States and Districts Can Make Progress and Close the Achievement Gap:
Research Reveals Clear Results in School Improvement in Schools Using America’s Choice School Design
A Forum — July 16, 2004
Background
The No Child Left Behind Act encourages schools to seek out school improvement plans that have been scientifically proven to raise student achievement. An example of such a program is the America’s Choice School Design (ACSD), currently in place in 547 elementary schools and 22 high schools, serving over 350,000 students nationwide. The America’s Choice program, a comprehensive school reform model, includes materials, policies and tools to encourage schools and school systems to work together to improve student achievement. The aim of the America’s Choice program is to enable every student to do college-level work by the time they reach tenth grade.
Two panels provided information on how America’s Choice School Design has helped raise student academic achievement, particularly among low-performing, minority students. The first panel featured an overview of the program and longitudinal research on its effects on student achievement. The second panel provided audience members with implementation perspectives from a state policymaker, school leader, and a teacher representative.
Panel One
Marc Tucker, president and founder, National Center on Education and the Economy (NCEE), described the origins of America’s Choice School Design and his work at NCEE. Tucker found that within the United States, working-class incomes had been declining over the past twenty years. Similar to other nations, declines in U.S. incomes were coupled with declines in student academic achievement. Conversely, in countries where wages were rising, skills and achievement rose in tandem. Looking at educational structures worldwide, he found that the nations whose students enjoyed high academic achievement shared a set of common characteristics; all had: 1) standards-based curricula tied to international benchmarks, 2) assessments set to these standards, and 3) curricular frameworks linked to the standards. Tucker theorized that, with effort, the United States could do the same. “What we needed was an approach to education reform that involved coherence both horizontally (from standards to curriculum to assessments and across grade levels) and vertically (a common educational vision and interpretation among teachers, administrators, and departments/ministries of education),” said Tucker.
Tucker’s strategy for scaling up education reform [bringing education reform to more schools] involves the adoption and implementation of the America’s Choice model into many schools within a few school districts or states, rather than implementation within isolated schools, sprinkled throughout the nation. Tucker believes this strategy is particularly effective when an entire state is using the same program. For example, Georgia is currently implementing America’s Choice in all of its low-performing schools. For schools to consistently function successfully and see real education reform, Tucker believes, they have to be part of a system that functions successfully—“run by ordinary human beings”—versus a system that relies upon the caprice of “star” principals.
Program Characteristics
ACSD has school designs for elementary, middle, and high school, focusing on the following key elements:
- standards and assessments – ACSD internationally benchmarked performance standards known as the New Standards Performance Standards are used. The model works with states and districts to align these standards with state and local standards.
- aligned instructional systems – Consist of a standards-based curriculum that provides instructional strategies intended to build skills and enable students to apply what they have learned. Teachers follow the same class of students for multiple years. Other strategies include author and genre studies, the 25 Books Campaign, and the Book of the Month program. Several “safety net” programs assist students who are struggling academically: tutoring, intensive summer programs, and double-period year-long ramp-up courses.
- high-performance management – The principal, serving as an instructional leader, assembles a school leadership team to oversee implementation of the design and provides overall school leadership. The leadership team works with teachers to set performance targets. For the middle school and high school programs, ACSD schools create small learning communities.
- professional learning communities – Off-site and on-site training are offered for teachers, coaches, and principals. Teacher training includes coaching by trained staff and the use of model classrooms to demonstrate the application of instructional strategies.
- parent/guardian and community involvement – Strategies involve parents or guardians and communities, including the use of a Parent Community Outreach Coordinator.
Jonathan Supovitz, research assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania and a senior researcher for the Consortium for Policy Research in Education (CPRE), oversaw the external evaluation of ACSD. Supovitz provided an overview of the evaluation of the effectiveness of the program on student achievement. According to Supovitz, programs can either be judged by the success of their implementation (quality of coaching, development of leadership or literacy programs) or by the impact of implementation in a variety of contexts and situations.
The first study Supovitz shared was a longitudinal impact of America’s Choice on student achievement from 1998-2003. The study compared the learning curve of students attending America’s Choice schools in Rochester School District, Rochester, NY, over five years, with those of students attending other schools in the district (56,000 students total). To account for students changing schools during the time of observation (and to account for schools that began to implement America's choice during this period), the study employed cross-classification analysis. Results of the study revealed that students in America’s Choice schools learned more over the five years of observation and this is significant because it equates to students spending from .7 to 2.5 months more time in school per year. The largest gains were seen for initially low-performing and minority students. While America’s Choice did not eliminate the achievement gap between whites and minorities, it did decrease it significantly.
The second study examined the effect of different levels of implementation of America’s Choice programs on student achievement in a Plainfield, NJ elementary school. This study surveyed teachers on their classroom practices and attitudes and linked their responses to student data to determine whether certain teacher responses led to greater student achievement outcomes. Results revealed that students whose teachers more fully implemented America’s Choice had greater achievement in the late elementary years (grades 4-6). Although the time spent on reading and writing workshops (key components of America’s Choice) had no effect on learning, the teachers who were most prepared for these workshops had students who learned more. Results were evident in grades 1-6 for the writing workshop, and in grades 4-6 for the reading workshop.
Audience Questions and Answers
Q. “As students are improving, what is changing at the teacher level? What is the trajectory of change in teacher practices over the period of observation? Does teacher fidelity with the readers’ and writers’ workshops get greater over time?”
A. (Supovitz) “In general, yes, however, there is great variation among teachers in this change.”
Q. “Has America’s Choice implementation been shown to improve academic achievement in other ethnic populations (e.g. Southeast Asians)?”
