As educational researchers, we can recognize it the minute we enter the premises: the school that, despite its shabby exterior, is neat and clean within. Children walk happily through the hallways. Teachers are friendly and composed. We know that when we meet the principal she will be confident and efficient, with an upbeat attitude and a no-nonsense manner. Our hearts lift because we know that we have entered that anomaly that is an effective low-income, urban public school.
We remember entering one such school in New Orleans in a neighborhood notorious for its high rate of child-on-child murder. And in Philadelphia, where after getting lost and driving a rental car through appalling slum conditions for a half-hour we stepped into an oasis of calm and order. How do they do it, these schools that somehow manage to educate poor, minority children so well? What elements make a difference between the typical, defeated urban schools of newspaper fare and these bastions of educational excellence? These are the questions that drove our inquiry, that motivated us to delve into effective schools research. This book is about what we found.
Based on a three-year study comparing typical and highly effective low-income schools in urban school districts, the book is divided into three parts. Part I, “Overview and Study Methods,” gives an overview of effective schools research (ESR) and describes the methods of the Urban Institute (UI) effective schools study. Chapter 1 reviews different approaches to effective schools research and discusses the recent explosion of interest in ESR and its implication for school reform. Chapter 2 outlines the conceptual model used in the UI effective schools study and describes the main data collection methods used and how the schools were matched. Part II, “What the Study Found,” reports the findings of the UI effective schools study. Chapter 3 describes the context within which Cumberland City, the first district in the study, operates. It traces recent demographic and economic trends and other events affecting K–12 education, and it outlines district policies and practices. Chapter 4 summarizes the findings of a cross-case analysis of typical and highly effective schools within the district to identify factors that differentiate highly effective from typical schools in Cumberland City. The chapter presents data and vignettes from effective- and typical-school case studies to illustrate how differentiating factors play out in actual schools. Chapters 5 and 6 present similar information for the three districts that serve the Rios Calientes area.
Part III, “What the Study Concluded,” discusses the study’s conclusions and its broader implications and applicability to states, districts, and schools. Chapter 7 summarizes the findings from the two disparate school districts and draws some general conclusions about factors that contribute to effectiveness. These factors are shared by schools in both districts and thus may be generalizable to schools in other similar districts. The chapter also investigates the role of the district in enhancing or inhibiting school effectiveness by contrasting the effect of these two very different school districts on school effectiveness. Finally, the chapter raises provocative questions and speculations that merit further examination and exploration, concluding with implications for school-, district-, and state-level policy that emerge from study findings.
As educational researchers, we know that while resources and socioeconomic factors play a role in student achievement, they are not the sole determinants of student success. Poor, urban schools can make a difference—and some of them do.
Good Schools in Poor Neighborhoods: Defying Demographics, Achieving Success, by Beatriz Chu Clewell and Patricia B. Campbell, with Lesley Perlman, is available from the Urban Institute Press (paper, 6" x 9", 280 pages, ISBN 978-0-87766-742-1, $29.50).
