Recent Publications by Suzanne Blanc
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Making the Most of Interim Assessment Data: Lessons from Philadelphia – Executive Summary
This is the executive summary of RFA’s report, Making the Most of Interim Assessment Data: Lessons from Philadelphia. Under No Child Left Behind, urban school districts have increasingly turned to interim assessments, administered at regular…
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‘I’m No Longer Afraid to Say I Don’t Know:’ Becoming Scientists/Becoming Leaders
An evaluation of the Teachers Leadership Collaborative, a project of the Franklin Institute. Describes how urban teachers undertake an inquiry, hands-on to science instruction and position themselves as teacher leaders to promote and facilitate investigative…
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State Takeover, School Restructuring, Private Management, and Student Achievement in Philadelphia
Following a state takeover of the Philadelphia public schools in 2002, 45 schools were turned over to private managers, making Philadelphia the site of the nation’s largest experiment in the private management of public schools.…
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Girls in the Middle: Working to Succeed in School
Middle schools are in a position to empower girls through educational reforms that directly address issues of gender equity. This study, commissioned by the American Association of University Women Education Foundation, reports on research in…
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Student Achievement in Privately Managed and District-Managed Schools in Philadelphia Since the State Takeover
Following a state takeover of the Philadelphia public schools in 2002, 45 schools were turned over to private managers, making Philadelphia the site of the nation’s largest experiment in the private management of public schools.…
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The Science Learning Network: An Experiment in Technology, Museum-School Partnerships and Educational Reform
This report is an evaluation of the performance of the Science Learning Network (SLN) during the first three years of its existence, from 1995 to 1997. SLN was a collaboration of six science museums and…
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Studying Micro-Processes of School-Based Educators’ Use of Data in Cross-School Qualitative Research
This paper was presented at the American Education Research Association’s 2007 annual conference. While there is a great deal of enthusiasm for collection and use of student data by educators, little is known about how…
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Up-Close and Personal: An Evaluation of the American Red Cross Partners for Youth Program
This report is an evaluation of the American Red Cross’ Partners for Youth program as implemented in twelve Philadelphia middle schools. This program is based on the principle that service learning can be an empowering…
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Making the Most of Interim Assessment Data: Lessons from Philadelphia
Under No Child Left Behind, urban school districts have increasingly turned to interim assessments, administered at regular intervals, to help gauge student progress in advance of annual state exams. These assessments have spawned growing debate…
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Preview of Findings from RFA’s Fall 1999 Data Collection and Analysis: Creating an Infrastructure for Sustaining Math and Science Reform in Philadelphia
This report is an analysis of the PHUSI and large-scale sustainable changes in math and science curricula in Philadelphia schools. The analysis is based primarily on key informant interviews conducted during Nov. and Dec. 1999…
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Youth as Civic Actors: High School Reform in Three Philadelphia Neighborhoods
Philadelphia unfolds out from its downtown skyline into a diverse swath of neighborhoods, each with its own story of richness and struggle-and each with its own public high school. In 2002, and still today, many…
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Strong Neighborhoods, Strong Schools: Case Study: Logan Square Neighborhood Association
Logan Square Neighborhood Association (LSNA), started in the early 1960s, is a multi-issue organization with a diverse constituency reflecting the make-up of this racially and economically varied neighborhood. LSNA’s work is guided by a Holistic…
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Emerging Themes from the Perspective of Principals
This is an analytic paper based on interviews with a sample of 20 principals from Philadelphia’s 85 lowest performing schools and interviews with private managers and representatives from the School District of Philadelphia. Emerging themes…
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From the Ground Up: The Logan Square Neighborhood Association’s Approach to Building Community Capacity
This report presents a study of the evolution, implementation, and results of the Logan Square Neighborhood Association (LSNA). LSNA has a 40 year history of mobilixing residents to maintain and imrpove the quality of community…
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Teacher Beliefs about Equity in a Mathematics and Science Reform Program
This paper is drawn from Research for Action’s evaluation of the Urban Systemic Program in Philadelphia. The Urban Systemic Program is designed to enhance achievement in mathematics and science for all students. In this paper,…
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Schools Examine Test Data to Guide Plans for What to Teach
There is great enthusiasm in Philadelphia and in districts across the country now for ‘data driven decision-making’ – using the information from assessments of student learning to guide plans for what to teach and how…
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Public Education in Philadelphia: The Crucial Need for Civic Capacity in a Privatized Environment
This article explores the role of public engagement in Philadelphia public schools, answering the question of whether the form of private sector involvement now being pursued by the School District of Philadelphia is an adequate…