In its 2010 report, Transforming the High School Experience: How New York City’s Small Schools are Boosting Student Achievement and Graduation Rates, MDRC provided compelling evidence that NYC’s small schools of choice (SSCs) have had a positive impact on students’ prospects for graduation. Extending this research, MDRC has engaged the Research Alliance in a mixed-methods study of the contextual and operational factors behind successful SSCs. Three goals define this study: (a) identify the critical steps that were taken in the creation, launching and early operation of effective smalls schools, as well as the strategies that were employed to overcome obstacles during this initial phase; (b) investigate similarities and differences in the organizational characteristics of the most effective SSCs relative to less effective high school options—including both SSCs and more traditional high school options; and (c) examine the relationship between SSCs’ organizational characteristics and their impacts on student outcomes.

This study is funded through a subcontract from MDRC and is part of a larger study of small high schools funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Key Staff and Collaborators

William Marinell, James Kemple, Adriana Villivicencio, Lori Nathanson, Alexandra Cordero, Maggie Fay and  MDRC

Publications

Sources of SSC Effectiveness: Findings from Field Research and Teacher Surveys, report anticipated December 2012.