencies to ers with at least five years of teaching Support Families with Urgent experience and an interest in working with Health and/or Social Service Needs. students like those who would be attending Marshall. His six-page, in-depth list of 2.8.1 Administrators and Teachers In- interview questions were posed to candidates volve Parents and Community by a committee reflecting the Marshall Members in Supporting the Instruc- communityJefferson himself, a teacher's tional Program and (2.8.2) in School union representative, two community mem- Governance. bers, and a representative from the private sector.

Situation THE COMER RESTRUCTURING MODEL

Part of the 48,000-student Seattli Public In addition to influencing his staffmg proce- Schools, Thurgood Marshall Elementary dure, Mr. Jefferson's study of the research on School is located in the inner city and sgrves approximately 300 students in 27.1ties K-6. A very diverse school, Marshall's poplilation it 2 Actually, the school was recreated: A previous Colman over 75 percent "minority," and 58 percent Elementary Schoolin the same neighborhood but on a African American. Twenty percent of different sitehad been closed down some ten years before. PAGE 2 SNAPSHOT #40 91 effective schooling also made him aware of each year, during which the strengths, the Comer Restructuring Model developed accomplishments, and needs of every by Dr. James P. Comer and his staff at the Marshall student are discussed and indi- Yale University Child Study Center. He was vidual plans are established as needed. immediately drawn to this approach because of its emphasis on involving parentsespecially As called for in the Corner model, Marshall parents of colorand its aim of creating a makes use of a Mental Health Team that caring community in which children can learn focuses on prevention of and interventions into successfully. In 1991, Mr. Jefferson was mental health issues. A half-time school introduced to Dr. Comer himself, and shortly counselor and the services of a school psy- thereafter began working with local Comer chologist one day a week are key components facilitator Eileen Maret to implement the of this team. The team monitors schoolwide model at Marshall. discipline and safety practices, and is responsible for adherence to research-supported A systems approach to school management, practices in the areas of mental health and the Comer model involves all those associated child development. with the school in establishing and maintaining a community in support of all of the The Parent Leadership Team addresses the school's children. The combined strengths of needs of parents, encourages parent involve- the school's adultsstaff, parents, and agency ment, coordinates agency involvement, and representativesare utllized through collabo- provides adult education. A Parent Room rative decision making to develop policies, houses a food and clothing bank to help meet procedures, and programs that improve both families' basic needs, as well as serving adults the academic performance and social climate in need of a high school diploma, parenting of the school. skills, life skills, or general computer-based skills. Though not required by the Comer A key feature of the Corner program at model, a key feature of Marshall's parent Marshall is the School Planning and Manage- involvement is the written warranty Mr. ment Team (SPMT), which guides program Jefferson gives to the family of each student, opeTafions via the basic Comer principles of no promising that, if parents provide love and fault I blame, consensus decision making, and educational support, their youngsters will collaboration. The SPMT includes the princi- perform at or above grade-level standards. pal, counselor, nurse, speech therapist, a The warranty also specifies what actions will paraprofessional representative, au,A, be taken at each grade level to support any chairpersons of the five SPMT subcommit- student who needs extra help to move up to tees, as well as three parentsa PTA mpre- grade level. sentative, a non-PTA parent, and a member of the business community. SPMT meetings Staff development that is congruent with are held in the evening to accommodate principles ofchild development and supports members' schedules. school and district goals is an inherent feature of the Comer model. Marshall staff and their The SPMT led the effort; to develop mission many community partners learn collabora- and vision statements, astrategic plan that tively to increase their ability to serve includes both social and academic goals, an students well. adult development plan, and a comprehensive assessment and evaluation plan for all pro- The Marshall PTA