Spotlight on: Research for School Improvements

Our friends at Research for Action recently posted two new research and reporting activities on School Victories.  Uneven Playing Field: Demographic Differences and High School "Choice" in Philadelphia and Challenges to Freshman Year Interventions in Philadelphia are two in a series of briefs emerging from a larger report on Transitioning to High School, released in March 2010.
 
Research for Action is as dynamic a group as their name sounds - the report has already made waves in Philadelphia newspapers [1] [2] [3] [4] for identifying problems with the current high school "choice" system in Philadelphia. 
 
But you don't need to be a full-time researcher to make a difference in your schools.  Show how money matters for education by documenting the ways that your school and district have improved due to increased funding, or show where more funding is needed.  Here are some ideas to get you started:

• Meet with your principal or superintendent, to ask them what's improved and what still needs improving.
• Print the Education Law Center's Education Survey to distribute to parents and use it to identify strengths and weaknesses in your schools.
• Go to http://paayp.emetric.net/ to see how your school's academic proficiency, school attendance, and graduation rates have changed over time.
• Visit  www.recovery.pa.gov (for Pennsylvanians), www.recovery.gov, and www.edmoney.org to learn more about how stimulus money is being spent on education in your region.

As soon as you get started, create a research and reporting activity on School Victories.  The questions will help you think about your work, and you can use the activity page to share your findings.  For inspiration, check out Lutheran Advocacy Ministry in PA's PACT-PA Research and the Philadelphia Student Union's work on the Community Account.

Good luck!