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The Pathways Project
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here are under development, with the scope and goals of the projects
being refined collaboratively by BERC's various partners. Initial
work is underway on each project, but the BERC Executive Committee
will vote during Spring 2008 on specific research questions and
intended timelines that shall lead to official BERC products and
publications.
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The Pathways Project documents the predominant and critical pathways students take through the Baltimore City Public Schools through longitudinal studies of two cohorts at different stages in their educational careers. These studies follow students for seven years, with particular focus on resilience or risk factors that affected mobility, grade progression, and retention.
The “First Grade and Forward” study analyzes a cohort of students who entered first grade in 1999 through their expected (on-time) seventh-grade year to track patterns of promotion and retention, attendance, mobility within BCPSS, and transfer out of BCPSS.
To better understand and address the significant decline in achievement or
engagement that occurs for many of Baltimore’s middle school
students, “The
Challenge of On-Time Arrival” study retrospectively follows a cohort
of students forward from sixth grade to several years past their on-time
high school graduation year. It identifies characteristics of middle
grades environments associated with the most encouraging student trajectories
or those associated with declines in achievement levels, attendance,
or educational progress.
Drawing upon data for both cohorts, we have prepared a brief on
attendance and associated outcomes. That document can be found here.
The Pathways strategic data analyses provide BCPSS and the larger school reform community with insight into Baltimore’s most vexing educational challenges, and inform ongoing elementary, middle, and high school reform efforts by highlighting which educational inputs, structures, resources, and outcomes have particularly strong impacts.
The College Access Project
Using data available from the National
Student Clearinghouse (NSC) and BCPSS, this longitudinal study is examining
rates of matriculation, persistence, and degree completion in
postsecondary programs for seven recent BCPSS graduating classes
(2001-2007). The purpose of this study is to explain variation
in graduates’ postsecondary
educational outcomes according to high school course-taking,
achievement, and attendance patterns. In the coming months, researchers
hope to follow the 1999-00 sixth-grade cohort across nine years
or more to identify both middle school and high school predictors
of successful high school graduation, college readiness (by various
definitions), postsecondary enrollment, and persistence. These
analyses have been planned collaboratively by BERC’s
university partners, BCPSS staff, and the CollegeBound
Foundation.
Positive Learning Environments Aiming for Success in Science Education (PLEASSE)
BERC co-director Obed Norman is the principal investigator on a three-year research project to investigate the impact of an inquiry science teacher professional development and student motivation intervention. The Positive
Learning Environments Aiming for Success In Science Education (PLEASSE) project is funded by the National Science Foundation and will be conducted in Baltimore City middle and high schools.
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