PROPOSAL FOR FIELD BASE PROJECTJoe D. Marlow

PROJECT

I propose to lead the implementation of the Achievement First! district-wide reform initiative at Paseo Academy. After discussions with my principal we feel this is the best use of my time as a school administrator completing the assignment for this class. In fact, I have had responsibility for the reform at Paseo since the spring of last year, primarily through my responsibility as master scheduler for the school. At the beginning of this new school year the reform was formally place under my portfolio of responsibilities.

At Paseo Academy the reform initiative has three components:1. The installation of Talent Development courses in reading and math for freshmen and

possible future implementation for sophomores.2. The review of Paseo’s status as the district’s fine and performing arts high school

with the intent of developing Paseo into a first-class arts school in league with the finest public arts high schools in the United States.

3. The restructuring of Paseo into small learning communities including the creation of the Family Advocate System.

Included with my proposal is the “Draft Plan for Paseo Implementation of Achievement First!” This document was created by district administrators and consultants, and provides more detailed information regarding my proposal.

RESEARCH

Research has been conducted among schools already reformed, particularly for reading and math skills of the freshmen who have completed the Talent Development courses. Research will also be conducted among Paseo freshmen at the conclusion of the first semester of this school year.

IMPLEMENTATION

The Talent Development courses in reading and math have already been implemented. The 2004-2005 school year will be a planning year for further reform components. Integral to continued implementation are improved instruction and the evolving of the Paseo staff into a professional learning community.

ASSESSMENT

Freshmen, as stated previously, will be tested at the end of second semester on their reading and math skills. Other assessments will be used as needed.

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Section I

Achievement First is the reform initiative by the Kansas City Missouri School District

(KCMSD) to raise test scores, increase the graduation rate, and lower the dropout rate

among the students in the district. This reform initiative is a fusion of two major

components- First Things First and Talent Development.

First Things First is the reform effort of the Kansas City Kansas Public Schools. In

partnership with the Institute for Research and Reform in Education (IRRE) and with

support from the Kauffman Foundation, the district has created a reform framework with

the following objectives:

Create and strengthen small learning communities

Provide every student family with an effective advocate

Get all teachers focused on actively engaging all students in rigorous learning

activities with payoff on high stakes assessments

Integrate the above three strategies into a data-driven, coherent, and sustainable

approach to improving student achievement and commitment

Build the system leadership capacities needed to accomplish the first four objectives

In adopting First Things First, the KCMSD also integrated Talent Development into the

reform initiative. Talent Development is a comprehensive reform model created in 1994

by Johns Hopkins University and Patterson High School in Baltimore, Maryland. It is

designed for large high schools with serious problems with student attendance, discipline,

achievement, and dropouts. The KCMSD chose to focus on Talent Development’s unique

curricular options.

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These curricular options are in English and mathematics. They occur during the first

semester of each school year and are an accelerated “double dose.” That is, students

attend these courses every day in a block schedule format rather than every other day.

During the second semester students attend “regular” English or math classes. The

curricular options are:

Freshman Seminar: A course offered for ninth graders focusing on note-taking, time

management, study skills, and social and human relations. Students engage in long-

range projects, cooperative learning activities, and reflective journal writing.

Strategic Reading: An intensive accelerated course designed for incoming ninth

graders who are reading below grade level; focuses on developing basic skills and

strategies by building students’ reading comprehension and vocabulary recognition.

Reading and Writing in Your Career: An accelerated course which prepares tenth

graders for the required English course by focusing on the themes of career

exploration and setting life goals.

College Prep Reading and Writing: An accelerated course for eleventh graders still

below grade level or who desire the skills they will need to be successful in college

and career as well as required English courses and state assessments.

Transition to Advanced Mathematics: A course designed for ninth graders who are

below grade level in mathematics to prepare them for algebra.

Geometry Foundations: Assists tenth graders with the definitions, theorems, and

spatial thinking for success in geometry as well as a review of basic algebra skills.

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Algebra 11 Foundations: Prepares eleventh graders to succeed in Algebra 11 and

other advanced mathematics courses. This course focuses on the connections between

numeric representation, graphic representation, and algebraic notation.

Paseo Academy is moving towards reform through the three components of Achievement

First as previously described. However, for the purposes and limitations of this project, I

will focus entirely on Talent Development. Specifically, I will analyze the test scores of

the freshman students for the 2004-2005 school year before and after they have taken

Strategic Reading or English 9, and Transition to Advanced Math or Algebra I. My

analysis will have three parts:

Part I: Reading

Do students who initially scored below grade level on their reading test and take

Strategic Reading improve on their test scores once they complete Strategic Reading?

