Reflection on CPS Ren10 Initiative and the Small School Movement…

"The principle goal of education is to create men and women who are capable of creating new things, not simply repeating what others have done." Jean Piaget     

Each school is a reflection of the pedagogy, parental and community involvement, leadership, teacher commitment, student demographics, and other contributing  factors that comprise the learning community. Piaget's idea of education as stated above encapsulates what some education reformers are doing. They are literally creating new things, specifically new schools. Some posit that creating new schools and shutting down or turning around low performing schools is the most successful approach to school reform. Current adherents to this model include the current Obama administration, which is exemplified by choosing Arne Duncan to serve in the role of the Secretary of Education. Duncan used this approach when he was the CEO of Chicago Public Schools in Chicago's Renaissance 2010 Initiative before serving as Education Secretary. Duncan (2006) outlines his reasons for using this model in his article "Chicago's Renaissance 2010: Building on School Reform in the Age of Accountability" in Phi Delta Kappan. This approach to urban school reform includes the claim that new schools provide a more conducive learning environment that results in higher achievement than other schools because new schools have the ability to engage students and families more effectively than traditional existing schools. In other words, Duncan espouses that new schools result in a more positive school climate/culture than traditional existing public high schools and therefore school performance indicators are higher in new schools.


It is important to understand the background of Chicago's Ren10 initiative in order to place CPS Small Performance High Schools in context of how and why they exist. Ren10 initiative is a process of school proposals that replace low performing schools with new schools. It is a controversial initiative that began in 2004 under Arne Duncan when he served in the role of CEO of Chicago Public Schools. The CPS website http://www.ren2010.cps.k12.il.us/ provides further details concerning the process and goals. It states, "In June 2004, Mayor Richard Daley launched Renaissance 2010, a bold initiative whose goal is to increase the number of high quality educational options in communities across Chicago by 2010. New schools are created through a competitive, community-based selection process which establishes a set of high standards to which every new school will be held accountable" (CPS, 2010). Many researchers have discussed Ren 10 and its implications including Ayers & Klonsky (2006), Cohen (2006), Robelen (2006), and Kahne, Sporte, Torre, & Easton (2008), and Honig (2009). Researchers from the critical school have also discussed Ren10 including Lipman & Hursch (2007), Lipman & Haines (2007), Arrastia (2007), Means (2008), Lipman (2008), Saltzman (2007), and Smith & Stovall (2008). 
     
The Ren10 approach has now become a national model since Arne Duncan is now the Secretary of Education. Duncan defended this approach, "Closing and reopening schools is both educationally sound and morally warranted. We are hired to fight for kids — not for bureaucrats, reform groups, teachers, principals, or local school councils. We close schools when kids are getting hurt. Under Renaissance 2010, the adults involved are held accountable because the school ceases to exist" (2006, p. 458). Within this model the poor performing schools get shut down or phased out and new schools move in the facility. Although Ren10 has a strong emphasis on charter schools, two other forms of new schools are also a major part of this approach to urban education reform as demonstrated on their website (www.ren2010.cps.k12.il.us). These two types are called Contract Schools, which follow many CPS guidelines and curricula but have more flexibility in hiring, and Performance Schools, which follow all CPS guidelines, curricula, and hiring. The latter, Performance Schools, are the selected experimental group for this study, specifically high schools. These are completely CPS high schools, they hire all certified staff as all public schools must do, all CPS and Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) guidelines must be followed, all staff are a part of the collective bargaining agreement of the Chicago Teacher's Union and the Chicago Board of Education, and they are funded in the same way all CPS schools are funded. There are a few differences in how they function. All CPS Performance High Schools have more autonomy than traditional existing CPS public high schools in the areas of budget allocation, curriculum, autonomy, school governance, and school size. Every new CPS Performance High School has been proposed under the Ren 10, and all are under a school performance contract that includes a five year agreement that can be terminated if the school does not live up to its performance goals as well as an annual review by the Chicago Board of Education, and if necessary, the school can be closed at any time (Duncan, 2006). Another aspect of Ren 10 Performance Schools are the different types such as Military, Selective Enrollment, Magnet, Small Schools and others.


The difference in traditional existing CPS public high schools is how they function. The traditional existing CPS public high schools are limited in ways that include a lack of autonomy in budget allocation, school governance, and curriculum they depend on CPS's Central Office to approve these aspects yearly. The limitations on traditional existing CPS public high schools are perceived by many to result in less successful scores on the school performance indicators. Research concerning the success of small schools (including Honig, 2009; Garth-McCullough, 2007; Farmer-Hinton & Holland, 2008; Werblow & Duesbery, 2009; Kahne, Sporte, Torre, Easton, 2008) includes arguments and case studies that state that this approach is more effective than other types of schools in the areas of overall student performance, however no study found has compared how new small CPS Small Performance High Schools compare with traditional existing CPS public high schools that serve similar populations in Chicago.     


There are gaps in prior research about Ren10 that need to be filled. One gap is that there is no comparison between CPS Small Performance High Schools with traditional existing CPS high schools. It is important to measure the effectiveness of Small Performance High Schools when compared to traditional existing public high schools because it can shed further light upon Small Schools research. If Small Performance High Schools are effective than CPS can provide a school model that is an alternative to charter schools for educational leaders, administrators, teachers, teachers' unions, families, and community members. Since CPS Small Performance High Schools are non-charter schools an analysis of their effectiveness when compared to existing schools is needed in order to recommend this type of school as a district operated public school alternative model to charter schools. Comparing CPS Small Performance High Schools started through Ren10 as an alternative to traditional high schools can provide educational leaders, urban Boards of Education throughout the country, policy-makers, students, families, and communities with a model that accommodates the need for a higher degree of accountability based upon performance, but is not a charter school. It can provide school choice to communities that need it without the ramifications or legal maneuvering that is necessary for charter schools. 

A helpful theory that is appropriate organizational learning theory. This theory has been used in education in studies ranging from educational administration Rusch (2005) to managing change and improvements at the school district level in Herrenkohl (2008), Honig (2008), Knapp (2008), and Louis (2008). Gajda & Koliba (2007) and Scechter (2008) discuss this framework from a school improvement perspective while Giles & Hargreaves (2006) discuss it in light of school innovations and Professional Learning Communities. It has even been applied in the context of information systems and learning in Baxter, Connolly, and Stansfield (2009). Organizational learning theory is applied to small schools by Honig (2009). The unique structure and school culture that is created in a new CPS Small Performance High School creates its own organization of learning through collaboration, the use of technology, partnerships, and events that include students, staff, families, and community members in a learning community. This dynamic interaction can be analyzed with the organizational learning framework in order to gain insight into what is happening during this process as well as understand the unique learning climate that takes shape in each school.


Ren10 Small Performance High Schools can provide a district-run alternative to charter schools throughout the country and drive social change by positively impacting urban public education without the loss of public school education jobs. The drive to privatize public education on the premise that this improves the outcome is unwarranted. Small Performance High Schools are a way to provide accountability and quality to districts as well as provide urban parents and communities with a public school option that offer urban students an education with positive results in the areas of student outcomes, academic progress, and student connections. Exemplary public school educators will be supplied with a rewarding teaching experience that provides union protections, long-term job security, and retirement opportunities that school districts can provide. It also is a way to invest taxpayer's money and connect it with positive results in the three areas of school performance and provides the transparency and accountability that should be demanded by the public when allocating limited resources.

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