Addressing the possibility of positive change in education for urban communities in their own community
Irene Cheng
February 02, 2010
Senior Research Project
Submitted in partial satisfaction of a BA in
Urban Studies and Planning,
University of California at San Diego
Abstract: The Preuss School is an ideal atmosphere for students of urban communities, but the commute to and from the school can take from these students up to three hours of their time. Focusing on The Preuss School and Gompers Charter Middle School, this study features data on the positive characteristics that both schools share, and researches whether they can be replicated locally and publicly. Interviews with teachers and alumni provide the bulk of the research material. This research provides concrete evidence that within many low-income and single parent households, scholarship faces a great deal of competition in the family’s list of priorities. This comprises the single greatest challenge to a student’s success at Gompers Charter School. Methods employed at Preuss, especially devoting extra time to students and enabling household education, show promise in local application.
Key Terms: disenfranchised low-income students, higher education, urban education, urban communities, community mobilization

Cheng | 2
Introduction
The Preuss School
The Preuss School UCSD is a charter institution that caters to students between sixth and twelfth grade. It was established in 1999 on the school’s campus. The school uses an extensive college preparatory curriculum to educate disenfranchised, low-income students. Through the series of comprehensive techniques, the school is able to further evaluate and research how these students can pursue success. With its huge array of resources they are able to set up outreach programs through the recruitment of UCSD students. Not only does the school focus on the students, but the teachers as well, finding ways to further improve their curriculum to suit the students. The Preuss School has been running for almost a decade now and there is no doubt that it is a success. Now the question is: is it plausible to recreate the positive aspects of Preuss into public schools?
Studies have shown that the students in low-income communities desperately need to fill in the achievement gap. Students must dedicate more time into school in order for their scores to be comparable to students of middle or upper-middle class communities. The Preuss School acknowledges these needs and addresses them by providing school days that begin at 8:55am and end at 4pm. In addition to the extra hour of school, there are 18 extra school days per academic year, compared to the average public school. The school also provides hour long after school tutoring sessions, as well as the Saturday Enrichment Academy. According to The Preuss School
UCSD Insight Newsletter, the Saturday Enrichment entails “opportunities for all Preuss students to receive individual and small group tutoring, reinforce basic skills, and complete homework.”
Through extra effort contributed by teachers, students and parents, the school has seen 94% of its seniors graduate and get accepted into four-year institutions.

Cheng | 3
Though Preuss has achieved a great deal, the question of location must be examined.
Many of these students are being bused across the city with a total commute time of three hours.
That is three hours lost, in addition to their longer school hours and extra tutoring classes. The
University of California system require well-rounded students; these students seem to represent what they have often turned away, students with purely academics. Eleven-hour days, five days a week, with Saturday courses. These students are still children. Yes, this is for their future but is there no better alternative? Can they not achieve the same success closer to home?
Gompers Charter Middle School
Gompers Charter Middle School answers the call of an establishment closer to home.
This school works in collaboration with the UCSD Center for Research on Educational Equity,
Access and Teaching Excellence (CREATE) organization. CREATE, “ improves the opportunity that low income students of color to attend colleges and universities by assisting public schools in the San Diego California adapt the principles developed at the highly successful
Preuss School on the UCSD campus to their local circumstances” (Mehan 1). Though it is still uncertain how successful Gompers has been with the lack of test score evidence, the level of success will be seen in the 2010 census.
The UCSD Solution to Underrepresentation of Minority Students in the UC System
Many of the schools and its students in Southeastern San Diego are labeled with the title disenfranchised and low-income. In the realm of urban education, the pursuit of higher education is not stressed enough. The Preuss School UCSD and Gompers Charter Middle School, both charter schools and creations from UCSD, seem to combat this issue. By observing the positive and negative attributes, understanding the forces behind location and its effect on the learning environment, and finding ways for replication, it can pave the way to change in the public realm.