Do students who initially scored grade level or higher on their reading test and take

English 9 improve on their test scores once they complete English 9?

Part II: Math

Do students who initially scored below grade level on their math test and take

Transition to Advanced Math improve on their test scores once they complete

Transition to Advanced Math?

Do students who initially scored grade level or higher on their math test and take

Algebra I improve on their test scores once they complete Algebra I?

Part III: Arts

Do students who are arts talented (as identified by having passed an arts audition to

enter Paseo Academy) demonstrate higher academic progress as determined by their

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reading and math test scores than freshman students who are attending the four

comprehensive high schools with Talent Development in the Kansas City Missouri

School District.

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Section II

The literature related to this project is general and mostly advocacy and anecdotal. There

are some statistical analyses but they must be interpreted with caution because there are

not enough samples (Kemple and Herlihy, Schneider). There are two additional

limitations to the literature- 1) the definition of small varies throughout the literature and

2) the evidence on the mechanisms of creating smaller schools within large schools is not

as extensive as school, size (Schneider). Nevertheless, the literature is worth studying

(Schneider) and may be reviewed through two lens- general reform with small schools

and small learning communities, and .specific reform with First Things First and Talent

Development.

Our nation has had a tradition of small schools. The one-room schoolhouse is part of our

national lore. (On a personal note my mother graduated from a stand-alone K-8 building

that I believe still operates.) But the post-World War II pressures of competition with the

Soviet Union, together with the baby boom and the population shift from the cities to the

suburbs, pressured educators to consolidate small isolated school districts and create

larger high schools which would offer students more curricular choices. The intellectual

framework for the shift to larger schools was provided by James Bryant Conant in The

American High School Today, published in 1959 (Schneider).

But even Conant envisioned large high schools as having graduating classes of only 100

students. Now some high schools have enrollment of four thousand students. (On another

personal note my daughter attended a private liberal arts college smaller than the large

suburban one from which she graduated with over 700 other students.) In our day

Conant’s vision would be what we call “small.” (Cushman, 12) Thus our modern-day

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high schools are seen as factories or shopping malls depending upon one’s interpretation

of largeness.

Small schools, particularly smaller middle and high schools, are seen as a remedy for the

large impersonal nature of today’s schools. Many educators advocate that small schools

are more productive and effective than the large ones in terms of learning and

relationships (Copland and Boatright, 763 and Cushman, 13). Specifically, Cushman cites

Cotton’s research on the following advantages of small schools:

Academic achievement in small schools is equal to, or even greater than, larger

schools

Student attitudes are more positive

Student social behavior is more positive

Levels of extracurricular participation is higher

Student attendance is better

Smaller drop-out percentage

Greater sense of belonging

Relationships among students, teachers, and administrators are more positive

College admissions is comparable

Teacher attitudes are more positive

Students from racial and ethnic minority groups do better in small schools

Curricular quality is comparable

Small schools are not necessarily more expensive to operate

In addition, Cushman (15) cites Cotton on why students perform better in small schools:

Higher participation of students needed for school offices, teams, clubs, etc.

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Adults and students know one another and care for one another better

Higher rate of parental involvement

Generally smaller classes and more flexible scheduling with more individualized,

experiential, and relevant learning

Better overall instructional strategies- team teaching, integrated curriculum, multi-age

groupings, cooperative learning, and performance assessments

Large comprehensive high schools can achieve the small school effect by being

reorganized into small learning communities. These small learning communities are

characterized by all or most of the following traits (Cushman, 14):

Heterogeneous- includes all students

Multi-year- lasting longer than one school year

Unified- built around one theme or instructional approach

Instructional- strategies and standards for students to succeed

Collaborative- time for teachers to plan together and grow professionally

Connected- students and teachers in one community

Empowered- authority and resources to design own program

Accountable- responsible for student achievement

Small- fewer than 400 students

School leaders in 41 states have created small schools or schools with small learning

communities. Some school districts, like Sacramento, California, have converted to all

small high schools. Much of the funding for this shift in school size is coming from the

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (Associated Press).

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To create a small school requires five steps (Ancess, 1):

1. a vision

2. the organizational structures and the perseverance to implement the vision

3. a committed constituency of staff, students, and parents

4. a sophisticated understanding of the local education bureaucracy and the know-how

to negotiate it

5. the financial resources and support

In regards to specific reform, First Things First was initiated by The Institute for

Research and Reform in Education for the Kansas City Kansas Public Schools. After two

years of district-wide implementation Levin reports the following results:

Graduation rates grew from 40-47 percent to 70 percent.

