A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

HOPE FOR URBAN EDUCATION
A Study of Nine High-Performing, High-Poverty,
Urban Elementary Schools

There is good news for American public education based on the successes of some schools in urban districts that serve families living in poverty. Even though there are far too many well-documented stories of intellectually vapid schools that perpetuate cycles of poverty and further limit the life choices of children, there are some urban schools that are giving new life to their communities and transforming the futures of the children they serve. This report is about nine successful schools: urban elementary schools that served children of color in poor communities and achieved impressive academic results. These schools have, in fact, attained higher levels of achievement than most schools in their states or most schools in the nation. They have achieved results in reading and mathematics beyond those achieved by students in some affluent suburban schools.

This report complements and extends the body of literature that has focused on the study of effective schools (Taylor, 1990) and more recent research on the characteristics of high-performing, high-poverty schools (Reyes, Scribner, and Scribner, 1999; Lein, Johnson, and Ragland, 1996, among others). In particular, this report not only describes the characteristics of these schools but also describes how these schools managed to transform themselves. Instead of focusing on schools that merely did better than other high-poverty schools, this study examined high-poverty schools that performed better than the average for all schools in their states. Instead of focusing on schools in one state or region or on schools serving one ethnic population, this study included schools from different parts of the country and schools that served diverse populations. In addition to reporting descriptions of the current state of these schools, this study attempted to tell the story of the change process so that others might gain a deeper understanding of how a school begins, maintains, and sustains the journey toward excellence for all students.

All nine of the schools used federal Title I dollars to create Title I schoolwide programs. This means they were allowed to pool all of their resources to improve achievement throughout the entire school, instead of targeting federal resources to only those children who met eligibility criteria based on educational need. These schools are a powerful affirmation of the power of Title I to support comprehensive school improvement efforts. In these schools, many of the most important change efforts were enhanced through the use of federal education resources. On the other hand, although Title I supported the change efforts, Title I was not the catalyst of the change effort. The true catalyst was the strong desire of educators to ensure the academic success of the children they served.

[Executive Summary]

[Background]