CPS probation external support system with five school-level support providers¶

Element · All elements
Evidence · 6 claims (2 for, 1 mixed, 3 against) · 2 studies (2 qualitative), q2 · 0 of 2 report an effect size · 6 claims rest on one study

Description¶

The Chicago school probation policy's external support system includes five school-level providers: "an external partner, a probation manager, a regional education officer, a business manager or intern, and a facilitator from CPS's Office of Accountability." External partners, selected by schools from an approved market-based list, provide professional development and school improvement assistance; probation managers, assigned by the district, mentor and supervise the principal and oversee the improvement planning process. CPS spent approximately $29 million on this effort between 1997 and 2001, delivering most assistance on site as part of school-wide improvement plans.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Schools select external partners through a proposal-based approval process; funding shifts gradually from district to school over three years

Constraints¶

• The study found a relative lack of emphasis on training of support providers and an absence of built-in mechanisms for learning on the part of providers or the district

Target Learners¶

• Students in Chicago elementary schools on academic probation

Target Learning Goals¶

• Strengthened school operations, raised expectations, and improved instruction to foster increased student achievement

Affordances¶

• Probation Policy Theory Of Action Consequences Plus Support

Claims¶

• Only 4 of 11 studied external partners had a comprehensive, research-based approach to literacy instruction [~W]
• Organizational-level support targeted four areas: coordination and leadership, professional norms, monitoring of instruction and learning, and resources [+W]
• Provider assistance to probation schools suffered from low intensity, poor communication among providers, and weak organizational change strategies [-W]
• Most partner professional development relied on traditional short-term workshops with little classroom-level intensive assistance [-W]
• Providers located low performance within schools and targeted the instructional unit of teachers, materials, and students [+W]
• High-stakes testing pushed some Chicago schools toward test preparation and away from partners' long-term instructional improvement efforts [-W]

Related Elements¶

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Kara Finnigan and Jennifer O'Day, with the assistance of David Wakelyn. (2003). External Support to Schools on Probation: Getting a Leg Up? https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED474395