The size of the sophomore class relative to the size of the freshman class increased

from about 65 percent to 90 percent.

Student attendance increased as high as 10 to 15 percent in some schools.

Percentage of students suspended dropped (no figures given).

Proportion of students reading at grade level increased (no figures given).

Gaps between state averages and district scores narrowed in reading and math tests

(no figures given).

Family participation in student conferences increased over 100 percent in some small

learning communities.

Kemple and Herlihy report two key impact findings for Talent Development:

For first-time freshmen, Talent Development produced substantial gains in academic

course credits and promotion rates and modest improvements in attendance.

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For the first three schools to implement Talent Development improvements were

sustained into the second and third years.

For the 2003-2004 school year in KCMSD Talent Development forwarded to me its

program review. It is summarized as follows:

Passing Rates

N Enrolled N Passing % PassingFreshman Seminar 964 786 81.5Strategic Reading 795 595 74.8Transitional Math 858 607 70.7

Test Gains

GMRT CTBSPretest GE Range 2.3-13.0 1.3-12.9N Tested 437 508N /% gained at least 5 months 218/49.9 366/72.0N/% gained at least 1 year 128/29.3 290/57.1N/% gained at least 1.5 years 61/14.0 219/43.1Average Pretest GE 5.66 5.602

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Section III

All eighth grade students in KCMSD, with the exception of those students at Lincoln

College Preparatory Academy, are given the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Test (GMRT)

and the math assessment of the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills (CTBS). Both are

norm-referenced tests used by Talent Development nation-wide in its assessments.

The test scores for these students were forwarded to me at Paseo Academy where I serve

as the master scheduler as part of my administrative responsibilities. As students

successfully auditioned to enter Paseo Academy I notated their test scores on the master

lists submitted to me by Talent Development.

However, some students missed the middle school testing window and some students

transferred to KCMSD from other districts. Some of these new freshmen successfully

auditioned to enter Paseo Academy. For these students I worked with Talent

Development to schedule two make-up testing sessions, one in late August before the

school year began and the other in late September after the school year began.

Grade level for the GMRT and the CTBS was fixed at 7.8 grade equivalency. Our intent

was to place every student as follows:

Students scoring below grade level in reading were assigned Strategic Reading for the

first semester and English 9 for the second semester. Students scoring grade level or

above in reading were assigned English 9 first semester and English Composition

second semester. For the first semester we scheduled five classes of Strategic Reading

and one class of English 9. For the second semester we scheduled five classes of

English 9 and one class of English Composition.

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Students scoring below grade level in math were assigned Transition to Advanced

Math for the first semester and Algebra I for second semester. Students scoring grade

level or above in math were assigned Algebra I for the first semester and Geometry

for the second semester. Originally, for the first semester we scheduled five classes of

Transition to Advanced Math and one class of Algebra I. However, in mid-semester

we created an additional Algebra I class and eliminated one of the Transition to

Advanced Math classes. For the second semester, our new schedule has four Algebra

I classes and two Geometry classes for freshmen.

The mechanics of how these Talent Development classes operate is as follows:

Classes are on a block schedule as is Paseo Academy as a whole. However, these

classes meet every day for the semester on a “compressed” schedule allowing a year’s

academic progress in one semester (yielding one credit for the students). The other

classes at Paseo Academy meet every other day with the exception of Dance Major

and Creative Writing classes which meet every day but for the entire year (yielding

two credits for the students).

Strategic Reading and Transition to Advanced Math classes are considered “required

electives” and do not count toward the state requirements for high school graduates to

have four credits in English and three credits in math. However, those freshmen

directly entering English 9 and/or Algebra I will have the opportunity to complete

two state-required credits in those core areas.

All students at Paseo Academy, with the exception of some special education

students, are required to have two arts credits every year. Freshmen are placed in arts

classes at the time of audition. Therefore, some freshmen could not be placed in

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English 9 and/or Algebra I due to their arts schedule despite the fact they scored

grade level or above in reading and/or math. (Their progress in reading and math will

still be noted for the purposes of this project.)

Because of the academic nature of Lincoln College Preparatory Academy, entering

freshmen transferring from that school were not given the GMRT and CTBS. We

placed those students in English 9 and Algebra I unless they were prevented by their

arts classes or their parents asked that they be placed in Strategic Reading and/or

Transition to Advanced Math. (Their progress cannot be determined for the purposes

of this project and will not be included.)

