On June 19, 2015, over 65 people gathered at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia for a one-day convening on school closure research in the mid-Atlantic. Participants represented communities and institutions throughout the region, including: Baltimore; Boston; Cleveland; Newark, N.J.; New York; Philadelphia; and Rochester, N.Y. The event consisted of three research roundtables, a panel discussion of strategies for making research useful, and a keynote response from Dr. Lauren Wells, Chief Education Officer for the City of Newark, New Jersey.
Background
In recent years, many public school districts across the country have turned to closing schools as a way to manage declining enrollments and decreased public funding, seeking to consolidate resources so as to improve educational outcomes. These closures have inspired a range of empirical research investigating the veracity of school district claims about cost-savings and academic improvements; the short- and long-term impacts on students, families and stakeholders; and the relationships to broader patterns of segregation and opportunity.
The goal for this one-day symposium was to bring together researchers to share findings and approaches, articulate commonalities and divergences across place, and set an agenda for ongoing research and engagement with this and other issues of urban and educational equity. Additionally, the event was structured so as to facilitate discussion with policymakers and community partners about how this research can be made most helpful and effective for communities and practitioners. ~ See the full agenda here ~
Planning committee
An interdisciplinary collaboration of local scholars organized the symposium, representing seven institutions of higher learning:
- Ariel Bierbaum, Ph.D. Candidate, City and Regional Planning, University of California-Berkeley
- Barbara Ferman, Professor, Political Science, Temple University
- Ryan Good, Ph.D. Candidate, Planning and Public Policy, Rutgers University
- Edwin Mayorga, Instructor, Educational Studies, Swarthmore College
- Sally Nuamah, Ph.D. Candidate, Political Science, Northwestern University
- Rand Quinn, Assistant Professor, Graduate School of Education, University of Pennsylvania
- Elaine Simon, Co-Director, Urban Studies Program, University of Pennsylvania
- Mark Stern, Assistant Professor, Educational Studies, Colgate University
Click on each heading to get to the audio clips:
Welcome
Rand Quinn, from the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania, and Elaine Simon, from the Urban Studies Program at the University of Pennsylvania, opened the day with words of welcome, explaining the goals for the gathering, how it came to be, and the plan for the day.
Roundtable 1: Rationales and Responses
The first roundtable, moderated by Ariel Bierbaum, included four research presentations:
Fractured Justice and School Closure – Jacob Fay, Harvard University
Understanding School Closures in Philadelphia – James Jack, School District of Philadelphia (formerly Research for Action) and John Sludden, Research for Action
No One Ever Asks Us: Community Led Visions for School Success – Liza Pappas and Zakiyah Ansari, Alliance for Quality Education
Branding Against Closure: Philadelphia Neighborhood Schools and the Management of Risky Futures – Julia McWilliams, University of Pennsylvania
Roundtable 1: Q&A
Question and answer session with speakers from the first roundtable.
Roundtable 2: Community Engagement and Neighborhood Consequences
The second roundtable, moderated by Mark Stern, included four research presentations:
An Open and Shut Case: Comparing Outcomes of Community Engagement in D.C.'s School Closures – Esa Syeed, New York University
Shifting Landscapes of Power and Privilege: Public School Closures and Uneven Development in Philadelphia – Ariel H. Bierbaum, University of California-Berkeley
School’s Out: The Closing of Baltimore’s Schools – Jessica Shiller, Towson University
Neighborhoods, Philadelphia School Closures, and the Contested Politics of Place – Ryan M. Good, Rutgers University
Roundtable 2: Q&A
Question and answer session with speakers from the second roundtable.
Roundtable 3: Student and Stakeholder Impacts
The third roundtable, moderated by Ryan Good, included three research presentations:
The Impact of School Instability on Students' Academic Resilience – Dena Phillips Swanson, University of Rochester and Latoya Manon, University of Rochester
School Closure: A Thin Conceptualization of Equity – Anne Galletta, Cleveland State University and Stacey Steggert, Shaker Heights High School
The Consequences of Public School Closure for Political Attitudes and Action: Lessons from Chicago and Philadelphia – Sally Nuamah, Northwestern University
Roundtable 3: Q&A
Question and answer session with speakers from the third roundtable.
Roundtable 4: Ensuring Research is Useful: A Conversation with Researchers and Practitioners
The fourth roundtable was a panel discussion, moderated by Edwin Mayorga, about the utility and political relevance of social research, which then opened into a broader discussion with the audience. There were five panelists:
Zakiyah Ansari, Alliance for Quality Education
Dale Mezzacappa, The Philadelphia Public School Notebook
Liza Pappas
Jessica Shiller, Towson University
Tieshka Smith, Philadelphia School Closing Photo Collective
Closing Remarks
Lauren Wells, Chief Education Officer for Newark, New Jersey, closed the day with a keynote response.
Sponsors
This event would not have been possible without the generous support of our sponsors:
- Bread and Roses Community Fund
- The Department of Educational Studies at Colgate University
- Rutgers University Center for Urban Research and Education
- Office of the Provost and the Department of Educational Studies at Swarthmore College
- University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education
- University of Pennsylvania Edward Netter Center for Community Partnerships
- University of Pennsylvania Urban Studies Program