Urban Charter School Research Articles

Early Career Experiences of Physical Education Teachers in Urban Schools

The purpose of this study was to examine the early career experiences of three physical education (PE) teachers who taught in urban charter schools. Using cultural relevance theory, three early career PE teachers were observed and interviewed for approximately six weeks each. Data were analyzed using constant comparison. Two major themes emerged from the data: the mechanisms of school support, and achieving ‘insider’ versus ‘outsider’ status during teachers’ early careers. These findings highlight the challenges that early career PE teachers face in urban schools, and demonstrate how being a culturally relevant teacher can improve teaching in physical education.

Perceptions and Resilience in Underrepresented Students’ Pathways to College

Background/ContextSchools have attempted to address stratification in black and Latino students’ access to higher education through extensive reform initiatives, including those focused on social supports. A crucial focus has been missing from these efforts, essential to improving the effectiveness of support mechanisms and understanding why they have been insufficient: how students experience these reforms.PurposeHow can the social context of schools keep underrepresented minority students on track to transition to college? This study investigates how students experience the social contexts of their schools in relation to their college ambitions, and the particular attributes of schools’ social contexts that might positively affect their transition to four-year colleges.Research DesignUsing a mixed-methods case study design, this three-year study examined students’ educational pathways in a Chicago charter high school. Data collection methods included ethnographic fieldwork, interviews, and a longitudinal survey. Supplemental secondary data sources were utilized to contextualize the case study.AnalysisInterview transcripts and field notes were transcribed and coded to examine variation in students’ experience of their social context and their college transition plans. To contextualize these findings, the author utilized descriptive, associative, and logistic regression techniques to analyze quantitative data from the case study survey and corresponding city and national datasets.FindingsThe school's organization facilitated academic, social, and college preparatory support through structured relationships. Notwithstanding, there was notable within-school variation in students’ transitions to college. Students in this urban charter school often experienced multiple obstacles that interfered with the college ambitions they generally shared with their families and school peers. School regard is a mechanism identified in this study as central to students’ transition success. Students’ perceptions of their teachers’ and their peers’ regard for their capacity for educational success was associated with their persistence through the transition to college in the face of academic, socioeconomic, and other challenges.Conclusions/RecommendationsThis study demonstrates the effort and engagement under-represented students expend in the effort to become college-ready, and the risk for burnout as a result of both academic and nonacademic hardships during their high school years. School regard may mitigate these effects. Mere expectations for college appear insufficient in the current access-for-all climate. Rather, it is important that students perceive value and esteem for their potential from school faculty and peers, sustaining their ambitions through the obstacles they encounter in high school and expect in college.

Creating and maintaining student diversity: strategies and challenges for school leaders

The purpose of this paper was to explore how school leaders can create and maintain student diversity in charter schools. Based on a case study of two racially balanced schools in New York City, this study identifies three strategies that the schools’ leaders took to create more student diversity: (1) develop curriculum-centred missions, (2) implement targeted student recruitment and (3) more inclusively interpret state charter enrolment guidelines. This paper also documents the challenges they faced in maintaining diversity over time. As exceptions to the racial segregation so prevalent in many urban charter schools, these schools highlight successful leadership approaches for creating more diverse student compositions in other schools.

Visioning Hope: Embracing Higher Education’s Role With Urban Public Charter Schools

The purpose of this study is to reflect on the evolution of a partnership between a university and urban charter high school serving a predominately African American population. Because of the author’s embeddedness both as the researcher and participant member, this research assumes the paradigm of autoethnography. Reflections on key components of this evolution provide implications for teacher education, particularly in regard to a call for engagement between urban charter schools and educator preparation programs, and a challenge to higher education to analyze existing perceptions of public charter schools within a wider institutional mission to prepare educators for all children.

Digital photography assessment of 1,750 elementary and middle school student lunch meals demonstrates improved nutrition with increased exposure to hands-on cooking and gardening classes

To investigate a scalable version of a global nutrition education model by a novel assessment of the impact of hands-on cooking and gardening classes, Edible Schoolyard (ESY), on the eating patterns of elementary and middle school students. Lunches (n = 1,750) by students (n = 479) including 8,750 food components in an urban charter school in New Orleans, Louisiana, were analyzed over one week using a validated digital photography protocol. Univariate analyses and multivariate logistic regression according to school class were performed. Compared to less ESY exposed grades, eighth graders consumed less saturated fat (2.4 vs. 2.8 g, p < 0.0274), less total fat (11.9 vs. 13.5 g, p = 0.0324), and more fruits (100 vs. 68 %, p = 0.0047). After controlling for caloric intake, this class was nearly twice as likely to consume less than 1,000.0 mg sodium per meal compared to other grades (OR = 1.94, 95 % CI 1.0137–3.7140, p = 0.045), however, eighth graders failed to meet the 650.0 mg sodium target of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010. We report lower sodium and fat but higher fruit consumption in students with greater exposure to hands-on nutrition education. This is the first known application of an accurate digital photography protocol to demonstrate dietary improvements of elementary and middle school students with increased exposure to a hands-on cooking, gardening, and nutrition education curriculum. This study suggests that such a curriculum is thus scalable through schools for improving child health.

