Research & Publications
BERC in EdWeek Promoting Youth Success
In BERC's work with City Schools, researcher Rachel E. Durham and practitioner Rachel Pfeifer show the power of a Research Practice Partnership through a pair of blogs that discuss work to promote youth success. Read more from the researcher perspective and...
BERC in Phi Delta Kappa
As community schools spread across the country, community school staff need effective approaches to engaging families and community-based partners. Such principles must be broadly applicable, given community schools’ mandate to adapt to different local contexts. Based...
Strategies for Student Attendance and School Climate in Baltimore’s Community Schools
In this study, we interviewed the coordinators in community schools identified as having comparatively higher student attendance and more positive school climate than peer community schools. The coordinators reported that having clearly designated roles, reliable...
EdWeek Blog: Improvement Science in Schools
BERC wrote about their Improvement Science. on EdWeek. One from the researchers perspective, and from the practitioner's perspective.
Getting to High School in Baltimore
Getting to High School in Baltimore: Student Commuting and Public Transportation Starting in 2015, BERC researchers became interested in high school student commutes and the potential relationship with attendance and tardiness. This first report examines the commutes...
College Fact Book
Baltimore City Schools College Fact Book, by Rachel E. Durham, Rudy Ruiz and Faith Connolly, provides a detailed update through the class of 2015 as part of a series of reports about Baltimore City Schools graduates' college access. For the first time, this report...
Stocks in the Future: An Examination of Participant Outcomes in 2014-15
Stocks in the Future, August 2016 This study presents outcomes on the Stocks in the Future program in several Baltimore City Schools. Stocks in the Future is a financial literacy and incentive program for students in grades 6 through 8, delivered weekly by students'...
Baltimore Community Schools: Promise & Progress
This report, by Rachel E. Durham and Faith Connolly, examined the characteristics of students Community Schools serve, parent engagement, school climate, and student attendance outcomes, as compared to non-Community Schools. In addition, the report examines...
Kindergarten Attendance and Readiness for Baltimore’s Class of 2027
This brief examines kindergarten readiness and attendance in kindergarten for children enrolled in publicly provided early education programs as well as similar children who entered kindergarten without enrolling in these programs. Researchers found that children who...
The Costly Consequences of Not Being Socially and Behaviorally Ready by Kindergarten
In 2015, 52% of Baltimore City Public Schools’ kindergarteners were assessed as entering school without sufficient social-behavioral skills needed to learn. These are the readiness skills children need to follow directions, comply with rules, manage emotions, solve...
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BERC is located in Johns Hopkins University School of Education building in downtown Baltimore.