Cheng | 4
This will give way to understanding how to implement better education in the public school arena.
Literature Review
It is important to know who Cecil Lytle is and his contribution to the establishment of
Preuss. He was a professor of music at UCSD, later the Provost of Thurgood Marshall College, and eventually the chair of the Board of Directors at Preuss School UCSD. Lytle clearly illustrated the struggle of establishing Preuss; the same struggles that will most likely be seen if there is to be a recreation of Preuss in urban communities. SDUSD was their opposition: “The dreary hallways of the San Diego Unified School District’s building on Normal Street belied an even drearier sloth, devoted to making sure that nothing new ever happened” (Lytle 2008, 102).
The establishment of charter schools has always suffered great opposition because of an innate fear of charter schools taking away public school funding. “The role of public schools as large employers affects the politics of school reform in all large school districts” (Henic 1999, 118).
The establishment of Preuss would also raise the bar for the rest of the district. This resource provides the inside look to how Preuss was created.
J. Cesar Morales’ book is the essence of this research. Though it is directed towards
Latino student’s underachievement, it presents information that this research will reexamine.
This also proves that the research methods proposed are executable. In an effort to provide a certain level of empathetic reasoning, Morales actually accompanies a 12 th
grader through his commute. It lays out the process in which a student must undergo in order to be admitted into
Preuss. It explains how Preuss goes the distance for these students as well as further explain the theories entangled with minority underachievement. This book sets up the foundations for understanding how Preuss works and what it means to minority students. “She firmly believes

Cheng | 5 that attending Preuss has allowed her to dislodge herself from the limited possibilities commonly experienced by boys and girls her age living in her neighborhood” (Morales 2005, 64). It gives them the confidence to pursue higher education. This is a primary resource that helps fill in the voices of the students.
Gentry et al.’s “Urban Education” presents an actual image of the urban community and its effects on its schools; it will illuminate the flaws and progressiveness that must be addressed.
Regarding urban education, Gentry et al. state:
It focuses upon the failures by urban schools to provide quality education for poor and minority children. It aims to find workable solutions, which can provide the hope factor for every child in public school (Gentry et al. 1972, 1).
It addresses the myths and facts about why urban schooling is failing. The problem is the community and their sense of hopelessness. If community morale is not raised, there is no chance of seeing changes. This book demonstrates the struggle of minority students to succeed by pointing out issues such as racism, poverty, and social class. Hill, Campbell, and Harvey pose the realities of reform:
Educators have given ground grudgingly on charter schools, but even here it is clear that pressure within the system unite to reimpose on charter schools the very regulations their charters were intended to rid them of. What is clear is that, disenchanted with the possibilities of genuine reform from within, people outside the education system have intensified the pressure or more radical and fundamental change (22).
The authors then layout the groundwork’s for making a dream a reality by explaining how it can get started. Through Reese’s book, “Power and the Promise of School Reform,” he poses the importance of vacation school and educational extension, as top players in school reform.
Clewell and Campbell examined a number of case studies in regards to effective schools in poor neighborhoods. The authors examined all the variables that made a good school in poor neighborhoods and compared them to those of bad schools in the same neighborhood. In order to

Cheng | 6 decide which schools were better than the other they used SAT9 test scores. The conclusion was that parental involvement and a quality teaching force contributed to the success of the more effective schools. “Teachers in highly effective schools have higher expectations for their students than do teachers in typical schools; highly effective teachers are also more likely to take responsibility for their student’s learning” (Clewell 2007, 152). These higher expectations give the students a goal to strive for and do not allow them to fall behind. It is thought that Preuss being on campus serves that same standard of high expectations.
Henic et el. addresses the politics of education and its leading actor, race as seen in “The Burden of Excellence” where Dr. Doris Alvarez was appointed founding principal of Preuss, triggering criticism from the black community. ”The Burden of
Excellence” also looks at the external actors that play a role in school reform. In order to successfully establish this Preuss-like school, the politics about charter schools and education in general must also be understood.
Research Strategy
The research strategy has changed a great deal from the proposal, to the transition plan to the final result. In the proposal there were plans to shadow a student, attend a class, interview students, but it was quickly realized that because of time constraints much of these ambitious plans would never become a reality. To receive the approval of interviewing anyone affiliated with The Preuss School cane take to as long as a month. In order to be approved, the paper’s proposal is submitted to the Education Committee. If just an interview from staff at the school suffers such scrutiny, the process to talk to underage students would prove to be an even greater hassle. In the transition plan there was still a plan to observe a class or teacher, but the sphere for