Becoming In/competent Learners in the United States: Refugee Students’ Academic Identities in the Figured World of Difference

A practice-based dialectic theory of identity was used in this study to explore the cultural-historical context of an urban charter school in which a group of newly arrived Muslim Turk refugee students’ academic identities were formed. The school, located in the Southwestern United States, was founded by a global Islamist movement. Ethnographic methods were employed over a nine-month period of fieldwork. Findings suggest the demands and consequences of claiming competent learner identities were costly when the refugee students struggled to participate in multiple cultural worlds. The refugee students were sorted into generic institutional identities such as English Language Learners that came with negative social implications and resulted in exclusion of the students from general education classrooms. Over time, the refugee students became closer to special education identification.

Agricultural Education in an Urban Charter School: Perspectives and Challenges

Urban school districts are viable recruitment sources for higher education in agriculture and have the ability to play a significant role in efforts to increase agricultural education program numbers at the secondary level. Secondary school increases should lead to growth in agricultural college enrollments across the country. Increasing agricultural literacy and overall enrollment at the collegiate level provides opportunities to increase minority populations pursuing higher education and careers in agriculture. Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) drove this study with qualitative methods used to explore instructional perspectives of three adults associated with the agricultural education program at an urban charter school. A phenomenological approach guided collection of qualitative data. Consensus was reported through participant belief that inclusion of agricultural education courses into curricula played a major role in breaking students’ stereotypes regarding agricultural careers and higher education opportunities. Although participants believed agricultural education vital to instruction, challenges to teaching agricultural education in urban schools led them to focus on STEM related agricultural careers as opposed to agricultural production careers.

School management and efficiency: An assessment of charter vs. traditional public schools

Publicly funded private schools, also known as charter schools in some countries, are an increasingly popular tool among ministries of education for improving school effectiveness; however, little is known about their efficiency. This study evaluates the efficiency of charter schools in Massachusetts by assessing their proficiency scores and per student spending as compared with traditional public schools. I find that charter schools outperform traditional public schools in both reading and math and that the difference is more salient in urban communities. Furthermore, urban charter schools spend significantly less per pupil than their traditional public school counterparts. Not only are charter schools outperforming traditional public schools academically, but they are doing so at a lower cost – particularly in urban communities. By introducing an efficiency component to the wider body of literature, this research explores what conditions are best suited for charter schools, taking into consideration the limited financial capabilities of underserved school districts and low-income countries.

Using Mobile Devices in Physical Education to Enhance Learning and Physical Activity for At-Risk Girls

The purpose of the article is to illustrate how a physical education program uses mobile devices to motivate at-risk girls attending an urban charter school. Permitting students to use mobile devices in physical education gives students a “technological freedom” that has been removed in other contexts. The apps described in this article helped provide guidance and feedback to students, to enhance the structural and motivational components of the activity designs. The examples presented were successful for this group of students in this circumstance; however, the potential is great for other teachers to learn from their experience.

AN URBAN MIDDLE SCHOOL CASE STUDY OF MATHEMATICS ACHIEVEMENT

What does it take to change a school’s mathematics achievement profile from low to one that is proficient and advanced? Is this transformed achievement profile sustainable? Such is the story presented here, in this three-phase case study of a K-8 urban charter school’s mathematics program. The first phase discusses the school’s mathematics program as it existed in 2006. The second phase discusses the contents and interventions implemented which transformed the student achievement scores over a period of 3 years (2006–2009) from low achieving to proficient and advanced. The third phase is a follow-up mixed-methods investigation that was conducted to determine whether the achievement was sustainable and how the program changed. The interventions designed and implemented over the initial 3-year period are discussed, as are the findings of the follow-up study. This is discussed with reference to impacting change in student achievement and its relative significance for future work.

