| Title: |
Implementing a Highly Specified Curricular, Instructional, and Organizational School Design in a High-Poverty Urban Elementary School: Three Year Results. Report No. 20. |
| Language: |
English |
| Authors: |
McHugh, Barbara; Stringfield, Sam; Center for Research on the Education of Students Placed At Risk, Baltimore, MD. |
| Peer Reviewed: |
N |
| Page Count: |
29 |
| Publication Date: |
1998 |
| Sponsoring Agency: |
Office of Educational Research and Improvement (ED), Washington, DC.; Abell Foundation, Baltimore, MD. |
| Document Type: |
Reports - Evaluative |
| Descriptors: |
Academic Achievement; Achievement Gains; Disadvantaged Youth; Educational Change; Elementary Education; Elementary Schools; Outcomes of Education; Private Schools; Program Implementation; Public Schools; School Restructuring; Tables (Data); Teacher Expectations of Students; Urban Schools; Urban Youth |
| Abstract: |
This report provides background, implementation, and diverse outcome data from the first 3 years of an ongoing effort to implement a highly specified school reform design in a high-poverty, urban elementary school, Woodson Elementary School, Baltimore (Maryland). The design that is being implemented is the Calvert School model. The Calvert School is a private elementary school with a long history of providing a high-quality education to many of Baltimore's most affluent families. Many children worldwide are home-schooled using Calvert's highly structured home instruction program. High expectations, time-on-task, rapid pace of instruction, frequent evaluations, immediate feedback, and student accuracy are viewed as fundamental in the Calvert model. In a method that predated portfolio instruction by over half a century, Calvert produces a "book" of each student's school folder for each month of the school year. The Calvert model had already been implemented at one Baltimore school with a great deal of success when the program was implemented at Woodson. The Woodson Elementary School is located in a predominantly African American community in Baltimore's central city. Over 90% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. Third-year implementation was largely, although not totally, successful. Outcome data indicate that the Calvert program has had a positive academic impact on students attending Woodson Elementary School. The quality of work in students' folders has been high, and student attendance has averaged 96.4%. Referral rates to special education remain low, and end-of-third-grade Comprehensive Testing Program scores have been dramatically above those of previous Woodson students. Scores on the Maryland School Performance Assessment Program have also improved. (Contains 13 tables and 22 references.) (SLD) |
| Entry Date: |
1999 |
| Accession Number: |
ED423329 |
| Database: |
ERIC |