Signs Of Progress Emerging In Newark’s Schools: Harvard Study

NEWARK, NJ — Aided by $200 million in private philanthropy, city and state leaders launched a major school reform effort in Newark five years ago. But how have Newark’s education reform efforts played out for the city’s parents and students since the 2011-12 school year?

That’s the focus of a recently released study from Harvard University, “Evaluating Newark's Education Reforms,” which found “net gains in student achievement growth despite initial declines.”

• See related article: Newark Regains Control Of Local Schools After 22-Year State Takeover

Here are some positive achievements that researchers found in the district over the last five years:

Net Growth In English – “By 2015-16, Newark students in grades 4 through 8 in both district and charter schools had improved significantly in their net rate of growth in English.”

Attendance Improvements – “K-8 charter school attendance more than doubled during reforms. Between 2010-11 and 2015-16, the proportion of Newark’s K-8 students attending charter schools rose from 14 percent to 32 percent as part of between-school reforms.”

Proven Strength In Math - “Prior to the reforms, Newark’s average rate of student achievement growth in math was above the state average. Net math achievement growth remained constant by 2015-16.”

“Despite the disruption during the initial years of the reform, Newark seems to be on the right track,” researcher Thomas Kane said. “Although the school closures and other reforms were wrenching for many communities in Newark, the subsequent movement of students into more effective district and charter schools seems to be paying off for children.”

Harvard researchers did note that there was an initial decline in growth rates for district and charter schools in English and math in the initial years of the reform, before they started to improve in 2014-15 and 2015-16.

The report’s full findings and methodology can be seen online here.

Newark public school administrators said that the study is part of “a growing body of evidence about the progress being made by Newark schools.”

Newark school officials gave three examples of what the data means from a local perspective (read their take on the Harvard study here):

• Newark Schools are providing better results for students. "The study shows improvement in growth rates in recent years in ELA, and shows results in math that are consistently higher than the state average. These findings are generally aligned with analysis NPS has shared in recent years that show results across all schools are improving for Newark students.”
• Reforms have empowered parents and they are choosing wisely. "This analysis validates one of the basic bets made in Newark’s reforms: giving parents greater access to high-performing schools while closing the low-performing schools will have a positive and educationally meaningful impact on student achievement. The Kane paper reports consistent, positive value-added growth estimates for every year and every subject for the ‘between-school’ reforms - namely, expanding charters, closing the lowest performing charter and NPS schools, and universal enrollment.”
• There is a growing body of evidence that shows reforms are improving life outcomes for Newark students. "While the study focuses on results using a very specific measure – growth on value added between 2010 and 2015-16 - the latest PARCC results show even more continued improvement. When you examine the improvement of these results over time, compare Newark’s results with those from other districts, and note that graduation rates during this period are also up more than 15 percentage points since 2010 (from around 60% to 77% in 2017), the impact becomes clear. The sum of these results show us that thousands more Newark students are reading and doing math on grade level, and graduating on time, than there were in 2010. This is the goal of any educational improvement effort and our hope is to build on this progress and continue to improve these outcomes for Newark students.”

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File Photo: Bashir Muhammad Akinyele