The Role of Moral and Performance Character Strengths in Predicting Achievement and Conduct among Urban Middle School Students

Background/Context Performance character consists of the qualities that allow individuals to regulate their thoughts and actions in ways that support achievement in a particular endeavor. Moral character consists of the qualities relevant to striving for ethical behavior in one's relationships with other individuals and communities. A sizable body of research has demonstrated correlations between student achievement and performance character strengths such as self-discipline, while the relationship between achievement, conduct, and moral character strengths such as integrity is more ambiguous. For both types of character, however, the majority of the extant research literature has focused on relatively small samples of elementary school children, university students, and high-achieving students. Setting This study took place at three “No Excuses” charter middle schools in a large northeastern city. Charter schools are publicly funded schools that are supervised by state boards of education rather than a local superintendent or school committee. “No Excuses” is a term used to describe high-poverty public schools featuring a strict disciplinary environment, extended school day and year, college preparatory mission, and an intensive focus on traditional reading and mathematics skills. Participants This study considered the relationship between achievement, conduct, and several character strengths among 488 early adolescents attending three urban charter schools in a large northeastern city. More than 90% of these students identified as African American, Latino, or multi-racial, and two thirds qualified for free or reduced price lunch (a proxy for low socioeconomic status). Research Design This study combines self-reported survey data on participating students’ character strengths with student-level data on grade point average and demerits collected from participants’ schools. We fit quantile regression models to consider the relationships between participating students’ character strengths, academic achievement, and conduct while controlling for select demographic characteristics. Results Analyses revealed that students’ perseverance, school connectedness and grade level were positive predictors of academic achievement while integrity and demerits were negative predictors of academic achievement. Student conduct was significantly predicted by grade level, grade point average, gender, race/ethnicity and commitment to integrity. In short, both performance and moral character strengths were unique predictors of key student outcomes. Conclusions/Recommendations In recent years, a number of high-profile charter management organizations have identified cultivating students’ performance character as a key level in promoting student success. Our findings suggest that these organizations would do well to expand their character education programming to include students’ moral character strengths as well.

Improving quick writing performance of middle-school struggling learners

Writing performanceperformance of 279 seventh- and eighth-grade students in four urban charter schools was evaluated in comparison group pretest/posttest quasi-experimental study. Thirty-three students, identified by cut scores on a standardized fluency measure, received supplemental one-to-one Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) instruction for persuasive quick writing. Fifty-one students with scores below the cut participated as an eligible non-treatment comparison; 195 students with scores above the cut participated as a non-eligible comparison group. All students’ written responses were evaluated before and after the intervention. Results of repeated measures analysis indicated that students in treatment (additional instruction time+SRSD+planned practice-testing) significantly improved quick writing performance after instruction when compared to pretest performance, and when compared to eligible comparison, with large effect sizes for number of persuasive elements and organizational quality and medium effects for persuasive quality. When compared to non-eligible comparison, students in treatment had significantly higher scores for organizational quality (large effects) and persuasive quality (small effects).

Explaining Charter School Effectiveness

Lottery estimates suggest Massachusetts' urban charter schools boost achievement well beyond that of traditional urban public schools students, while nonurban charters reduce achievement from a higher baseline. The fact that urban charters are most effective for poor nonwhites and low-baseline achievers contributes to, but does not fully explain, these differences. We therefore link school-level charter impacts to school inputs and practices. The relative efficacy of urban lottery sample charters is accounted for by these schools' embrace of the No Excuses approach to urban education. In our Massachusetts sample, Non-No-Excuses urban charters are no more effective than nonurban charters. (JEL H75, I21, I28)

The schooling of African-American male students: the role of male teachers and school administrators

Drawing on interview and informal observation data collected from eight adolescent African-American boys residing in an urban community and attending an urban charter school, this paper describes and explores their relationships with African-American male school personnel. This paper highlights how adolescent African-American boys' experience and make sense of their interactions with teachers, school administrators and staff, as well as discusses the implications for school engagement and masculine identity development. The boys' narratives reveal relationships that are confrontational and strained, as well as respectful and caring. Furthermore, they highlight the ways in which masculinity is being shaped through the reciprocal-posturing of adult males.

Explaining Charter School Effectiveness

Estimates using admissions lotteries suggest that urban charter schools boost student achievement, while charter schools in other settings do not. Using the largest available sample of lotteried applicants to charter schools, we explore student-level and school-level explanations for this difference in Massachusetts. In an econometric framework that isolates sources of charter effect heterogeneity, we show that urban charter schools boost achievement well beyond that of urban public school students, while non-urban charters reduce achievement from a higher baseline. Student demographics explain some of these gains since urban charters are most effective for non-whites and low-baseline achievers. At the same time, non-urban charter schools are uniformly ineffective. Our estimates also reveal important school-level heterogeneity within the urban charter sample. A non-lottery analysis suggests that urban charters with binding, well-documented admissions lotteries generate larger score gains than under-subscribed urban charter schools with poor lottery records. Finally, we link charter impacts to school characteristics such as peer composition, length of school day, and school philosophy. The relative effectiveness of urban lottery-sample charters is accounted for by these schools' embrace of the No Excuses approach to urban education.