A. (Supovitz) “Because other minority groups did not make up a significant proportion of students in any of the districts systematically studied, there were no empirical data on the performance of Asian ethnic groups. However, anecdotal evidence has shown that Hmong students participating in America’s Choice programs in St. Paul, Minnesota have demonstrated increases in academic achievement.”
Q. “What effects may students’ mobility or absence from exams have on the Consortium’s findings?”
A. (Supovitz) “In the longitudinal study assessing changes in achievement among students in Rochester, NY, mobility within the district was statistically controlled for using cross-classification analysis. In large cities like Rochester, within-district mobility is considerably more common than mobility to or from another district.”
Panel Two
Why is large-scale reform so difficult and what makes America’s Choice work?
According to Susan M. Rucker, associate state superintendent, Innovation and School Improvement, Mississippi Department of Education, “pockets of poverty” exist throughout the state and in these areas, also commonly rural, it is difficult to implement large-scale reform. Many programs have be brought in to implement change in these areas, but the changes do not stay in place because it is difficult to recruit new, high-quality teachers to these areas. The difference with America’s Choice, Rucker believes, is that it requires the entire school to change, and the program’s required assessment exams help to ensure that the change stays long after implementation begins. Since America’s Choice implementation began in Mississippi, achievement scores have improved in all schools, with the most noticeable improvements in America’s Choice schools. For example, these schools have seen a 40 percent increase in math proficiency in one year’s time. Rucker reported that the program has inspired parents to request literary materials and to seek to improve their own reading abilities, so they will be able to read with their children.
Implementation of ACSD throughout Mississippi has been aided by funding opportunities outlined in the No Child Left Behind Act. As a research-based school reform program, schools are able to use their Title I funds to pay for America’s Choice literacy coaches. Dr. Rucker encourages states and districts to use opportunities in No Child Left Behind to fully implement America’s Choice in schools.
What changes have you seen in schools as a result of America’s Choice implementation?
Larry Ellison, principal, John James Audubon Elementary School in Rochester, New York, shared the story of implementing America’s Choice in his elementary school. Nearly all of the 1200 students enrolled are minority students and 98 percent are living in poverty. Mr. Ellison wanted to implement America’s Choice in this school because of its academic framing and focus on close collaboration with staff. Five years after implementation, reading scores increased by 45 percentage points, and math scores increased by 40 percentage points. “In the past year alone,” reports Ellison, “tests in both of these subjects have seen gains of five to six percentage points.”
Since implementation of America’s Choice, Ellison has seen positive changes in both teachers and students. The professional development provided to teachers, he stated, provided them with a sense of competence, empowerment, and belonging. The academic focus of the program has improved students’ academic performance, and as shown in longitudinal studies, these gains are largest among minority students. Students’ attitudes towards school have improved as well: Mr. Ellison shared how his teachers overheard students excited to come back from a fire drill so they could continue reading.
What is America’s Choice implementation like from a teacher’s perspective?
Harriet Tabick, retired teacher and America’s Choice Design/Literacy Coach at P.S. 160, Brooklyn, NY, New York City Public Schools (where America’s Choice has been implemented), and a United Federation of Teachers Chapter Leader, found several aspects of the program appealing. “The program is based on standards, that help ensure that students are gaining the needed skills and knowledge at each grade level,” said Tabick. To help teachers, America’s Choice provides on-site technical assistance designed to aid in implementation. In addition to on-site help, teachers are encouraged to help other teachers in implementation and instruction, forming a “building of experts” that keeps practices in place after initial implementation. Finally, America’s Choice helps students to become more engaged in their learning by inspiring them to choose their own topics for reading and writing exercises.
Audience Questions
Q. How effective is America’s Choice for students who are learning English as a second language?
A. Ms. Tabick, who taught at an America’s Choice school that was 53 percent Asian, responded that the program is designed to accelerate students’ reading and writing skills and is effective in helping limited English proficiency students learn the language.
Q. Do data exist to document the performance of students in special education programs or with limited English proficiency in America’s Choice?
A. According to Dr. Supovitz, no full studies have been conducted looking specifically at students in special education programs or with limited English proficiency. However, he did encourage the audience to look through several of CPRE’s larger reports on America’s Choice implementation and impact, as several of these contained sections looking at these special populations.
Q. How does the America’s Choice curricula differ from other curricula?
A. America’s Choice curriculum is developed from internationally benchmarked “best practices.” The program provides consistency both across levels of the education structure and across assessment and teaching strategies.
Judy Codding, vice president for programs and chief operating officer at the National Center on Education and the Economy, stated that America’s Choice has developed over 300 products that teachers can use in teaching, leadership, literacy, math, science, and other academic skills such as phonics. For example, their science tools are designed to help teachers with the “core concepts” that are often the most difficult both to teach and learn.
This structured curriculum is especially effective for high-school students who are far behind in reading. Several large-scale studies, i.e., TIMSS, have shown that achievement decreases in secondary education as students with low reading skills also learn less in math, science, and other subjects. The rigorous reading program for these students will help them to better integrate concepts learned in these other subjects.
Q. How do you go about finding/training/implementing effective coaches?
A. Coaches, Susan Rucker stated, are “very important” to America’s Choice implementation. They should be someone who is “popular” from within the school community. Although administrators may be reluctant to remove these talented teachers from the classroom, Rucker suggested that, as coaches, these teachers will have an even greater positive impact in the school. Harriette Tabick added that the coaches should also be respected teachers, possess excellent people skills, and possess a considerable knowledge base of educational practices. Even with all these qualifications, Judy Codding suggested that not every coach will be successful in his or her new position.
Q. How do you provide students with extra enrichment if they need it?
A. High-school students who are two years or more below grade level receive a minimum of two years in a double-period reading course. This enables these students to build the reading skills for success in other academic areas.
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