CRC Overview
The CRC was founded in 1987 though a national center grant from the Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI), U.S. Department of Education with a mission to advance knowledge on the ways in which school context conditions shape the quality of teaching and learning in high schools. Since 1992, the CRC has conducted research on educational reform initiatives through projects funded by federal agencies and private foundations. These projects include longitudinal evaluations of reform initiatives that use different strategies and theories of change to promote teacher learning and improved practice, as well as research concerning the district’s role in engendering teacher professionalism and educational improvement. The Center uses an “embedded contexts” framework for analyzing environment effects on teaching and learning and has developed innovative research approaches to integrating longitudinal case studies and survey research methods.
The Learning Partnership (TLP) Documentation
With funding from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the CRC is conducting research to document processes and outcomes of The Learning Partnership (TLP), the Foundation’s district reform initiative working with several districts over 8-10 years. TLP’s mission is to improve student performance outcomes and narrow achievement gaps by developing a district’s capacity to use research-based and clinical evidence to guide organizational and instructional change and to create coherent policies and collaborative professional communities that support continuous educational improvement. TLP launched its first district partnership with Minneapolis Public Schools in 2003.
CRC has been documenting TLP work since Fall 2002 and will conduct research in all TLP districts. Research methods include surveys of teachers, school administrators, and professional development providers; observations of TLP-MPS events; interviews with district professionals at all levels of the system and with TLP technical assistance agents; observations in a sample of schools and classrooms; and reviews of district archival and record data. Case studies will investigate the impact of TLP district system improvement efforts “on the ground” of schools, teacher communities, and individual classrooms.
The Documentation team is providing formative feedback to TLP agents – the MacArthur Foundation, Advisory Board, the districts, and technical assistance organizations partnering with the districts – through regular reports and through occasional informal memos and debriefs. The team also is working with the districts to replicate and develop instruments and research designs for assessing change and using evidence to refine ongoing improvement efforts. Further, CRC is preparing research briefs and papers to share learning from the initiative with the field.
Evaluation of Bay Area School Reform Collaborative (BASRC, currently Springboard Schools)
Since 2001, the CRC has been evaluating the ongoing work of Phase Two of the Bay Area School Reform Collaborative (which is called “Springboard Schools” since May 2005). This evaluation is conducted with funding from the Hewlett Foundation and is being performed in collaboration with MDRC. The evaluation focuses on core features of BASRC’s Phase Two design and the theory of action for their role in promoting district and school reform, including evidence-based reform, coaching, and networks. CRC’s lines of analysis focus on each of these design features – testing BASRC’s assumptions, or hypotheses, about how the strategy and related tools and activities bring about desired district and school conditions and practices. Research methods include repeated surveys of teachers, principals, district administrators, and local collaborative coaches; observations of BASRC activities and in case study districts; interviews with BASRC staff and educational professionals at all levels of the system; and reviews of documents related to BASRC and case study districts. Case studies will investigate system reform, teachers’ use of data, coaching, and networks for knowledge sharing and instructional change.
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