| Abstract: |
This presentation draws from Education Development Center’s (EDC) evaluation of the Nellie Mae Education Foundation’s multiyear initiative for student-centered learning in public high schools in New England to improve students’ college and career readiness (C&CR). An underlying premise of the initiative was that students need a wide set of experiences and skills to succeed after graduation. Yet, because many high schools define student success in terms of high-stakes tests, they are often ill-equipped to identify and address the needs of diverse learners with respect to this wider array of student outcomes. The EDC evaluation of this multi-site initiative developed and drew upon a set of common indicators to promote a more robust understanding of C&CR and to help grantee schools address concerns of unequal opportunities and outcomes for their students.
To that end, our evaluation drew upon existing frameworks and focused attention on particular outcomes to define a set of indicators for C&CR. Specifically, the indicators:
• Place a premium on the Deeper Learning (DL) framework developed by the Hewlett Foundation. In particular, three elements of the DL framework- Mastery of Core Academic Content, Learning How to Learn, and Developing Academic Mindsets- that call attention to student outcomes most central to the initiative’s definition of C&CR;
• Emphasize the importance of equitable access to, and scaffolds to succeed in, high-level, cognitively demanding learning opportunities;
• Attend to data on post-graduation success as a vehicle for understanding pre-graduation C&CR. Post-graduation indicators include data from the National Student Clearinghouse on student persistence in college programs.
Our C&CR indicators combine evaluation data with school, district, and state data to address implementation and outcomes related to systems, teachers, and students. Each indicator is deeply imbedded in the theory of C&CR as it relates to the foundation’s work, focusing on the shift of student learning away from teacher-centered and rote instruction towards experiences that promote creativity, problem-solving, and persistence. At the heart of this approach to examining C&CR is a body of recent research that associates these attributes with greater success in higher learning and work after high school.
The shift embodied in these C&CR indicators requires a fundamental re-thinking of the structures and functions of traditional schooling, especially those parts of the system that limit access to academic pathways and career skills. These changes also require a new, more systemic way of thinking about evaluation in school settings to encompass the range of behavioral, cognitive, and academic outcomes that contribute to students’ C&CR. The indicators are organized to inform action by stakeholders and include not only outcomes related to student academic performance, but also data on student engagement, equitable access to and scaffolds to succeed in rigorous learning opportunities, and the development of academic mindset and tenacity. This set of indicators reveals far more about the overall health of the school system to deliver on its promise of equitable student outcomes than the traditional, narrow set of outcomes that are commonly tracked and referenced in judging the performance of high schools.
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