The Kauffman School is a public, tuition-free charter school serving Kansas City students. In the 2018-19 school year, the school enrolled 1,127 students in grades 5 through 12. Most (89 percent) of the students were low income, and 89 percent were Black or Hispanic. This report evaluates the impact of the Kauffman School on student college…

Recent studies of charter school effectiveness have questioned whether charter school networks can produce a lasting impact on students' long-term outcomes. Our study is the first to examine this issue at the network of Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP) schools, which primarily serve disadvantaged students of color and constitute the nation's…

Over the years, the nation's large urban school districts have consistently learned from the progress of their peer districts across the country. Great City School districts that have embraced the challenge of educating America's urban children have recognized the value of benchmarking their performance and growth against the progress of others.…

As police officers have become increasingly common in U.S. public schools, their role in school discipline has often expanded. While there is growing public debate about the consequences of police presence in schools, there is scant evidence of the impact of police on student discipline and academic outcomes. This paper provides the first…

Great City School districts that have embraced the challenge of educating America's urban children have recognized the value of benchmarking their performance and growth against the progress of others. This report presents a number of different ways that member districts can analyze the data themselves by disaggregating results, showing trends,…

Police officers have become increasingly common in public schools in Texas as well as across the U.S. As police officers have increased their presence in public schools, their role in school discipline has often expanded. Though there is growing public debate about the consequences of police presence in schools, there is scant evidence of the…

This three-article dissertation examined how policy choices in three key policy areas -- initial enrollment, service provision, and reclassification -- impact English learner (EL)-classified students. The first article examined the national landscape of state statutes, regulations, and state education agencies' (SEA) guidance that support…

This study sought to answer the following questions: (1) Is it feasible to develop Academic Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and collect data on them across member urban school districts? (2) Are comparisons between districts on academic performance measures valid and reliable? (3) Do districts collect and maintain requested KPI data in a way…

This dissertation examines the role that external factors play in students' educational attainment and success. The first two chapters examine the role of school quality. Chapter 1 examines how the timing of school quality impacts human capital formation, and Chapter 2 examines whether schools provide equal quality to all students within the…

In 2008, a diverse group of New York City leaders--including representatives from the NYC Department of Education, the teacher and administrator unions, the philanthropic and business communities, and New York University--came together to establish the Research Alliance for New York City Schools. Since that time, the Research Alliance has worked…

Over the past decade, New York City's high school graduation rate has risen dramatically, yet roughly a quarter of each entering 9th-grade class still does not graduate on time. Some of these students permanently drop out in their first four years, but a much larger percentage actually stay enrolled (or reenroll after temporarily leaving school)…

Over the past decade, New York City's high school graduation rate has risen dramatically, yet roughly a quarter of each entering 9th-grade class still does not graduate on time. Some of these students permanently drop out in their first four years, but a much larger percentage actually stay enrolled (or reenroll after temporarily leaving school)…

We examine the impacts of early college high schools, small schools of choice located on college campuses. These schools provide a no-cost opportunity for students to earn college credit--or a 2-year degree--while in high school. Using rich administrative data on multiple cohorts of students and quasiexperimental methods informed by the…

In the United States, a student's educational attainment is associated with nearly every social outcome we care about: income, employment, life-expectancy, and more. For this reason, it is important to understand how students in Chicago Public Schools (CPS) perform on key milestones of educational attainment, including high school graduation,…

Over the years, the nation's large urban school districts have consistently learned from the progress of their peer districts across the country. In 2002, the board of directors of the Council of the Great City Schools (Council) authorized what became known as the Performance Measurement and Benchmarking Project to develop and implement key…