Projects

High School Achievement, Attainment, and Post-Secondary Preparation

Collaboration with the Student Success Network

The Student Success Network (SSN) is a group of about 60 youth development and education organizations (including schools) that have coalesced around the goal of measuring and improving students’ social emotional learning skills.

Evaluating the Expanded Success Initiative

The Expanded Success Initiative (ESI) was designed to improve the educational experiences and outcomes of Black and Latino young men in high schools across the City. To gain an understanding of whether, and how, ESI benefitted students, the Research Alliance undertook a five-year mixed-methods longitudinal evaluation of the initiative.

CTE Innovation and Impact: Lessons from NYC

This project is leveraging the diversity and scale of NYC's CTE programs to learn about the conditions under which CTE is most effective

Evaluating iMentor’s School-Wide College Ready Program

iMentor is a nonprofit organization that provides school-based mentoring, with a focus on helping students develop the skills they need to be prepared for and succeed in college.

Exploring How High Schools Can More Effectively Serve Immigrant Youth

The Internationals Network for Public Schools (INPS) is a system of public high schools that serve recently arrived students with low levels of English language proficiency.

High School Choice in New York City

In recent years, policymakers across the country have instituted school choice policies, which aim to increase equity and narrow achievement gaps by offering students access to a wide range of schools, including schools outside their home neighborhood.

High School Choice Decision Supports

New York City is home to the largest high school choice program in the country. Since 2004, all City 8th graders have been required to rank their 12 preferred high school programs (in 2014-2015, there are over 700 programs offered in 400 schools).

High School Closures in New York City

Between 2002 and 2008, 29 low-performing high schools were designated for closure in New York City. This report presents the results from the first rigorous study of the impact of these closures on students’ academic performance, attendance, and mobility. (2015)

Keeping 9th Grade Students “On Track” to Graduation

As early as 9th grade, student engagement and achievement can offer strong signals about which students are on the path to on-time graduation, and which are at risk of dropping out.

The NYC Partnership for College Readiness and Success

This partnership between CUNY, the NYC DOE, and the Research Alliance is bringing together the key stakeholders who focus on secondary and post-secondary education in New York City, enabling researchers to link together CUNY and DOE student data.

Reclassification of English Language Learners in NYC

In the 2012-2013 school year, the NYC Department of Education served 145,000 students designated as English language learners (ELLs)—nearly 15 percent of the total student population.

Supporting the Development and Evaluation of Early Warning and College-Readiness Indicator Systems

The power of early warning and college-readiness indicator systems is that they take messy, seemingly overwhelming problems—such as getting students to graduate from high school and persist in college—and focus attention on opportunities to successfully intervene.

Technical Assistance for the Teagle Foundation’s College-Community Connections Program

The Teagle Foundation’s College-Community Connections (CCC) program aims to help financially disadvantaged high school students overcome the barriers they face in pursuing an undergraduate degree.

Understanding the Impact of Small High Schools of Choice

Since 1999, the landscape of New York City high schools has changed dramatically. Over 150 new high schools have opened, with an average enrollment of just over 100 students per grade.

ARIS: Educator Usage and Perceptions of a District-Wide Data System

Unveiled in 2008, New York City’s Achievement Reporting and Innovation System (ARIS) was one of the first district-wide investments in data-driven education reform in the United States, a major undertaking for the nation’s largest school district.

Collaboration with the Student Success Network

Design2Learn: An Evaluation of Implementation and Impact

Design2Learn is an afterschool program for students in middle school—a period in which student performance in science often declines sharply.

Evaluating the Safe Public Spaces Program

Research has demonstrated important connections between students’ sense of safety—both physical and emotional—inside their schools and outcomes such as academic effort and achievement.

High School Choice in New York City

High School Choice Decision Supports

Middle School Teacher Turnover

Some amount of teacher turnover is generally thought to be constructive, as it brings new ideas, energy, and skills to schools. However, research suggests that too much turnover may have serious instructional, financial, and organizational costs.

Reclassification of English Language Learners in NYC

In the 2012-2013 school year, the NYC Department of Education served 145,000 students designated as English language learners (ELLs)—nearly 15 percent of the total student population.

School of One Impact on Middle School Math Achievement

In the 2010-2011 academic year, three New York City middle schools began piloting School of One (SO1), a program that leverages data to individualize math instruction.

