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A wide range of data collection methods will be used in the study. The array of questions to be addressed in this study requires multiple approaches for collecting and verifying information and for capturing the various perceptions that may exist. Our aim is to collect enough information to provide analyses for each school, groups of schools with similar characteristics, and across all community schools. We think it is important to at least describe the diversity (or similarity) that might exist among the community schools. We will use the following methods for collecting information:
Some data are quantitative in nature and some are qualitative. In most cases, a combination of methods and sources is used to provide a basis for responding to a question. For example, we assess students’, parents’, teachers’, and administrators’ perceptions of school climate through the use of the nationally normed School Climate Survey. At the same time, information regarding school climate is collected during numerous interviews and focus groups. Likewise, we consider evidence of academic achievement from test scores, appropriate student work samples provided by teachers, and opinions of parents about their children. In addition, we interview teachers/administrators about other means of measuring student progress on academic and nonacademic goals set by the school. Instruments Charter school surveys. Surveys for teachers/staff, students, and parents/guardians were developed by Evaluation Center staff and used in earlier statewide evaluations of charter schools. These instruments have been pilot tested and tested for reliability. Evaluation Center staff also developed elaborate templates to report results back to each school. The templates facilitate the process of reporting and contain bar charts and line graphs to help schools interpret their results. School Climate Survey. The School Climate Survey is a nationally normed instrument that has been used extensively in public schools, particularly to measure the impact of new interventions and reform strategies. This instrument will be used only in the second year of the study and is to be completed by all teachers/staff at each school, as well as by a sample of students (3 classes in grades 5 and above) and parents (25 per school). This instrument was originally developed at The Evaluation Center, but the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) now retains the copyright for this instrument. This instrument has been widely used for more than 12 years, and analysis of its results indicate that it is very reliable. The Evaluation Center will report the results back to each school as well as to The Cleveland Foundation. Each report of survey results contains descriptive statistics for the school-based data as well as a chart illustrating how the school performed on 10 subscales in comparison with national norms. |