Hope for Urban Education: A Study of Nine High-Performing High-Poverty Urban Elementary Schools Add to Favorites Add Comment Author: Charles A. Dana Center, The University of Texas at Austin Publication Date: 1999 Full text available online at: http://www.ed.gov/pubs/urbanhope/ Description (written by WestEd) This 21-page report identifies the characteristics of nine elementary schools in seven states that changed themselves and attained higher levels of achievement than most schools in their states or most schools in the nation in reading and mathematics. All are urban schools with high concentrations of students from low-income backgrounds, some as high as 80 percent. Differences among the schools included the following: Student populations ranged from 283 to 1,171. Six schools had predominantly African American students, one school had a mostly Latino population, and at another, Asian Americans predominated. Only two of the schools used nationally known comprehensive school reform models (Accelerated Schools and Success For All). Although none were high-performing five years ago, some made dramatic improvements in three or four years, while others took five years or longer. In some cases, the district played a major role in the school's improvement efforts; in other cases, the district played a modest role. A few schools made dramatic improvements without great staff turnover, while others had substantial turnover during the reform process. Similarities across all schools were: School leaders identified and pursued an important, visible, yet attainable first goal. They focused on the attainment of this first goal, achieved success, and then used their success to move toward more ambitious goals. School leaders redirected time and energy spent on adult conflicts toward unity of effort to help students learn. School leaders created a collective sense of responsibility for school improvement. Educators fostered in students a sense of responsibility for appropriate behavior, and they created an environment in which students were likely to behave well. Discipline problems became rare. The quantity and quality of time spent on instructional leadership activities increased. Principals spent more time helping teachers with instructional issues and they placed other educators in positions of instructional leadership. School leaders constantly challenged teachers and students to higher levels of academic attainment. They used data to identify, acknowledge, and celebrate strengths and to focus attention and resources on areas of need. Educators aligned instruction to the standards and assessments required by the state or the school district. School leaders made sure that teachers had adequate materials, equipment, and professional development. School leaders created opportunities for teachers to work, plan, and learn together around instructional issues. Time was designated to ensure collaboration. Educators made efforts to win the confidence and respect of parents, primarily by improving their children's achievement. Then educators built strong partnerships with parents in support of student achievement. School leaders created additional time for instruction within and beyond the regular school day. Educators persisted through difficulties, setbacks, and failures. Recommendations from the findings across the schools are: Build the capacity of principals to provide instructional leadership and channel resources to schools for these activities. Create clear, measurable, and rigorous school accountability with support, time for collaboration, and flexibility at the school level. Bring cohesion among state and federal legislation, policies and programs for comprehensive school reform. Provide resources for more time for instruction outside the school day. Assist schools to build parent partnerships and research how districts can better support the improvement of teaching and learning in high-poverty schools. Find all Resources by Topic Would you like to see all of SchoolsMovingUp's offerings by topic? Go to our Topics section to see Webinars, Tips to Go, Schools on the Move, Districts on the Move and more organized by topic. From WestEd.org Closing the Gap: Meeting the Achievement Challenge in California Show 5: Vanguard Learning Center Through this six-part video series, visit six different California schools that are making strides toward closing the achievement gap. Listen in to panel discussions as researchers and school staff members explore what each school is discovering. Suggest a Resource Submit a school improvement article or a link you think would complement our site.