Research for Action

Section I: Organization Information

Agency Mission: Through research and action, Research for Action seeks to improve the educational opportunities and outcomes of urban youth, strengthen public schools, and enrich the policy, civic and community dialogue about public education. We share our research with parent and community leaders, educators, students, and policy makers with the goals of building a shared critique of educational inequality and strategizing about school reform that is socially just.

Name/Title of Contact: Kate Shaw, Executive Director

Address: 3701 Chestnut Street

Phone Number: 215-823-2500 ext 503

Email: jadamson@researchforaction.org

Website: http://www.researchforaction.org/

Total number of agency staff members: 14

Agency Budget: 1.2 million

Section II: Community Need

Please state in measurable and quantifiable terms the specific community need that the Philly Fellow will address, including the number of people in the community directly affected by the problem.

The School District of Philadelphia serves more than than 190,000 students, with over 160,000 students in regular public schools and 30,000 in charter schools. More than 70 percent of these students live in poverty. Like other large urban school districts, Philadelphia public schools are plagued by low achievement, high drop out rates, and graduates who leave ill prepared for post-secondary education and the working world. And, like other large urban school systems, the School District of Philadelphia has made little progress in addressing the poor conditions of it schools – high teacher turnover, school leaders ill-prepared to solve the problems that confront them, scarcity of material resources, and bureaucratic mandates that encourage compliance rather than innovation and sustainable improvement. For example, in 2007-2008, the School District of Philadelphia’s reported graduation rate was 59 percent, well below the state average of 88 percent. These problems are particularly reflective of Philadelphia’s 13 large neighborhood high schools, which serve the majority of students. In addition to the neighborhood schools, there are 32 selective admissions schools and 24 charter schools. These high schools vary by size, admissions criteria, special programs offered, and level of student achievement.

The fellow will focus on sustaining the considerable progress that previous fellows have achieved in building RFA’s communication capacity in two areas:

a) The creation of a high school web center that provides equitable access to high quality information and research about Philadelphia’s high school options and the high school admissions process. In Philadelphia, students in 8th grade have the option of applying to up to five schools other than their assigned neighborhood high school. The majority – 73% – of students choose to apply to high schools outside of their neighborhood. However, only 49% of 8th grade applicants are admitted to ANY of the schools where they applied. Many factors influence whether a student is accepted to a school of his choice (Hartmann et al., 2008). One very important factor is the availability of high quality information (Carver, 1991). RFA’s high school web center would give more families and counselors the information they need to successfully participate in the choice process, with the goal that more students would attend their school of choice and graduate 4 years later.

b) The continued improvement of RFA’s capacity to communicate its research findings in clear, accessible, and innovative formats so that public officials, education advocates, and practitioners have the knowledge that they need to address educational inequality in Philadelphia and beyond.

Describe how your agency addresses this need, and how the new capacity created by this fellow will help alleviate the problem.

The Philly Fellow will be responsible for coordinating RFA support of a web center that will be housed at The Philadelphia Notebook, one of three partner organizations responsible for the web center. The third partner will be a community organization that will be responsible for training community leaders throughout the city on the use of the website with the goal of serving 800 people in the first year and 1200 in the second year.

The web center has three main objectives:
– First, it will provide detailed, but clear, information about each high school so that parents, students and counselors can determine which schools were a good fit for their student.
– Second, the website will thoroughly describe the district’s application process – which is not explained in the district directory.
– Third, the web center will serve as a resource for those interested in high school reseach. The center will be a hub for research findings on high school choice, small schools, and the transition to 9th grade.

In addition to this project, the Philly Fellow will be responsible for working with RFA project leaders to develop and implement a communication strategy for their research. In the past two years, Philly Fellows – in their role as members of RFA’s Communications Team – have participated in the development of standardized processes for communicating research findings. In order for this work to be sustainable, it needs to be embedded in the research teams themselves. This transfer of responsibility will be a primary focus of the Philly Fellow, working closely with RFA’s Managing Director, Judy Adamson, and Executive Director, Kate Shaw.

The Philly Fellow will also provide support to one research team. This experience provides exposure to the core work of RFA, thus giving the Philly Fellow first-hand knowledge of the research process and knowledge production.

Describe the level of community involvement in the fellow’s project.

In relationship to the work on the web center, the fellow will work with the Notebook staff and staff of the community partner to maintain and strengthen the web center. In consultation with Kate Shaw, the fellow will coordinate ongoing assessment activities for the web center, arranging focus groups with parents and students to collect feedback on organization and content. S/he will work with youth activists, recruited through RFA’s existing relationships with youth organizing groups, to realize suggestions from the focus groups. In relationship to the work on disseminating RFA research products, the fellow will work with team leaders as they develop presentations and products for civic and community leaders, students, parents, and education practitioners. S(he) will also interview and/or survey stakeholders to gather their feedback on RFA products and their dissemination.

