This study examines whether Superintendent-Principal Partnership Longevity has a relationship with student Annual Graduation Rates in New York State from 2009 to 2018. Previous research has explored the role of individual school leadership longevity (superintendent or principal) on student achievement. Superintendent-Principal Partnership…

State education departments find themselves pressured to reduce costs while improving student performance. To do so, state education departments must measure the performance of each school district in an objective, data-informed manner. We present a benchmarking methodology and illustrate its application in New York State school districts. We…

The purpose of this causal comparative study is to determine whether the assistant principal decision-making process and their years of experience influence the advanced diploma rates in high schools on Long Island, New York. The subjects for this study were 75 assistant principals in Long Island high schools during 2016. Assistant principals'…

This paper provides rigorous evidence (for 12,130 participants in a series of naturally occurring randomized lotteries) that a large-scale high school reform initiative (New York City's creation of 100+ small high schools of choice between 2002 and 2008) can markedly and consistently increase high school graduation rates (by 9.5 percentage points…

This study was an examination of teachers' perceptions of principal leadership behavior, Teaching Efficacy, and Personal Teaching Efficacy in high needs high schools with high and low graduation rates. The participants, one hundred twelve teachers from six high schools on Long Island, New York, responded to a 44-item survey instrument. The six…

The shift in education reform to a goal of college and career readiness for all students is a change that has been embraced widely across the country. The challenge of designing new policies and programs that could accomplish the goal that all students should graduate from high school with the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed in college…

Building on prior research by two of the present authors, which uses lottery-like features in New York City's high school admissions process to rigorously demonstrate that new small public high schools in the district are markedly improving graduation prospects for disadvantaged students, the present paper demonstrates that these graduation…

The study reviewed in this paper examined whether winning an admissions lottery to attend a small school of choice (SSC) in New York City improved high school graduation rates, influenced the type of diploma students received, or increased the likelihood of college readiness. An SSC is a small, nonselective public high school emphasizing academic…

"Transforming the High School Experience: How New York City's New Small Schools Are Boosting Student Achievement and Graduation Rates" examined whether winning an admissions lottery for a small school of choice improved high school students' progress toward graduation and graduation rates. The study analyzed data on more than 21,000…

This report analyzes case studies of "more and better learning time" efforts around the country. With support from the Ford Foundation, America's Promise Alliance looked in Grand Rapids, MI; Louisville, KY; Memphis, TN; and Rochester, NY to see how time spent out of the classroom improved outcomes for students in low-income neighborhoods…

Back on Track, developed by Jobs for the Future, is a design for schools to not only re-engage off-track and out-of-school youths to graduate from high school, but also to put them on a clear, supported path to a college education. Two schools that have combined Back on Track with the early college model, in which students can earn both a high…

One of the most wideranging reforms in public education in the last decade has been the reorganization of large comprehensive high schools into small schools with roughly 100 students per grade. We use assignment lotteries embedded in New York City's high school match to estimate the effects of attendance at a new small high school on student…

Taking advantage of lottery-like features in New York City's high school admissions process, previous MDRC reports have provided rigorous evidence that new small public high schools are narrowing the educational attainment gap and markedly improving high school graduation prospects, particularly for disadvantaged students. The new findings in this…

In 2002, New York City embarked on an ambitious and wide-ranging series of education reforms. At the heart of its high school reforms were three interrelated changes: the institution of a district wide high school choice process for all rising ninth-graders, the closure of 31 large, failing high schools with an average graduation rate of 40…

Three years ago, the authors accepted positions as high school principals in Buffalo City (NY) Schools after serving as elementary school principals in the district for many years. In their new positions, they were to lead schools that were designated by the New York State Department of Education as "persistently lowest achieving,"…