Recent Technical Assistance Projects

Title: Pennsylvania/Title I Big Cities Consortium

Sponsor/Funder: U.S. Department of Education and Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE)

Target Audience: 18 Pennsylvania urban school districts

Collaborating Agencies: Pennsylvania Department of Education, 18 Pennsylvania urban school districts, and Region III Comprehensive Center

Dates: 1997 - Present

Description: In 1997 the head of PDE's Division of Federal Programs invited Pennsylvania's urban districts to form a "consortium" whose purpose would be to support collaborative work on common problems, and he offered modest funds to cover some of the costs of such work. District representatives responded positively to the idea and subsequently asked RBS to help plan and conduct such an effort. As the Consortium has evolved, collaborative activities have come to focus on: (1) improving student achievement in reading and mathematics and (2) improving how the schools and districts plan, conduct, and evaluate improvement efforts, with particular emphasis on professional development. RBS currently plays three roles with respect to the Consortium:

• Help Consortium members identify priorities for collaborative activities on an annual basis. This involves a multi-step process of identifying interests of individual districts, surveying Consortium members about proposed activities, and reaching agreement as to common activities to be undertaken.
• Help the districts plan how an activity will be carried out and who will lead or facilitate.
• Assume personal responsibility for the planning and conduct of specific activities.

The following are recent examples of Consortium activities that RBS has helped the Consortium to plan and conduct:

• Seminars on: (1) the implications of recent meta-analyses of reading research, using The National Reading Panel's Report: Teaching Children to Read. (U.S. Department of Education) as a resource;(2) models of effective professional development, using resources from the 1996-2001 USED's National Award for Model Professional Development (programs that effect classroom practices in ways that improve student achievement) and materials developed by WestEd, NCREL, and SERVE; (3) the implications of Adding It Up­-Helping Children Learn Mathematics, K-8, a synthesis on learning mathematics developed by the National Research Council (National Academy Press); and (4) accountability systems that encourage school staffs, students, and parents to strive to achieve challenging state standards, using Lashway's The New Standards and Accountability - Will Rewards and Sanctions Motivate America's Schools to Peak Performance? (ERIC Clearinghouse on Educational Management), and Jenkins' Improving Student Learning - Applying Deming's Principles in Classrooms (American Society for Quality Press) .
• Three-day workshop with Shula Nedley on improving classroom assessments and involving students in the assessment process, using resources on student-involved classroom assessment developed by Richard Stiggins.
• Visitation to Fulton, King, and Price Elementary Schools in Lancaster School District to learn about improvements in their performance and changes in practices that have contributed to those improvements, and visitation to Philadelphia's Cooke Middle and Middle Years Alternative Schools to learn about improvements in their performance and the changes in practices that contributed to those improvements.

Outcomes : Based on participating staff feedback on particular activities, the Consortium's activities are helping interested district staff to: (1) explore common problems, (2) share strategies for addressing those problems, (3) acquire information about potential useful resources for addressing those problems, and (4) develop useful relationships with colleagues from other districts.

In fall 2003, PDE's new administration decided to determine with the leadership of the participating districts whether the Consortium project should be continued. To this end, PDE's Deputy Secretary for Elementary and Secondary met with district leaders to discuss the question. At the meeting, district leaders argued strongly that the original premise of the Consortium still held - i.e., urban districts share common problems they can help each other address, and these problems are different in both kind and magnitude from those facing neighboring suburban and rural districts.

Before deciding whether to continue its support of the Consortium, PDE asked RBS to help it survey the districts as to the purposes, mode of operation, and priorities of the Consortium. The results of that survey led PDE to decide to continue its support of Consortium activities in school year 2004-2005. Currently, the Consortium has initiated activities with respect to: (1) developing student skills in language and reading at intermediate, middle, and high school levels, (2) developing strategies to help second language learners become proficient in English and in academic language that is necessary to achieve specific academic standards, and (3) strengthening the coaching component of professional development.

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