Continuous Improvement Research and High School Outcomes

• In Event: Continuous Improvement Research and Critical Theoretical Perspectives: Bridging Two Conversations With a Common Goal

Abstract

This presentation will be an overview of the work of the University of Chicago Network for College Success and the theory of change underlying it. The network grew out of a researcher-practitioner partnership. A group of Chicago high school principals approached Professor Melissa Roderick for help improving their school outcomes regarding academic achievement and graduation. Initially, NCS served as a voluntary group of principals working together, eventually developing the resources to include coaching and professionals learning communities not just for principals, but also Instructional Leadership Teams, On-Track teacher leaders, and counseling teams focusing on college access and enrollment. Shaped by the research of Professor Roderick and others, much of its work has focused on “winning” the 9th grade year, making sure students come though that year with the skills and experiences that will help them graduate and have high-quality options afterwards.
In 2018-19, NCS partnered directly with 17 schools, most of them neighborhood schools and 350 educators serving over 18,000 students, approximately 17% of the District's high school student population. NCS is also providing quarterly professional development to all 82 non-charter high schools in the District, serving an additional 350 educators across the city. Citywide efforts to use data in short cycles to monitor student progress has been associated with strong improvements in outcomes. Between 2007 and 2014, CPS high school rate of students on track to graduate rose from 57 percent to 84 percent. Schools directly supported by NCS did even better, with the 2016 cohort of schools averaging an 87% On-Track to Graduation rate. Schools with NCS for three or more years achieved a rate of 92% and a college enrollment rate of 67%, almost 10% above the district average. (Citywide, these improve¬ments have not come at the expense of achievement; as more students graduated, the ACT average score in Chicago rose slightly, from 17.6 to 18.5.)
While the work on NCS still centers on using data to closely track students and interventions to help them, it can be misleading to focus just on that. NCS sees itself as creating the organizational conditions which will help schools use data effectively, which means:
1. Creating professional learning networks;
2. Applying research-based data to practice;
3. Coaching and capacity building; and
4. Distributing leadership and building high-functioning teams.
Building capacity entails building educators’ capacity to confront uncomfortable questions and to create a sense of adult ownership over student success. School teams have to confront equity issues head-on, examining data on student outcomes by race, gender, income, English learner (EL) status, diverse learner status, and other areas of vulnerability for students. This is often the most difficult but most generative part of the process.
The history of the Network for College Success challenges common misconceptions about “these” kids and their potential, as well as misperceptions of the potential of their teachers and public education more generally.

Author

• Sarah J. Duncan, Network for College Success