Freshman students at Paseo Academy were not required to take Freshman Seminar as

are the freshman students at the four comprehensive high schools.

PRE-TEST RESULTS

GMRT: Number taking: 94 Number below 7.8: 64 Number 7.8 or >: 30

CTBS: Number taking: 95 Number below 7.8: 53 Number 7.8 or >: 42

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Section IV

At the end of the first semester of this school year the GMRT and CTBS were again

administered to the freshman students. Results are as follows on the next two pages:

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GMRT

ALL CENTRAL NORTHEAST PASEO SOUTHEAST VAN HORNPrestest GE Range 3.0-13.0 3.0-12.2 3.2-13.0 4.1-13.0 3.3-9.8 4.2-10.0N Tested 578 171 143 65 98 101N/% any gains 342/59.2 101/59.1 78/54.5 48/73.8 58/59.2 57/56.4N/% gained at least 5 months 263/45.5 77/45.0 63/44.1 39/60.0 41/41.8 43/42.6N/% gained at least 1 year 156/27.0 50/29.2 34/23.8 24/36.9 19/19.4 29/28.7N/% gained at least 1.5 years 93/16.1 30/17.5 22/15.4 8/12.3 10/10.2 23/22.8Average Pretest GE 5.823 5.7645 5.5565 6.405 5.558 6.327Average Gain in GE 0.37 0.351 0.354 0.628 0.167 0.452

GMRT(outliers removed)

ALL CENTRAL NORTHEAST PASEO SOUTHEAST VAN HORNPrestest GE Range 3.0-13.0 3.0-8.7 3.2-13.0 4.1-13.0 3.3-9.2 4.2-8.9N Tested 410 116 103 52 79 60N/% any gains 281/68.5 80/69.0 64/62.1 41/78.8 56/70.9 40/66.7N/% gained at least 5 months 202/49.3 56/48.3 49/47.6 32/61.5 39/49.4 26/43.3N/% gained at least 1 year 95/23.2 29/25.0 20/19.4 17/32.7 17/21.5 12/20.0N/% gained at least 1.5 years 32/7.8 9/7.8 8/7.8 1/1.9 8/10.1 6/10.0Average Pretest GE 5.705 5.532 5.545 6.3145 5.3855 6.232Average Gain in GE 0.445 0.448 0.38 0.577 0.465 0.41

GE= Grade Equivalency Outliers= Scores that are on the fringes of the score range and therefore probably not accurate. For Talent Development purposes any loss of more than 6 months or gain of more than 2 years is considered an outlier because it is not realistic that a student would gain or lose more than this in four months.

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CTBS

ALL CENTRAL NORTHEAST PASEO SOUTHEAST VAN HORNPretest GE Range 1.3-13.0 1.3-13.0 1.3-10.8 1.3-10.1 1.3-85 1.3-10.8N Tested 495 155 139 63 28 110N/% any gains 333/67.3 94/60.6 95/68.3 52/82.5 19/67.9 73/66.4N/% gained at least 5 months 288/58.2 81/52.3 87/62.6 43/68.3 17/60.7 60/54.5N/% gained at least 1 year 263/53.1 73/47.1 78/56.1 41/65.1 15/53.6 56/50.9N/% gained at least 1.5 years 205/41.4 59.38.1 62/44.6 28/44.4 13/46.4 43/39.1Average Pretest GE 5.8 6.2 5.1 6.1 5.6 6.3Average Gain in GE 1.039 0.507 1.437 1.508 1.168 0.986

CTBS(outliers removed)

ALL CENTRAL NORTHEAST PASEO SOUTHEAST VAN HORNPretest GE Range 1.3-13.0 1.3-13.0 1.3-10.8 3.4-10.1 1.3-8.5 3.4-10.8N Tested 221 71 58 35 12 45N/% any gains 168/76.0 52.73.2 43/74.1 29/82.9 10/83.3 34/75.6N/% gained at least 5 months 123/55.7 39/54.9 35/60.3 20/57.1 8/66.7 21/46.7N/% gained at least 1 year 98/44.3 31/43.7 26/44.8 18/51.4 6/50.0 17/37.8N/% gained at least 1.5 years 40/18.1 17/23.9 10/17.2 5/14.3 4/33.3 4/8.9Average Pretest GE 6.3 6.6 5.9 6.1 5.5 6.9Average Gain in GE 0.705 0.717 0.697 0.789 0.892 0.582

GE= Grade Equivalency Outliers= Scores that are on the fringes of the score range and therefore probably not accurate. For Talent Development purposes any loss of more than 6 months or gain of more than 2 years is considered an outlier because it is not realistic that a student would gain or lose more than this in four months.

