Evaluation Report: Year 2 Implementation of the Small High Schools Initiative Manual Complex, Denver, Colorado

This report presents the findings of a study conducted by the Center for Research in Educational Policy (CREP) on the second year of implementation of the Small Schools Initiative at the Manual High School Complex. The major goal of this research was to evaluate perceived progress and outcomes at all three high schools. The design and methodology was oriented around the following research questions: (1) What is the level of school climate at the three schools for the 2002-2003 school-year, and how does it compare to the first year of implementation (2001-2002)? (2) What are the most positive and negative areas this year, as compared to last year? (3) How did the three schools perform this year on the CSAP, relative to district and state scores, and as compared to last year? (4) What is the level of implementation as viewed by teachers, and to what extent have perceptions changed this year, as compared to last year? (5) What are the strengths and weaknesses of the Small Schools Initiative this year, as compared to last year? and (6) What are recommendations for strengthening the programs in the coming year? The report begins with a brief overview of the schools, a summary of findings for each of the three high schools, an overall synthesis of the data, and final recommendations, which include: (1) Schools should use the benchmarking process regularly to monitor progress in achieving implementation and outcome goals; (2) Continued development and clarification of school identity; (3) Identification of aspects of the Small Schools Initiative having greatest impact and investigation of additional funding for these areas or new areas of need; (4) Meeting with key stakeholders to determine needs and preferences, and identify structures, for sharing resources; (5) Continued efforts to improve student behavior, motivation, and involvement. Encourage consistent enforcement of rules for student behavior and appropriate discipline; and (6) Maintaining and strengthening strategies that have produced strong positive climate indicators. Assessment instruments included: the School Climate Inventory[C] (SCI[C]), the School Wide Program Teacher Questionnaire[C] (SWPTQ[C]), the SWPTQ[C] Open-Ended Comments and Benchmark Items, and the School Observation Measure[C] (SOM[C]). Four appendixes include charted data for each assessment instrument. (Contains 6 footnotes and 8 figures.)