Can Big City Schools Be Improved? By Michael Casserly* Nation's Cities Weekly February 3, 2003 Every debate about how to reform Americas schools is a discussionat its coreabout how to improve public education in our cities. It is surprising, then, that so few people have bothered to ask whether any of the reforms being pursued by the cities are actually working. But these questions are being raised if only by urban schools themselves and the answers are proving useful as the big cities struggle to meet the goals of the federal No Child Left Behind Act.   New state assessment data are starting to show that progress, however fragile, is being made. About 40% of the nations 60 largest urban school systems have improved their reading scores in every grade tested since the states began assessing local performance. Some 83% of the cities have improved in at least half of their tested grades. And, seven cities (11%) improved in every grade faster than their respective states. Gains are stronger in math. That there were cities improving at rates faster than their states and simultaneously narrowing racially-identifiable achievement gaps is very encouraging news. But the progress begs the question, How did they do it? A new analysis, Foundations for Success, by the Council of the Great City Schools and the MDRC research group looked at some of the faster moving citiesCharlotte, Houston, Sacramento, and New York Citys Chancellors Districtand found some strikingly similar strategies that could prove useful to big city schools nationally.   Overall, each district took a comprehensive, systemwide approach to reform rather than relying on each school to figure it out for themselves. This approach helped spur improvements across the district, rather than in pockets of schools. In each city district, reform was initiated and led by a superintendent and school board who were in sync about how to boost student performance, who did so in a steady but relentless fashion over an extended period, and who minimized the political game-playing and zero-sum decision-making found in some districts.  It took community-wide meetings to build support for the reform initiatives.  In Sacramento, former mayor Joe Serna Jr., played a major role in spurring school reform.  You cant have great cities without great schools, he stressed. The analysis also found that the districts shared three common strategies that a set of contrasting districts had not implemented.   First, each district set hard-nosed and measurable goals for the district and its individual schools with an accountability system based on results. These districts accountability systems went beyond what their states had established and held district leaders and school staff personally responsible for results. Second, the districts implemented a coherent, somewhat prescriptive, district-wide curriculum and professional development program. This approach allowed the districts to mitigate the effects of high student mobility and large numbers of inexperienced teachers. Third, the districts instituted regular testing and used the results to measure progress, assess weaknesses, and intervene as problems arose. The districts provided teachers and principals with early and ongoing assessments and training on how to use the data throughout the school year rather than waiting until it was too late. The findings are not particularly mysterious. What is new is that the research takes systemic reform out of the realm of speculation and into the empirical. There is still a great deal that we dont know from these preliminary findings. And there is a lot of work ahead to translate this new research into practical strategies for schools and their leaders. But urban school leaders are trying to create a path along which we can improve our bottom line -- student achievement. This new research gives us a good start and a lot of optimism that the challenges ahead can be met. _____________________ * Michael Casserly is the Executive Director of the Council of the Great City Schools, a coalition of the nations largest big city public school systems.