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Summary of results for Paseo Academy:

Strategic Reading: 74 percent of students enrolled increased their skill level; 37

percent made gains of 1 year or more. 86 percent of the students enrolled passed.

These figures exceeded the average and each one of the other reform high schools.

(Students enrolled in English 9 not counted in results.)

Transition to Advanced Math: 83 percent of students enrolled increased their skill

level; 65 percent made gains of 1 year or more. 72 percent of the students enrolled

passed. These figures exceeded the average of the other reform high schools but were

exceeded by the passing rates of three of the four reform high schools. (Students

enrolled in Algebra I not counted in results.)

The research from Talent Development verifies analysis from previous testing

(primarily MAP and SAT-9) that Paseo students generally are stronger in

communication arts (reading and grammar) than other district high school students

because of the inherent nature of the fine and performing arts in communicating

words, ideas, and concepts from the performers to the audience. However, in

mathematics, Paseo students are at the same general level as other district high school

students. Despite the increase in skill level brought about by Talent Development,

there is apparently no inherent advantage of the fine and performing arts for Paseo

students.

Talent Development in its first year at Paseo Academy has been successful in assisting

students tested below grade level in reading and mathematics to increase their skill levels.

But much work is unfinished. Therefore, Talent Development courses in reading/writing

and geometry will be in place for sophomores next year in addition to the freshman

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courses. Also, the principal has decided to install a “double dose” of English courses for

juniors next to help prepare them for the MAP Communication Arts test. Given time, I

feel the Talent Development courses will help increasingly larger numbers of KCMSD

students to better skilled in reading, writing, and mathematics in preparation for college

and/or their chosen careers.

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References

Ancess, Jacqueline. “Urban Dreamcatchers: Launching and Leading New Small

Schools,” The National Center for Restructuring Education, Schools, and

Teaching, Teachers College, Columbia University, 1997.

Associated Press. “High Schools Try a Scaled-Down Approach,” The New York Times,

October 11, 2004.

Connell, James P. “Getting Off the Dime: First Steps Toward Implementing First Things

First,” Institute for Research and Reform in Education, December 2002.

Copland, Michael A. and Elizabeth E. Boatright. “Leading Small: Eight Lessons for

Leaders in Transforming Large Comprehensive High Schools,” Phi Delta

Kappan 85:10 (June 2004): 762-769.

Corbett, H. Dickson and Bruce L. Wilson. Sustaining Reform: Students’ Appraisals of

The Second Year in Talent Development High Schools in Philadelphia, 2000-

2001. Philadelphia: Philadelphia Education Fund, 2001.

Cotton, Kathleen. “New Small Learning Communities: Findings from Recent

Literature,” Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, December 2001.

_____. “School Size, School Climate, and Student Performance,” Northwest Regional

Educational Laboratory, May 1996.

Cushman, Kathleen. “Why Small Schools are Essential,” Horace (13:3), January 1997,

11-16.

Epstein, Kitty Kelly. “Miracle School: A Child of the Civil Rights Movement,” Phi Delta

Kappan 85:10 (June 2004): 773-776.

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IRRE. “First Things First: A Framework for Successful School Reform (4th ed.),”

Institute for Research and Reform in Education, January 2003.

_____. “First Things First’s Approach to Improving Instruction,” Institute for Research

and Refrom in Education, October 2001.

Kemple, James J. and Corrine M. Herlihy. “The Talent Development High School

Model: Context, Components, and Initial Impacts on Ninth-Grade Students’

Engagement and Performance,” MDRC (formerly known as the Manpower

Demonstration Research Corporation), June 2004.

Levin, Laurie. “First Things First: An Introduction,” Institute for Research and Reform in

Education, 2000.

Myatt, Larry. “Fulfilling the Promise of Small High Schools,” Phi Delta Kappan

85:10 (June 2004): 770-772.

Philadelphia Education Trust. “Year Three of the Talent Development High School

Initiative in Philadelphia: Results from Five Schools, 2001-2002,” Philadelphia

Education Trust, n.d.

Schneider, Mark. “Do School Facilities Affect Academic Outcomes?” National

Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities, November 2002.

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