Cheng | 7 interviewees was slowly becoming smaller and smaller. The end research strategy is: the use of interviews and visiting the school campuses.
The basic framework comes from the books in the literature review. The generalization of urban education comes from the many case studies that have been done in other urban communities. It gives me only a glimpse at what is to be discovered. Since this project is about spatial relations, it is important that there is first hand experience of the campus and the environment around these schools. This research can not purely be based on what others find, so walking these campus’ and possibly just observing the students in their surroundings will allow first hand experience of how these schools are successful.
The core of this research paper will be based on the interviews. The original interviewees included; Professor Cecil Lytle, Professor Hugh Mehan, Christopher Weil, a representative for
Gompers and a Preuss alumni. Because of several different factors many of these interviews were not executed. The interviews now include Professor Hugh Mehan, Iris Do, Shelly Buono,
Danny Cung and Jay Anderson. With the changes in interviewees the method in which this paper was to be written had to undergo changes. In turn the idea of getting a better perspective from the students became less and less important. It became clear that the interviews had to be completed by people who understand the system of education and understand the struggles of urban schools. Students can only give insight to what they know and that is only their experience from school.
Hugh Mehan is a professor of Sociology and the director of CREATE. As stated above
CREATE is the organization located on the UCSD campus that helps improve academic preparation in K-12 public schools. As the director of CREATE he would serve as a huge

Cheng | 8 resource to better understanding the spaces in education. He serves as the answer to my research question.
Iris Do is a Preuss alumni who currently attends UCSD and works in the Education
Studies Department. She will provide the insight needed to understand how Preuss works from a student perspective. Since, she is an alumni there is no dealing with the hassle of getting parental permission for her interview. Danny Cung is an alumnus of UCSD, he participated in the tutoring program of Preuss students and has insight to what the students must deal with daily.
His interview will play a role in showing the view of people in the third party. Jay Anderson,
Chief Administrative Officer at Preuss will represent the Preuss School as an institution.
Shelly Buono is the programs coordinator and coordinates the mandatory parent meetings at Gompers Charter Middle School. She can answer the interview questions in relation to
Gompers and further elaborate on the parent education program.
Writing out the interviews is a rigorous process. It is important to not lose the essence of the interview and to not misinterpret what they say when writing it in the paper. Obviously there is a necessity to pick and choose what is important enough to be included, but even in that sense it suffers from the evaluation of what is important in the eyes of the author.
Findings and Analysis
Findings that Sculpted the Research Question & Space
The research process constantly caused the research question to morph. It began as a paper based solely on a newspaper article about busing student from Preuss, to a paper just about
Preuss, to a paper about Preuss and Gompers and how the two schools positive attributes can be implemented into public schools in urban communities. As the struggle for a final research

Cheng | 9 question was being processed, the gaps in the question slowly filled. To implement the urban studies aspect into the paper, space must be looked at.
According to Ray Hutchison, from the “Encyclopedia of Urban Studies”, space in terms of Urban Studies refers to both the physical and social location of a metropolitan region, the properties of that location, and the spatial organization of the entities within it. Do the spaces around Preuss and Gompers cause differences in the success of the student’s education? When looking at the space and environment of the school, it doesn’t just look at the physical space, but the opportunities it provides through different methods.
Comparing Preuss to Lincoln High
The following Figure 1 is a representation of the difference between the Preuss School and Lincoln High School from Southeastern San Diego.
School
Name
Grade
Span Enrollment
Lincoln
High 7-12
Preuss
School
UCSD 6-12
Avg
Class
Size
Largest
Ethnic
Group
2359 24.3 Hispanic
755 25.9 Hispanic
%
Minority
% Full
Teacher
Creds.
98 92.98
95.1 100
Figure 1 | Lincoln vs. Preuss from Education Data Partnership
Pupils per
Teacher
22.8
19.3
# of
Teachers
111
42
AYP
Lang Arts
%
Proficient
33.2
85.4
AYP
Math %
Proficient
35.3
80.6
Figure 1 can draw many conclusions about schools in the urban community. Lincoln High
School lacks a full staff of fully credentialed teachers; this may mean that the staff is not up to par. It begins to support the statement that urban communities are not staffed with experienced teachers. There is an extreme need for teachers to understand the environment in which they are at. In an urban school the teachers must devote much more time and effort into helping the students achieve what the upper and middle class students achieve easily.
A Preuss Alumnae’s Take