Student Transitions Through the Middle Grades

Educators have long asserted that the middle grades are a time of both great importance and vulnerability. Anecdotal and empirical evidence suggest that students encounter new social and emotional challenges, increased academic demands, and major developmental transitions during these years.

Turnaround Middle Schools

What can be learned from low-performing middle schools that have beaten the odds and substantially improved student performance?

Advancing School Capacity

In 2014, the New York City Department of Education began developing a new approach to school improvement. A centerpiece of this effort was the adoption of a "Framework for Great Schools," which outlines specific areas of school functioning that are critical for improving student outcomes.

ARIS: Educator Usage and Perceptions of a District-Wide Data System

Data In Use

Recent years have seen a tremendous growth in data-driven initiatives aimed at improving schools, including instructional techniques and accountability systems that rely heavily on using and interpreting data.

Developing Measures of Effective Learning Environments from the NYC School Surveys

Since 2010, the Research Alliance has partnered with the DOE to ensure that the New York City School Survey captures reliable and valid information, and to attempt to enhance the survey’s usefulness to administration and school leaders.

Evaluating the Outcomes of the Center for Racial Justice in Education

By examining the experiences of schools participating in the Center for Racial Justice in Education’s training, this study contributes to a growing body of research on equity in education and addressing racial injustice in the classroom.

Evaluating the Reach, Quality, and Impact of Computer Science for All in NYC

CS4All is a 10-year, $81 million public-private partnership between the City of New York and the private sector, designed to bring computer science education to every student in NYC public schools.

Evaluating the Safe Public Spaces Program

Research has demonstrated important connections between students’ sense of safety—both physical and emotional—inside their schools and outcomes such as academic effort and achievement.

Maker Partnership

In collaboration with Schools That Can and MakerState, the Research Alliance is evaluating the implementation of Maker Partnership curriculum and professional development.

Middle School Teacher Turnover

Understanding the Impact of Small High Schools of Choice

Since 1999, the landscape of New York City high schools has changed dramatically. Over 150 new high schools have opened, with an average enrollment of just over 100 students per grade.

ARIS: Educator Usage and Perceptions of a District-Wide Data System

Collaboration with the Student Success Network

Data In Use

Design2Learn: An Evaluation of Implementation and Impact

Design2Learn is an afterschool program for students in middle school—a period in which student performance in science often declines sharply.

Evaluation of the InnovateNYC Ecosystem

The New York City Department of Education’s InnovateNYC Ecosystem aims to transform the DOE’s procurement process for education technology tools, thereby raising the quantity and quality of technology in NYC classrooms.

Keeping 9th Grade Students “On Track” to Graduation

As early as 9th grade, student engagement and achievement can offer strong signals about which students are on the path to on-time graduation, and which are at risk of dropping out.

Pre-K for All in New York City

This research-practice partnership is supporting the roll out of Pre-K For All in NYC and providing evidence to help improve the quality of pre-k programming.

School of One Impact on Middle School Math Achievement

In the 2010-2011 academic year, three New York City middle schools began piloting School of One (SO1), a program that leverages data to individualize math instruction.

Special Education in NYC: A Landscape Analysis

This project filled important gaps in our knowledge about how and where students with disabilities are being served in New York City. The study illuminated inequities, as well as areas of progress, and laid a valuable foundation for future research.

Supporting the #DegreesNYC Data Co-op and Learning Network

This project will work to identify key indicators of being on track for success in postsecondary education and career pathways, and empirically test the relationship between those indicators and student outcomes.

Equity, Access, and Diversity in NYC Schools

One of the most significant challenges facing schools in New York City and around the nation lies in their relationship to larger societal inequalities.

Evaluating the Reach, Quality, and Impact of Computer Science for All in NYC

CS4All is a 10-year, $81 million public-private partnership between the City of New York and the private sector, designed to bring computer science education to every student in NYC public schools.

Exploring How High Schools Can More Effectively Serve Immigrant Youth

The Internationals Network for Public Schools (INPS) is a system of public high schools that serve recently arrived students with low levels of English language proficiency.

Understanding the Gap in Participation in Summer Meals Programs

In partnership with Share Our Strength, the Research Alliance is conducting a qualitative study to learn about families’ participation in summer meals programs, including barriers that may prevent low-income families from taking advantage of such programs.

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The Research Alliance for New York City Schools

Team

Projects

High School Achievement, Attainment, and Post-Secondary Preparation

Achievement and Development in the Middle Grades

Contexts That Support Effective Teaching

Data Use for Practice and Policy

Strategies to Address Inequality