Section III: Job Description

Please outline in list form the fellow's duties and responsibilities.

Special Projects
• Works with Notebook staff and staff from the community partner to support the ongoing assessment and refinement of the high school web center as described in the project plan below. In addition, the fellow will work with RFA leaders to improve and sustain the dissemination of RFA research and will participate on one research project as described below.

Dissemination of RFA Research
• Works with communications team to develop a plan for training and supporting senior staff in the dissemination of research (identification of primary audiences, products appropriate to those audiences, development of the products, and outreach to media and stakeholders)
• Drafts articles and letters as directed by senior staff.
• Writes electronic communications including the website and eNewsletter.
• Assists with external outreach including report releases, special events, and press briefings.
• Maintains and updates mailing and email lists
• Tracks and reports on visibility/communications activities for RFA so that information can be shared with funders and the board and can be used in the eNewsletter and grant preparation.

Research Support for one or two projects
• Schedules fieldwork
• Assists with conducting interviews, observations and focus groups
• Notetaking
• Completes other administrative tasks as necessary

Please outline in list form the skills/qualifications a fellow should have to succeed in the position.

• Self–starter/takes initiative easily
• Strong writing skills
• Good attention to detail
• Strong verbal communication skills
• Knowledge of and interest in urban public education reform
• Strong people skills
• Creativity with use of electronic media
• Knowledge of Quark / Adobe Suite and other design / electronic media software (desirable)

Please describe your agency's plan to orient and train the fellow.

The fellow will be an integral part of the RFA communications team, which is headed by RFA Executive Director, Dr. Kate Shaw and includes a senior researcher, RFA’s Office manager and Managing Director. It is the responsibility of this team to provide the fellow with orientation to communications processes and materials and the web center project. In addition, the fellow will be oriented to the research process by the leader of the research team on which s/he serves. Finally, RFA has a regular office orientation for all new employees that includes reviewing RFA materials and talking with staff members.

Section IV: Project Plan

Please describe the proposed project goal(s) you expect the fellow to achieve. These should relate to your community need and reflect the long-term impact of the fellow’s project.

When the 2010-11 fellowship begins, the RFA communications team (including 2009-10 Philly Fellow), working in concert with Notebook staff and staff from the community partner will have piloted a version of the web center, developed a plan for full implementation of the web center, and developed and piloted a plan for community outreach. However, some necessary and important pieces of the project will need completion in order to guarantee sustainability. These include:
– full implementation of the web center and full implementation of the outreach strategy;   – acquisition and analysis of school district data that is not publicly available
– development of materials for securing renewable funding that will ensure web center maintenance and updating
– continuing to create interactive and dynamic elements that will make the site engaging for students, particularly student-created content
– implementation of the assessment strategy, including surveys embedded in the web center

The primary goal for the 2010-11 fellow is to bring the web center to a point that there is widespread use by school counselors, parents, students and community members and others and that the web center has been institutionalized as the go-to place for credible and useful information about high schools. The impact goal for the site is that more students are able to attend a high school of their choice. A second goal is that education advocates, practitioners and researchers have a shared knowledge base about the problems confronting high schools, outcomes for Philadelphia high school students, and what works in urban high school reform.

Section V: The Nitty Gritty

Will fellow be working at the same address listed above?

Yes

Please describe the fellow's work environment.

Fellow will have a shared office.
Fellow will have their own desk.
Fellow will have their own computer.

Please list the name and title of the fellow's immediate supervisor.

Kate Shaw, Executive Director

Please approximate the percentage of time fellow will work:

Independently: 50%
As a team member in a group setting: 40%
As a team leader in a group setting: 10%

Travel:

Will the fellow be expected to travel as part of the position?

Yes

If so, how often and where?

once/week in Philadelphia

Will the fellow need the following to carry out the position?

A driver’s license: No
Their own car: No

Section VI: Supervision/Resources

Please briefly describe plans for supervision of fellow:

The fellow will be directly supervised by Judy Adamson with whom s(he) will share an office. In addition to their ongoing communication, they will meet formally bi-weekly to review progress towards organizational goals, review the fellow’s performance, and problem solve around difficulties. Because so much of RFA’s work is conducted within the context of teams that meet on a regular basis, the fellow will also receive supervision in the context of those teams.

What methods, information, or data will you use to evaluate the fellow’s success in their position and your agency’s success in meeting your community need?

In consultation with the fellow, Judy Adamson and Kate Shaw will develop a list of competencies to be achieved during the fellowship. These will be reviewed with the fellow upon beginning work. Judy Adamson will interview the senior staff with whom the fellow works to gather feedback about performance. After three months, the fellow will have a formal interim review and also reviews required by Philly Fellows.