Composite results
The test of any school reform is whether students do better. Across the network, the evidence pointed to real gains, and it was strongest for the students the Initiative was designed to reach.
Students in Initiative schools made progress on achievement tests. Fewer of them dropped out, more of them graduated, and those from low income households began to post stronger results than similar students elsewhere in the state. Tracking of the schools continued through the 2011 and 2012 school years, adding to a national research base on the small schools model.
What was measured
The charts and tables produced during the Initiative drew on figures that schools submitted to the state. They covered meet and exceed rates on the state assessment in mathematics, reading and writing, along with graduation rates, dropout rates, enrolment and student demographics.
The reports
The findings were published in a series of reports, several of them produced by the independent economics firm ECONorthwest. Each is summarised below. Together they form the documentary record of what the Initiative set out to do and what it found.
| Report | Date | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| Quantitative analysis of student results, 2004 to 2009 (ECONorthwest) | November 2010 | The most comprehensive analysis to date. Examines enrolment, achievement, attendance, high school completion, college going rates and cost per student, and concludes that small schools may be more cost effective than larger comprehensive high schools when measured by cost per student reaching a desired outcome. |
| How the Initiative evolved, and what it achieved | November 2010 | Looks at where the Initiative came from, how it developed in and beyond classrooms, how partner schools actually changed, and what it left behind in teaching and achievement. |
| Summary of the two most recent reports | November 2010 | A short summary that gathers the highlights of the two reports above into one overview. |
| Academic achievement and high school completion (ECONorthwest) | April 2010 | Analyses small schools data to show how the model improved results in many schools, especially for students who had historically been underserved. |
| Report on promising outcomes | November 2009 | Summarises achievement and graduation data alongside brief case studies, and provides an overview of the Initiative's history and structures. |
| Achievement, graduation and dropout charts and tables | Various | Quantitative snapshots comparing Initiative schools with other Oregon schools and students, based on figures that schools submitted to the state. |
Reading the numbers carefully
Two cautions apply. First, cohort graduation rates follow every student who starts high school in a particular year and finishes with a standard diploma in four years. Second, the charts reflect school level data reported to the state rather than student level records, so they may differ somewhat from the analysis ECONorthwest conducted. The Initiative's approach to collecting and interpreting data is described in Data Methodology.
How the practices behind the numbers worked
The instructional approaches that partner schools adopted are described under Applied Practices.