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The College Access Project
Using data available from the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC) and City Schools, this analysis examined rates of enrollment in postsecondary programs for two recent Baltimore City Public Schools graduating classes (2008-2009). The analysis specifically addressed the types and selectivity of colleges attended, location, and variation in enrollment by gender. We suggest the results are useful as baseline measures against which future goals concerning college access might be set. College Access Report (pdf)
On Track and On Time
Maintaining High Achievement in Baltimore: An Examination of the Elementary Grade Trajectories of Four Recent City Schools First Grade Cohorts
To address success at the elementary school level, BERC has produced the following report, “Maintaining High Achievement in Baltimore,” which examines the performance of four successive first grade cohorts spanning the years 1999-00 through 2008-09. The results of this study show that City Schools students are scoring Proficient and Advanced on the Maryland School Assessment with increasing frequency. Further, improvements in City Schools student achievement in grades three to five represent a faster rate of acceleration than what has occurred among Maryland students as a whole. The study explores the relationships between students’ initial first grade achievement and subsequent performance in reading and math in grades three, four, and five. The study also addresses patterns of out-migration from City Schools, and acknowledges the changing educational policy environment in Baltimore over the past decade.
Keeping on Track in Ninth Grade and Beyond
To address the factors related to high school success, BERC announces the release of the report,"Keeping On Track in Ninth Grade and Beyond: Baltimore’s Ninth Graders in 2007-08." Focusing on a recent Baltimore City ninth grade cohort, the report examines the behavioral factors identified in previous research as key predictors of high school graduation, particularly ninth grade attendance and course passing. The study also demonstrates how ninth grade outcomes are linked to warning indicators in the middle grades. The report suggests that raising the graduation rate in Baltimore City will require specific attention to addressing the behavioral factors that push students off-track to graduation: chronic absenteeism, suspensions, and course failure.
Demonstration Projects
The Pathways Project documented the predominant and critical pathways students take through the Baltimore City Public Schools through longitudinal studies of two cohorts at different stages in their educational careers. These studies, which were published in April 2008, followed students for seven years, with particular focus on resilience or risk factors that affected mobility, grade progression, and retention.
The “First Grade and Forward” study analyzed a cohort of students who entered first grade in 1999 through their expected (on-time) seventh-grade year to track patterns of promotion and retention, attendance, mobility within City Schools, and transfer out of City Schools.
To better understand and address the significant decline in achievement or
engagement that occurs for many of Baltimore’s middle school
students, “The
Challenge of On-Time Arrival” study retrospectively followed a cohort
of students forward from sixth grade to several years past their on-time
high school graduation year. It identified characteristics of middle
grades environments associated with the most encouraging student trajectories
or those associated with declines in achievement levels, attendance,
or educational progress.
Drawing upon data for both cohorts, we have prepared a brief on
attendance and associated outcomes. That document can be found here.
The Pathways strategic data analyses provided Baltimore City Public Schools and the larger school reform community with insight into Baltimore’s most vexing educational challenges, and informed ongoing elementary, middle, and high school reform efforts by highlighting which educational inputs, structures, resources, and outcomes have particularly strong impacts.
Positive Learning Environments Aiming for Success in Science Education (PLEASSE)
BERC co-director Obed Norman is the principal investigator on a three-year research project to investigate the impact of an inquiry science teacher professional development and student motivation intervention. The Positive
Learning Environments Aiming for Success In Science Education (PLEASSE) project is funded by the National Science Foundation and will be conducted in Baltimore City middle and high schools.
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