In June of 2020, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh declared racism in the city a“public health crisis.” Racism has had long standing impacts on the academic, socioemotional, and economic outcomes of BPS students and families for many decades. Research scholar Ibram X. Kendi (2019) posited that in order to dismantle racist policies and practices in American public-school education, a move toward becoming anti-racist is necessary. His argument suggested that the opposite of white supremacist practices is anti-racism, which includes cutting to the root of racist policies that perpetuate systematic inequities disproportionately impacting Black and Brown communities.
Excellence For All (EFA) is a Boston Public School initiative specifically developed to address the need for equitable access and opportunity for student learning, and “build capacity and provide the vision, innovation, and supports the district and its individual schools need to foster opportunities for [Black, Latinx, emergent bilinguals, students with disabilities, and low socioeconomic status students] to flourish and close gaps in proficiency across all areas of their education” (EFA, 2019). EFA is an attempt by BPS to increase access for historically marginalized students formerly underserved in BPS Advanced Work Courses (AWC) and other academic enrichment opportunities to best prepare them for optimal academic and socioemotional outcomes.
Our report provides a primarily qualitative analysis of fidelity and quality of support for student learning in the implementation of the EFA initiative in 16 Boston Public Schools serving 4-6th grade students.
Findings are guided by three research questions: (1) How has EFA contributed to the academic and social emotional development of students, including cultivating confidence and academic perseverance, (2) How has EFA provided support and coaching for teachers and school staff, and (3) In what ways are teachers, students and families satisfied with EFA?
NYU Metro Center collected data in four case study sites and interviewed EFA coaches and some EFA principals, which revealed highlights and challenges of EFA implementation. We also used secondary implementation and achievement data provided by BPS to triangulate our qualitative data. We explored changes in English Language Arts (ELA) standardized test scores for Black and Latinx 4th and 5th grade students in EFA schools, as well as the relationship between implementation and achievement.
Key findings include:
Highlights:
- EFA provides opportunities to level the playing field
- EFA is designed to challenge ideas about who is “smart” and who is not
- EFA can integrate well into school culture
- Students enjoy EFA
- EFA provides high-quality coaching and support
Challenges Specific to EFA Initiative:
- Communication and collaboration from central office
- Limited family engagement
Challenges to EFA Initiative within the BPS System:
- EFA implementation was inconsistent
- Historically marginalized students continue to be underserved in EFA schools
- Support for classroom teachers
We examined literature on de-tracking efforts, implementation of major educational reforms, Critical Race Theory, culturally responsive sustaining education and barriers to equitable education to situate these findings (Rubin, 2006; Bryk et al., 2010; Payne, 2008; Yosso, 2005; Bell, 1992; Crenshaw, et.al., 1995; Ladson-Billings and Tate, 1995; Milner, 2017).
In this report, we offer an overview of BPS’s history of racial equity and transition into a literature review on de-tracking efforts and urban school reform. We present our methods for data collection and analysis and share our main findings, presenting in this data the shared stories of various key stakeholders across sites within the BPS EFA initiative. We close with ways EFA can best serve BPS students through a culturally responsive and sustaining lens by recommending a need to center the needs of historically marginalized students, focus on family engagement, increase coaching support and improve collaboration between BPS offices.
