It’s Only Part of the Story

The Fallacy of Improved Outcome Data in New York City’s Effort to Make Its High Schools Small

Bibliographic Data

ID9729863
AuthorsJessica Shiller (0000-0001-6485-429X, City University of New York, corresponding author)
Year2010
Volume42
Issue3
Pages247-268
Publication date2010-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueEducation and Urban Society (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0013-1245 • E-ISSN: 1552-3535
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/0013124509356517
OpenAlexW2001970892
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited19

This article examines a recent reform effort that has opened hundreds of small high schools in poor urban communities in New York City, The New Century Schools Initiative (NCSI). Outcome data have shown that NCSI has dramatically increased graduation rates among poor students and students of color. However, an ethnographic study of the instructional practices at 3 NCSI high schools revealed that these schools are struggling to maintain high expectations and to prepare their students for higher education. In a climate that prioritizes outcome data, these challenges are obscured. Consequently, this article argues that urban school reform focus its efforts on improving instructional practice so to truly make sustainable improvements in the education of poor students

Curriculum · Economics · Ethnography · Fallacy · Graduation (instrument · Medical education · Outcome (game theory · Outcome-based education · Pedagogy · Political science · Sociology · Critical Race Theory in Education · Engineering · Medicine · Psychology · School Choice and Performance · Urban, Neighborhood, and Segregation Studies

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