Curriculm Policy Effects on Math and Science Coursetaking, Achievement, and Preparation for College In Chicago Public High Schools

如今，改善数学和科学学习的一些最突出的努力仅仅集中在学生对课程的接触上——让更多的学生参加大学预科课程，同时提高这些课程的严密性。然而，目前尚不清楚仅仅改变和扩大学生注册的课程是否会对科学和数学的学习产生实质性影响，特别是当参与这些课程的学生扩大到传统上没有注册这些课程的学生时，以及这种方法是否有潜在的成本。这些改革的效果可能取决于它们的实施方式，学校在不牺牲质量的情况下制定更严格课程的能力，学生实际接受更具挑战性和吸引力的教学的程度，以及学生对日益严格的教学做出反应的能力。现有的研究并没有告诉我们这种课程改革在多大程度上提高了学生的学习成绩，也没有告诉我们，这种课程要求和课程设置的变化对什么样的学生或学校最有利。这项拟议中的研究严格评估了芝加哥一个以少数族裔为主的大城市学区大规模课程改革的效果。自1997年以来，芝加哥已经实施了一系列课程改革，旨在增加学生接触严格课程的机会，包括提高所有学生的毕业要求，扩大社区高中的AP课程，以及为技能较低的学生开设双代数课程。研究人员已经获得了1991年以来芝加哥公立学校学生的行政记录、小学和高中标准化考试成绩、高中课程成绩单和大学记录。这允许对大规模课程改革对学生成绩的影响进行严格的纵向分析，包括ACT分数、课程成绩、高中毕业和大学成绩。这些数据允许检查个别学生随时间的增长，并比较改革前后学生群体的增长。研究小组的四名调查人员都在进行高中研究和与学校合作利用他们的研究方面具有丰富的专业知识。所有人都有很强的统计技能和使用这项工作所需的纵向数据的丰富经验。这项研究将有助于指导城市学校决定将资源投入到特定课程中，以提高学生的成绩和教育成就。增加高级课程的机会可能会全面改善结果，但结果可能会更加微妙和复杂。这项研究还将表明，在传统上没有开设严格课程的学校实施严格课程的障碍和成本。结果将在多个渠道发布，以达到不同类型的受众。报告将针对实践者，展示不同类型的课程改革对具有不同结构能力水平的学校中不同类型学生的学生成果的影响，以及实施的障碍。学术文章将解释研究大规模课程改革的方法，并讨论对学习理论和学校组织结构影响的影响。研究团队的成员与芝加哥公立学校有着悠久的合作历史，将研究成果纳入政策和实践。他们积极尝试以从业者和学者都能理解的方式展示他们的工作。该研究小组的成员还将与全国各地致力于高中改革问题的许多组织和个人分享这项工作。

Some of the most prominent efforts to improve math and science learning today focussimply on students' exposure to curriculum--getting more students to take college preparatorycoursework, while also increasing the rigor of such coursework. Yet, it is not known if justchanging and expanding the courses in which students are enrolled will have a substantial effecton learning in science and math, particularly as participation expands to students who havetraditionally not been enrolled in such courses, and whether there are potential costs to thisapproach. The efficacy of such reforms will likely depend upon the ways in which they areimplemented, the capacity of schools to enact more rigorous coursework without sacrificingquality, the degree to which students actually receive more challenging and engaging instruction,and the capacity of students to respond to increased rigor. Extant research does not tell us thedegree to which such curricular reforms improve student outcomes, nor what kinds of students orschools are best served by such changes in course requirements and offerings.The proposed research rigorously evaluates the efficacy of large-scale curricular reformin a large, urban mostly-minority school district, Chicago. Since 1997, Chicago has enacted anumber of curricular reforms aimed at increasing students' exposure to rigorous coursework,including raising graduation requirements for all students, expanding AP courses inneighborhood high schools, and requiring double algebra courses for students with low skills.The researchers already have access to administrative records, elementary and high schoolstandardized test scores, high school course transcripts, and college records on the population ofstudents attending Chicago Public Schools since 1991. This allows for a rigorous, longitudinalanalysis of the effects of large-scale curricular reforms on student outcomes, including ACT scores, course grades, high school graduation, and college outcomes. The data allow forexamination of growth over time of individual students, and comparisons of this growth acrosspre- and post-reform cohorts of students. The four investigators on the research team all havesubstantial expertise conducting research on high schools and working with schools to make useof their research. All have very strong statistical skills and substantial experience using thelongitudinal data required for this work.This study will help guide urban schools as they make decisions about investingresources into particular courses to enhance student achievement and educational attainment.increased opportunities for advanced coursework may improve outcomes across the board, but itis likely that the findings will be more nuanced and complex. This study will also show theobstacles and costs to implementing rigorous curriculum in schools that have not traditionallyoffered such courses. The results will be published in multiple outlets to reach different typesaudiences. Reports will be aimed at practitioners, showing the effects of the different types ofcurricular reform on student outcomes for different types of students in schools with differentlevels of structural capacity, as well as the barriers to implementation. Scholarly articles will bewritten to explain the methodology for studying large-scale curricular reforms, and to discuss theimplications for theories on learning and on the effects of school organizational structure.Members of the research team have a long history of working with the Chicago Public Schools toincorporate research results into policy and practice. They actively try to present their work inways that are accessible to practitioners as well as scholars. The members of this research teamwill also share this work with the many organizations and individuals who are working on issuesof high school reform around the country.