Charting Reform in Chicago: the Students Speak a Report Sponsored by the Consortium on Chicago School Research
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Charting Reform in Chicago: The Students Speak A Report Sponsored by the Consortium on Chicago School Research July 1996 Penny Bender Sebring, Consortium on Chicago School Research Anthony S. Bryk, University of Chicago, Center for School Improvement Melissa Roderick, University of Chicago, School of Social Service Administration Eric Camburn, Consortium on Chicago School Research Stuart Luppescu, Consortium on Chicago School Research Yeow Meng Thum, Consortium on Chicago School Research BetsAnn Smith, Consortium on Chicago School Research Joseph Kahne, University of Illinois at Chicago The data used to prepare this report and its companion volume, Charting Reform: Chicago Teachers Take Stock, are available on a compact disc. The CD also contains the public-release data sets from the Consortium's first two surveys: Charting Reform: The Teacher's Turn (1991) and Charting Reform: The Principal's Perspective (1992). Included are SAS programs that read the data; however, the data are in ASCII format and can be read by any statistical package. Anyone interested in obtaining this CD should contact the Consortium. Acknowledgments We appreciate the insight and efforts of the following work and advisory groups during the questionnaire development and the analysis stage: A study of this scope requires the talents and skills of many different individuals, and we wish to thank and acknowledge the people who contributed significantly to the success of this Student Survey Work Group project. Yeow Meng Thum organized and maintained Penny Bender Sebring, Chair multiple, large data files, and he and Smart Luppescu Cynthia Gonzalez, Chicago Public Schools conducted a wealth of statistical analyses. Stuart Luppescu Mary Daly Lewis, Roosevelt University developed the scales that frame the report. BetsAnn Smith Rev. Jerry W. McNeely, formerly at the Chicago Urban League wrote case descriptions of Esperanza Elementary School and William K. Rice, Chicago Public Schools Marsalis High School. Joseph Kahne, University of Illinois at Melissa Roderick, University of Chicago Chicago, contributed the account of Manley High School. Judith Stein, Roosevelt University Roger P. Weissberg, University of Illinois at Chicago The Chicago Public Schools' Department of Research, David Kerbow, staff to the work group Analysis and Assessment provided considerable support in the distribution and collection of thousands of surveys, Student Advisory Group optical scanning, and data retrieval. Special thanks go to Maisha Crawford, Kenwood Academy William Rice, Charles Collins, William Galante, and John Charles Fitzpatrick, Kenwood Academy Delmonte. In addition, thanks to Sandra Storey and Landis Fryer, Kenwood Academy Nickolaus Bezruczko for providing data and support to Mark NeCamp, Kenwood Academy conduct further analyses. Dionne Nickerson, Kenwood Academy Everest Ong, Kenwood Academy We also would like to thank Professor Richard Block, Brad Raymond, Hyde Park Academy Loyola University, and the Chicago Alternative Policing Sherra Taylor, Hyde Park Academy Strategy Program, Chicago Police Department, for furnish- Chanel Wheeler, Hyde Park Academy ing data on neighborhood crime rates which contributed Charmaine Williams, Kenwood Academy significantly to understanding students' responses regarding Shana Young, Kenwood Academy school safety. At the Consortium, Eric Camburn and Jami Camburn And, finally, we wish to thank the 39,000 Chicago students coordinated survey administration. Benjamin Wright who completed questionnaires during spring 1994. (University of Chicago) offered valuable guidance on construction of the scales. Diane King carried out scrupu- lous quality control checks on statistical results. Kay Kersch Kirkpatrick organized publicity for the surveys and provided extensive editorial support for this publication. Sandra Jennings took painstaking care in generating bar graphs and processing numerous drafts of the report. Others who assisted in various ways include Patricia Jones Funding for this study was provided by The John D. and and Jaekyung Lee. Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, The Spencer Founda- tion, The Joyce Foundation, and the Illinois State Board of The photogapher is John Booz. Education. This report reflects the interpretations of the authors. Although the Consortium Steering Committee provided technical advice and reviewed an earlier version of the report, no formal endorsement by these individuals, their organizations or the full Consortium should be assumed. Background his report seeks to give voice makers, and the public regarding the Chicago Teachers Take Stock, which to students regarding their degree to which schools across the was released in 1995.' This second Tschool experiences-how city have begun to adopt practices report considers the fourth essential they describe their teachers and that are central to Chicago's frame- support: a student-centered learning peers, their classes, and their own work for school improvement-the climate. This encompasses school efforts. Our intent in offering this five essential supports for student safety and order, teachers' personal analysis is to convey the state of af- learning. Based on broad research on concerns about students, and their fairs in the Chicago Public Schools urban school improvement, this expectations for serious academic as students see them. Understanding framework posits that improvements work. The report also examines stu- this "student sense" is important for in student learning require effective dent engagement and effort, with a decision makers, both in local school school leadership, parental involve- particular focus on disengagement communities and throughout the ment, professional development and and academic failure in high schools. system. Unless school improvement collaboration among teachers, a cli- Finally, we synthesize what we have efforts truly touch students' minds mate focused on student learning, learned about four of the five essen- and hearts and become manifest in and quality instructional programs.' tial supports-school leadership, pa- their behavior and attitudes, the ul- The first three essential supports rental involvement, professional timate aims of school reform will go were examined in Charting Reform: development and collaboration, and unmet. We focus on the upper elementary and early high school years, with par- ticular attention to the transition to high school. As they reach high school, large percentages of students confront serious academic difficul- ties, begin to disengage from school, fail many of their courses, and ulti- mately drop out of school. Clearly, an understanding of these problems is needed before effective policies and practices can be designed to begin to reverse this disastrous trend. SECOND IN A SERIES This is the second report in a series. The series provides information to school leaders, educators, policy The Consortium on Chicago School Research 1 student-centered learning climate- will offer the most comprehensive as- included. In addition, we drew on as they relate to schools with the sessment ever assembled of the efforts tenth graders' transcript records to lowest academic performance in the of a major urban center to reform its examine their course experiences. city. public schools. Comparing across information col- A third report, forthcoming later lected through these different re- this year, will focus on the last and SOURCES OF INFORMATION search methods permits us to develop most significant of the essential sup- Evidence for this report is taken from a more comprehensive understand- ports, a quality instructional program. surveys of sixth-, eighth-, and tenth- ing of students' experiences. The Consortium will share results of grade students which occurred dur- its three-year study of teaching and ing spring 1994. Since students' views STUDENTS' PERCEPTIONS learning in Chicago's schools. Based on some matters deviate from those The report begins with general stu- on extensive interviews, survey re- offered by teachers in our previous dent views about their experiences in sults, and more than 1,000 classroom report, and both of these differ some- the Chicago Public Schools. Consis- observations, this study will examine what from those of "outside re- tent with our previous reports, these instructional practices and the learn- searchers" looking at school systemwide average responses pro- ing opportunities afforded to stu- activities, this report also draws on vide a context for introducing the dents. Another study detailing trends interviews with students and re- main ideas that frame the report and in student achievement over the last searchers' observations. Three short the basis for the more detailed analy- nine years also will be released this case studies of schools and six narra- ses that follow. year. Taken together, this set of reports tives about individual students are It is important to remember that How the Surveys Were Developed and Administered In 1994, as Chicago completed the fifth year under school reform, the Consortium launched its third and fourth surveys in the Charting Reform series. Teachers and students in 266 elementary and 50 high schools took part. In all, 39,000 students completed surveys, along with 6,200 elementary school teachers and 2,600 high school teacher^.^ Work on these surveys began in fall 1993, as work groups were assembled to identify key ideas for the study and procedures for data collection. These groups involved researchers from local universities, independent organiza-