Cheng | 10
Iris Do had an older sister who attended the local school and a younger brother who currently attends school in the San Diego Unified School District. It is easy for her to see the difference in education being able to compare Preuss to the schools of her siblings. She says,
“I do believe the location of the Preuss School has affected my learning. If I were to attend my local high school in Linda Vista, I know my educational outcomes would be very different. I believe that we are getting positive influences being around La Jolla, located on the UCSD campus. We have access to higher education that is physically located right outside the school.”
The focus of Preuss is to get these students access to higher education, what better access is there than a University outside the doorsteps of the school. When talking about the busing dilemma, she spoke of the frustration of the commute in traffic and how it took away study time. Which meant that study time was taken from the weekends, where some days may include Saturday
Academy. However, she does not regret the handwork. Though the students may have missed out on some of the activities that public schools provided such as sixth grade camp or eighth grade Washington trip, the students received hands on experience through internships.
“Two of the most important program I felt Preuss provided me was having a internship on UCSD campus during my senior year and doing this for academic credit, and also a summer medical program in which I am still part of today! Having these programs were because of the support we receive from very sincere donors outside our school who believe in Preuss students.”
It provided her with the opportunities she has today. This ties back into the definition of spaces given above. The Preuss School gave the student’s opportunities on the UCSD campus to be educated.

Cheng | 11
Conclusion
The physical environment of a school plays a role in the progress of a student’s education, but there is no sufficient way to prove that the physical space contributes to test scores. It is easy to think that if a school looks structurally sound and presents an atmosphere of

Cheng | 12 learning that success can take place, but with insufficient evidence the physical environment must be weighed out. The spaces provided are what must be recreated. The space that Preuss creates with internships, parent involvement, and extended hours of class. The concensus is that it is plausible to implement the positive aspects of both Preuss and Gompers into public schools.
CREATE is evidence of that.

Cheng | 13
Bibliography
1.
Cathy Collins Block et al., Teaching all the Children: Strategies for Developing Literacy in
Urban Setting (New York: Guilford, 2004).
2.
Christine Campbell, James Harvey, and Paul T. Hill, It Takes a City (Washington DC:
Brookings, 2000), 22.
3.
Patricia B. Campbell and Beatriz Chu Clewell, Good Schools in Poor Neighborhoods:
Defying Demographics, Achieving Success (Washington DC: Urban Institute, 2007).
4.
Cecil Lytle, The Burden of Exellence: The struggle to establish the Preuss School UCSD and a call for urban Educational Field Stations (San Diego: RELS, 2008).
5.
Cecil Lytle, “The Preuss School as a Model,” San Diego Tribune, May 27, 2008, http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20080527/news_mz1e27lytle.html.
6.
Atron Gentry et al. Urban Education: The Hope Factor (Philidelphia: W.B Saunders, 1972).
7.
J. Cesar Morales, The Question is Not Where They Will Be Nest Year, But Who Will They
Be When They Get There: A Study of Home and School Identity (UCSD: 2005).
8.
William J. Reese, Power and the Promise of school reform: Grassroots movements during the progressive era (Boston: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1986).
9.
Jeffery R. Henig et al., The Color of School Reform: Race, Politics, and the Challenge of
Urban Education (New Jersey: Princeton, 1999).
10.
Ned Randolph, “Student Leader Coming Full Circle,” San Diego Tribune, March 29, 2008, http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20080329/news_1cz29marco.html.
11.
Hugh Mehan, “Inter-organizational Collaboration: A Strategy to Improve Diversity and
College Access for Underrepresented Minority Students,” (The Center for Research on

Cheng | 14
Educational Equity, Access, and Teaching Excellence University of California San Diego,
2006).
12.
Education Data Partnership, http://www.ed-data.k12.ca.us/