A case study of a career in education that began with “Teach for America”

In this article I share the results of a seven‐year case study of an educator who began his career without formal preservice teacher education, as a participant in Teach for America. Steven (a pseudonym) began teaching mathematics in an urban middle school, later teaching social studies to English language learners, and is currently a principal of an urban charter school. Using a narrative/biographical research method, I have documented how Steven combined his personal resources, the confidence he gained from participating in Teach for America, and, because he began taking professional coursework in his second year of teaching, his emerging understanding of the foundations of teaching and learning (i.e. what he learned at the university) to form the educator he has become. His growth in understanding the culture of his students is a particularly compelling part of his story. Implications for contemporary teacher education are discussed, including the role of multicultural education courses and why customized teacher education programs should become more commonplace.

Students with Disabilities in Urban Massachusetts Charter Schools: Access to Regular Classrooms

This paper examines the access of students with disabilities to regular classrooms in charter and traditional schools in cities across Massachusetts. Public school enrollment and placement data are examined for 2003-07; overall, access to regular classrooms showed high variability by city. Urban charter schools educated significantly lower percentages of students with disabilities in substantially separate classrooms (0-5.7%), compared to urban traditional schools (15.0%-45.8%); however, charter schools enrolled significantly fewer students who are not easily included in regular classes. Both charter and traditional schools have increased regular classroom access considerably from 2003-2007. Discussion focuses on the challenges of interpreting variability in regular classroom access, given major enrollment gaps of students with disabilities between charter and traditional schools. Future policy and regulatory work should emphasize improving charter school access among students with disabilities.

Rehearsals for revolution? Theatre of the Oppressed, dominant discourses, and democratic tensions

Theatre of the Oppressed was conceived by Brazilian theatre director and theorist Augusto Boal as a ‘rehearsal for revolution’; it hinges on participants' power to select material for inquiry and frame, shape, script, and perform stories of problems/oppressions in their own lives and communities. In a 12-week-long study I co-facilitated in the drama classroom of an urban charter school in the Autumn of 2007, six girls and two boys framed problems from their lives and communities, scripted and staged anti-model scenes, and performed a wide range of Forum interventions. As a facilitator, I struggled with the tension between my own desire to intervene in discourses in embedded assumptions I found problematic and my fears that by doing so, I would be colonising the workshop with my own privileged agenda. This article is about that struggle, and about the problem that popular positions and ideas are not necessarily progressive, and while Theatre of the Oppressed is usually utilised in support of politically progressive agendas, the work participants initiate and the choices they make do not automatically orient towards social justice.

On Being College Prep: Examining the Implementation of a “College for All” Mission in an Urban Charter School

This article reports findings from a four-year case study of an urban college preparatory charter high school. Through analyses of teacher and staff interviews, the author highlights how the school approached the idea of “college for all” under the archetypal influence of “college preparatory.” The interview data show how the charter school staff engaged in important educational questions about what defines college preparation even though those questions became more complex as the school matured. These findings are presented in three themes: (1) building a school, which reflects staff members’ views on the school’s start-up period of building renovation and growth, (2) building a curriculum, which reflects staff members’ views on teachers’ instructional practices, and (3) building a college culture, which reflects staff members’ efforts to provide students with supplemental academic and social supports for college planning and preparation.

Measuring Academic Growth in Students With Disabilities in Charter Schools

In the current climate of high-stakes accountability created under the No Child Left Behind legislation, public schools, including charter schools, are under tremendous pressure to show consistent improvement in student achievement for all students. Students with disabilities present unique challenges to schools attempting to meet Adequate Yearly Progress. An accountability system that relies exclusively on students’ ability to meet a fixed proficiency level is now under great scrutiny. Indeed, efforts to pilot an assessment system that measures individual students’ growth are underway in a number of states.What can be learned from analyzing the achievement of students with disabilities using a growth model? This question became the focus of a study conducted in 4 urban charter schools where growth in reading and math achievement were examined for students with and without disabilities. The challenges with measuring growth in charter environments and implications for policies around accountability are examined.