is involved in all major gram components. All staff and many parents school decisions, and Mr. Jefferson and his join at least one of the subcommittees of the staff conduct vigorous outreach activities to SPMT, which focus on topics such as curricu- engage parent participation and support. An lum and instruction, professional development, annual, half-day parent workshop familiar- school climate, safety, training parent helpers, izes parents with the many ways in which student and staff recognition, and public they can support their children's school relations. Each subcommittee is responsible performance. for implementing and monitoring portions of Marshall's strategic plan. Core SPMT members conduct teacher interviews three times BEST COPYAVAILABLE SNAPSHOT #40 PAGE3 100 Practices violence prevention activities also contniute to a safe and supportive school climate. A The product of a collaborative effort, recently implemented policy of mandatory Marshall's mission statement is, school uniforms fosters ésprit de corps, as well as drawing attention away from socio- We, the Marshall staff; in partnership economic differences among students. with families and the community, teach, nurture, and learn from chil- COMMUNUY RELATIONSHIPS dren and each other. We believe that all children can learn. Working In addition to the many activities provided by together, we can make a difference in and to Marshall parents, the school also has a the lives we touch. number of business partners and partnerships with other educational agencies, as well as an Expressions of the belief that all children can Intergenerational Project which involves learn and learn well are everywhere observ- community people 50 years .of age and older in able across Marshall's program. The Marshall interacting with Marshall students. Marshall Curriculum Guide specifies activities and has on-going collaborative relationships with resources designed to achieve district and Antioch University-Seattle, Seattle Mental school goals for students, including individual Health Institute, Atlantic Street Center, empowerment and responsthility for learning, Union Gospel Mission Youth Activity Center, individual self-worth, the ability to work Easy Madison YMCA, and the Legionnaire's cooperatively, understanding and skill in Club. language arts and mathematics, word processing and desktop publishing skills, problem- &awn PRovisIoNs solving and other higher-order thinking skills. With the Comer model providing the overall Marshall is involved in Waahington State structure, Marshall's staff and community MESA(Mathematics, Engineering, Science carry out a variety of other programs and Achievement), a statewide program estab- tivities to assure that these goals are met. lished to address the needs of groups who are These are detailed in the following paragraphs. underrepresented in these fields. It is a partnership involving higher education, school BAsIc NEEDS districts, business and industry, government, and community organizations to provide Recognizing that basic needs must be met African American, Hispanic American, Ameri- before teaching and learning can proceed can Indian, and female students with services successfully, Mr. Jefferson meets weekly to increase their interest, participation, and with teachers and guidance counselors to contribution to math, science, and engineer- discuss the needs of Marshall's students and ing. determine appropriate educational, health, and/or social services. Family support and In addition, Marshall's Bilingual Orientation community service workers, who are funded Center serves students who are new to the by United Way, the City of Seattle, and the country. Many participants in this center Washington Health Department, both are children from relocation centers, who provide services and make referrals to have never attended school because of outside agencies as appropriate. military conflict and disruption in their home countries. Staff work With these students to SCHOOL CLIMATE prepare them with the communication and social skills to succeed in school. Given the powerful influence of school social climate on academic performance, Marshall MONTIVIUNG STUDENT PROGRESS has established Caring Teamslong-term, family-like groups of eight or so participants The Marshall Composite, the school's profile of that involve every Marshall adult and student. academic achievement, is compiled each school Trust and mutual support are established in year and shows individual student achieve- these groups over time. Counseling services, ment in reading, math, and language arts. peer mediation, positive discipline, and Standardized and locally developed assess-

