Bryan’s Web Project Proposal

1) What particular story about cities, suburbs, and schools do you wish to tell, why does it deserve its own web page, and who is your intended audience? Elaborate in at least 2-3 paragraphs.

Assessments of the two major Sheff remedies (Project Choice and interdistrict magnet schools center primarily around the degree to which remedies are promoting integration. This makes sense, as the Sheff case argued that racial isolation deprived both Hartford and suburban students of their state constitutional right to an equal educational opportunity. If the problem, as Sheff states, is segregation, then the solution is naturally integration. Accordingly, we assess Sheff remedies on their ability to integrate. For example, the current goal for Sheff remedies is for 41% of Hartford students to be attending reduced isolation (25-75% non-white) schools by 2013.

While this type of assessment is tailored to evaluate the ways in which Sheff remedies remedy the constitutional problem articulated in Sheff, it is not fit to assess how Sheff remedies are affecting the quality of education of students participating in remedy programs. Knowing that a minority student from Hartford is going to a primarily white school in Simsbury does not allow us to know with certainty that that student is accessing a better education, or even that that student has been granted his state constitutional right to an equal educational opportunity. In this example, the Simsbury school may not have as good teachers, facilities, co-curricular programs, etc. as a Hartford school that student could be attending. Simply because a school is located in the suburbs does not inherently mean it is better than a school in Hartford. Additionally, the student in this example, may not have the same out of school resources that are vital to benefitting from his/her suburban education that suburban kids going to the same school have access to, simply because s/he doesn’t live in that suburb. Essentially, the measurements used to assess Project Choice and interdistrict magnet schools are too narrowly focused on integration statistics. While this narrowness is justified if the only goal of Project Choice and magnets is to integrate, it is not justified if we expect any other benefits from these programs.

To get a better idea of how Sheff remedies are affecting the lives of the children who participate in them, new measurements of success must be brought into the discussion. These measurements fall into two categories: school quality and long-term outcomes. First, we need to get a better idea of the type of education the various schools participating in Sheff remedy programs are providing for students. Discussions of Sheff remedies should include data regarding a) teacher quality, such as teacher experience, racial breakdown of teachers, and teacher salaries, b) teacher to student ratio, c) class offerings, such as AP and honors classes, and their availability, d) overall resources available to the school, such as per-pupil spending, e) quality and availability of co-curricular activities, and f) and the quality of academic resources the school offers, such as libraries/ans, computers, counseling services. Second, we need to get a better idea of how students that participate in Project Choice and Magnets fare in the long-term, using typical markers of “success.” Specifically, an assessment of Sheff remedies should include data similar to data based on Project Concern, a past program similar to Project Choice, regarding a) the attrition rate of students participating in the programs, b) college attendance and graduation rates, c) behavioral tendencies, such as comfort with other individuals of different ethnicities, and likelihood to live in proximity with multiethnic people, d) standards of living, such as poverty rates, income measurements, unemployment rates, and homeownership rates, and e) incarceration and teen pregnancy rates. (Frankenburg, 25) If we bring data from these two categories into the conversation on the success of Sheff remedies, we create a more comprehensive assessment of the benefits and shortcomings of these programs.

Access to this data would benefit multiple audiences. Specifically, families considering enrolling their young people in Project Choice or magnets would be able to compare the differences between different magnet schools, and different schools participating in Project Choice, as well as the overall differences between the magnet programs, Project Choice programs, and neighborhood schools. Additionally, various government and non-government entities would benefit from this data because they would be able to better assess the extent to which Sheff remedies are providing a better education and better long-term outcomes for participants. Knowing this, policy makers and advocates would be able to continue or alter the existing Sheff remedies.

2) What additional reading and/or research do you plan to do to enhance your background knowledge on this story? Be specific and include full citations when appropriate.

Frankenburg, Erica. Project Choice Campaign: Improving and Expanding             Hartford’s Project Choice Program. Poverty & Race Research Action             Council. Washington, DC: September 2007.

The Connecticut Education Data and Research website of the CT State Dept. of             Edu. http://sdeportal.ct.gov/Cedar/WEB/ct_report/CedarHome.aspx

Dougherty, Jack. “Conflicting Questions: Why Historians and Policymakers             Miscommunicate on Urban Education.” In Clio at the Table: Using History             to Inform and Improve Education Policy, edited by Kenneth Wong and             Robert Rothman, 251-62. New York: Peter Lang, 2009. Available from the             Trinity College Digital Repository, Hartford, Connecticut             (http://digitalrepository.trincoll.edu)

3) Each web project must integrate narrative text (at least 1,500 words) and digital elements (such as freely accessible online source materials, photographs, videos, maps, quizzes, etc.) What kinds of items do you plan to integrate and how do they fit into the story you wish to tell? Does copyright law allow you to include these items? Be specific and include web links when appropriate.

I plan on creating and integrating a map of the Hartford area with markers for each school participating in Sheff remedies. When a school is clicked on, the map will display a data set including statistics related to educational quality and long-term outomes, as well as integration statistics. Yes, copyright law allows the use of these items.