Research shows benefits of challenging and engaging all students with high-level classes
Contact: Carol Corbett Burris - (516) 599-0839; burriscarol@gmail.com
Kevin Welner - (303) 492-8370; kevin.welner@colorado.edu
BOULDER, Colo., and TEMPE, Ariz. (December 14, 2009) - A new policy brief makes the case for schools across the country to put an end to policies that cast off students into unchallenging, low-track classrooms. Released today by the Education and the Public Interest Center at the University of Colorado at Boulder and the Education Policy Research Unit at Arizona State University, "Universal Access to a Quality Education: Research and Recommendations for the Elimination of Curricular Stratification" begins where the vast body of research leaves off: the harmful effects of ability grouping and the need for reform.
Authored by Dr. Carol Corbett Burris, the principal of South Side High School in New York, and Professor Kevin Welner of the University of Colorado at Boulder, the brief draws on three case studies: a school (a San Diego charter), a school district (in Long Island, NY), and a nation (Finland) that have promoted high levels of student achievement by abolishing curricular stratification. The brief also provides concrete recommendations for reform, followed by model statutory language to implement the report's recommendations, written by attorney Jennifer Weiser Bezoza, the Director of Legal and Policy Analysis at Children's Voices, a non-profit law firm in Colorado.
"The educational leaders described in this brief rejected curricular stratification because it has been shown to exacerbate the societal or natural disadvantages suffered by many children," Burris and Welner say. "These leaders realized that when students who experience difficulty are provided with an inferior curriculum, they are certain to fall farther behind. In contrast, the high-quality heterogeneously grouped schools they created give all students access to the best curriculum and an academic support system that helps ensure that they take advantage of it. These schools hold clear lessons for leaders of other schools, where students are still stratified into tracks. Detracking provides a realistic and proven pathway to academic excellence grounded in true equity."
Burris and Welner recommend a clear process for the phasing out of curricular stratification from grades K through 10, beginning with the lowest track and granting meaningful access to Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) courses to all students throughout the reform process. They also describe the supports needed for schools, educators, and students as they create non-tracked schools. The recommendations are spelled out in specific model legislative provisions.
Find the brief, "Universal Access to a Quality Education: Research and Recommendations for the Elimination of Curricular Stratification" on the web at:
http://epicpolicy.org/publication/universal-access
CONTACT:
Carol Corbett Burris, Principal
South Side High School
(516) 599-0839
burriscarol@gmail.com
Kevin Welner, Professor and Director
Education and the Public Interest Center
University of Colorado at Boulder
(303) 492-8370
kevin.welner@colorado.edu
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The Education and the Public Interest Center (EPIC) at the University of Colorado at Boulder and the Education Policy Research Unit (EPRU) at Arizona State University collaborate to produce policy briefs and think tank reviews. Our goal is to promote well-informed democratic deliberation about education policy by providing academic as well as non-academic audiences with useful information and high quality analyses. This legislative brief was made possible in part by the generous support of the Great Lakes Center for Education Research and Practice.
Visit EPIC and EPRU at http://www.educationanalysis.org/
EPIC and EPRU are members of the Education Policy Alliance
(http://educationpolicyalliance.org)
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