PAGE4 SNAPSHOT #40 I 0 1 ment instruments are used to track student children were engaged in composing short academic growth, and planning time is set poems based on a rhyme scheme the teacher aside for staff to collaboratively analyze the had given them: data and make appropriate instructional changes. Spike3 in the cage, Spike in the cage, Three fillies each year, core members of the Take him out, take him out, Support Team screen all students in the school Spike in the cage. via teacher interviews. Academic, behavioral, health, and social services needs are The exercise involved children working with a identified, with school-level plans and commu- partner to compose a verse about something in nity agency referrals arrangee.. their classroom and share it with the rest of the class. The teacher carefully explained the OTHER PROGRAMS instructions and, after several pairs of students had presented their verses, she began Marshall is an Early Childhood Model site, asking the class open-ended questions, for which requires matching the instruction to example, "What do you see about the patterns each student's best learning rate and style. in these poems?" Gifted, special education, and Chapter 1 programs are provided to qualifying students, One student pair shared a verse based on the and Marshall is a magnet school in the area of phrases "Heart in your body" and "Love and science and computers. In addition, instruc- share." The teacher used this as an opportu- tion in music, physical education, student nity to reinforce Marshall's themes of sharing council, environmental education, after-school and mutual respect. tutoring, and other services are provided.

GRADE 3 . Marshall's Children and In a third grade class, the teacher, Mr. Chow, Parents remarked that he had 26 children in his class at this early point in the school year and hoped BILINGUAL ORIENTATION CENTER the class would not become larger. After discussing a story titled, "Mixed Up Mystery A visit to the Bilingual Orientation Center Smell,' the students put away their materials revealed lessons in progress for students in preparation for lunch. Mr. Chow reiterated from Ethiopia, Laos, Bosnia, and several instructions for proceeding down the hall in an South American countries. Sitting on a rug orderly manner in a corner of the classroom, students followed along in their books as the teacher PARENT APPRAISALS read simple sentences. The alphabet and the numbers from 1 to 10 were prominently Parents' support of Marshall's programs and displayed on the work tables, each of which staff was evident in a late afternoon discussion seats four students. with a parents' group. Highlights from this informal gathering included the following Originally established to serve each student parent comments: for one semester, in reality the Bilingual Orientation center often supports children Prom a Hispanic female parent: "You throughout their first year at Marshallwhich should have seen the school my son was in is often their first year in any school. It is before we came to Marshall'. Before Marshall's practice to integrate ESL children deciding on Marshall, I did quite a bit of into all school activities to build language and research and checked everybody out. It socialization skills and to avoid an "us-and- was hard getting my son enrolled, but Mr. them" mentality. Jefferson helped every step of the way.

GRADEs 2-3 "Spilrev is the class's pet guinea pig. In a class serving regular and gifted program 4 I have taken the liberty of substituting "Marshall' for students in second and third grade, the Tolman" in these quotations. SNAPSHOT #40 PAGE 5 I'm impressed about the dedication to all National Recognition children that you see here." These accolades are underscored in the April From a white male parent: "The staff here 1995 Redbook magazine feature, "America's has a passion for what they do. Marshall Best Elementary Schools.* Marshall is one of is a safe, comfortable environment where 60 schools cited for "overall excellence* in parents are always welcome. Mr. 1995, and Edward Jefferson is one of eight Jefferson and the other people here... principles profiled. "[Me always keeps his they're committed to the parent-school office door open,* says the article, "for students relationship.* who need a pep talk."

From an African-American female parent: In addition, Marshall is one of six schools "My son had a reading problem, and so the chosen as Demonstration Schools by the staff gathered around and mobilized to National*Alliance of Black School Educators support him The teachers have an open- (NABSE) in 1995. Launched to identify high- door policy here....Last year's parenting performing schools with large percentages of workshop was excellent." African-American and low-SES students, the NABSE Demonstration Schools project called Each of these speakers gave high praise to Mr. for nominations early in 1995. During a Jefferson in particular, citing his tireless review process conducted by an on-site NABSE dedication and the support they and their review team in the fall, Marshall met or children had received with academic and other exceeded all nine project standards.5 Marshall issues. representatives were honored at NABSE's national conference in Dallas, Texas in No- Seventy-eight parents returned a school vember 1995, and will receive support and climate survey sent out by Marshall staff in technical assistance from NABSE in agreed- 1995. Comprised of 20 positive statements upon areas. (e.g., "I feel that the staff cares about my child/ children,* "My child's settool is a safe and For more information about Thurgood orderly place"), the survey asked parents to Marshall Elementary School, contact Edward respond to each statement on a four-point 0. Jefferson, 2401 South Irving Street, Seattle, scale indicating whether they strongly agree, Washington 98144, (206)281-6603. agree, disagree, or strongly disagree. Mean responses fell between agree and strongly agree for all but one of the statements, and that one had to do with the extent of the responding parent's involvement in school decision making.

Project standards are in the areas of effective leadership, collaboratively developed mission statement, high expectations for students and staff, cultural excellence, relevant and effective criteria, student progress monitoring and reporting, safe and positive school climate, active parent and community participation, and civic responsibility and participation.

This publication is based on work sponsored wholly, or in part, by the Off.ce of Educational Research and Improvement (OEM), U.S. Department of Education, under Contract Number RP91002001. The content of this publication does not necessarily reflect the views of OERI, the Department, or any other agency Of the U.S. Government.

This publication is in the public domain and may be reproduced and disseminated without permission. Please acknowledge NWREL as the developer. May 1996 PAGE6 SNAPSHOT #40 /o3