Transforming the High School Experience: How New York City's New Small Schools Are Boosting Student Achievement and Graduation Rates
Bloom, Howard S.; Thompson, Saskia Levy; Unterman, Rebecca (2011). Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness. Retrieved from: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED518376
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examining27,793Students, grades9-12
Practice Guide
Review Details
Reviewed: December 2022
- Practice Guide (findings for Small Schools of Choice (SSCs))
- Quasi-Experimental Design
- Additional source not reviewed (View primary source).
This review may not reflect the full body of research evidence for this intervention.
Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.
Findings
Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.
Sample Characteristics
Study sample characteristics were not reported.Grant Competition
Review Details
Reviewed: February 2014
- Grant Competition (findings for Small School of Choice)
- Quasi-Experimental Design
- Meets WWC standards with reservations
This review may not reflect the full body of research evidence for this intervention.
Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.
Findings
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Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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On-time graduation |
Small School of Choice vs. Business as usual |
9th graders |
Overall;
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N/A |
N/A |
Yes |
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Graduation for 12th Grade |
Small School of Choice vs. Business as usual |
12th graders |
Overall;
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N/A |
N/A |
Yes |
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Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Total credits |
Small School of Choice vs. Business as usual |
10th graders |
Overall;
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N/A |
N/A |
Yes |
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|
|
Total credits |
Small School of Choice vs. Business as usual |
11th graders |
Overall;
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N/A |
N/A |
Yes |
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Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.
Sample Characteristics
Characteristics of study sample as reported by study author.
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8% English language learners -
Female: 54%
Male: 46% -
Urban
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New York
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Race Black 43% Other or unknown 8% -
Ethnicity Hispanic 48% Not Hispanic or Latino 52%
Transforming the High School Experience: How New York City's New Small Schools Are Boosting Student Achievement and Graduation Rates
Review Details
Reviewed: January 2012
- Quick Review (356 KB) (findings for Small Schools of Choice (SSCs))
- Quasi-Experimental Design
- Meets WWC standards with reservations
This review may not reflect the full body of research evidence for this intervention.
Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.
Findings
|
Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
On-time graduation |
Small Schools of Choice (SSCs) vs. Business as usual |
9th graders |
Cohorts 1-4;
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N/A |
N/A |
Yes |
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Graduation for 12th Grade |
Small Schools of Choice (SSCs) vs. Business as usual |
12th graders |
cohort 1;
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N/A |
N/A |
Yes |
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Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Total credits |
Small Schools of Choice (SSCs) vs. Business as usual |
10th graders |
Cohorts 1-3;
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N/A |
N/A |
Yes |
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Total credits |
Small Schools of Choice (SSCs) vs. Business as usual |
11th graders |
Cohorts 1-2;
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N/A |
N/A |
Yes |
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Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.
Sample Characteristics
Characteristics of study sample as reported by study author.
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Female: 54%
Male: 46% -
Urban
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- B
- A
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- I
- H
- J
- K
- L
- P
- M
- N
- O
- Q
- R
- S
- V
- U
- T
- W
- X
- Z
- Y
- a
- h
- i
- b
- d
- e
- f
- c
- g
- j
- k
- l
- m
- n
- o
- p
- q
- r
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- u
- v
- x
- w
- y
New York
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Race Black 43% Other or unknown 8% -
Ethnicity Hispanic 48% Not Hispanic or Latino 52%
An indicator of the effect of the intervention, the improvement index can be interpreted as the expected change in percentile rank for an average comparison group student if that student had received the intervention.
For more, please see the WWC Glossary entry for improvement index.
An outcome is the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that are attained as a result of an activity. An outcome measures is an instrument, device, or method that provides data on the outcome.
A finding that is included in the effectiveness rating. Excluded findings may include subgroups and subscales.
The sample on which the analysis was conducted.
The group to which the intervention group is compared, which may include a different intervention, business as usual, or no services.
The timing of the post-intervention outcome measure.
The number of students included in the analysis.
The mean score of students in the intervention group.
The mean score of students in the comparison group.
The WWC considers a finding to be statistically significant if the likelihood that the finding is due to chance alone, rather than a real difference, is less than five percent.
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The version of the WWC design standards used to guide the review of the study.
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Study findings for this report.
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Tier 1 Strong indicates strong evidence of effectiveness,
Tier 2 Moderate indicates moderate evidence of effectiveness, and
Tier 3 Promising indicates promising evidence of effectiveness,
as defined in the
non-regulatory guidance for ESSA
and the regulations for ED discretionary grants (EDGAR Part 77).