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News Release

Office of News and Information
Johns Hopkins University
3003 N. Charles Street, Suite 100
Baltimore, Maryland 21218-3843
Phone: (410) 516-7160 | Fax (410) 516-5251

January 10, 2003
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Amy Cowles
amycowles@jhu.edu
(410) 516-7800


Talent Development Middle Schools
Raise Achievement in Philadelphia

Johns Hopkins University's Talent Development Middle Schools schoolwide reform model is improving student achievement in 11 Philadelphia public middle schools, despite obstacles such as poverty and high teacher turnover.

The improvements are demonstrated by scores on the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment standardized test. Almost every Philadelphia school that has used the Talent Development Middle School model for three or more years has experienced what the state defines as "educationally significant gains" of 50 points or more in at least one tested subject area. As a group, the Talent Development Middle Schools have improved test scores significantly more than control schools. They have also bested, by an even wider margin, the citywide average improvement for all middle schools.

Eighth-graders in seven Talent Development Middle Schools implementing the model for three to six years raised their schools' combined math and verbal PSSA scale scores by 55 to 215 points:

School Years in
Program
PSSA
Baseline
2001-02
Average
Change
Central East 6 2040 2255 +215
Cooke 5 2090 2260 +170
Beeber 5 2150 2250 +100
Clemente 4 2045 2135 +90
Shoemaker 4 2005 2125 +120
Roosevelt 3 2135 2190 +55
Mansion 3 2090 2185 +95
Average 4 2079 2200 +121
Control Schools   2066 2166 +100
District   2232 2295 +63

Students in four other Talent Development Middle Schools that have used the model for just one year increased their combined scores between 10 and 130 points:

School Years in
Program
2001 PSSA 2002 PSSA Change
Tilden 1 2140 2270 +130
Lewis 1 2170 2220 +50
Vare 1 2170 2210 +40
Pierce 1 2190 2200 +10
Average   2167 2225 +58
District average   2280 2310 +30

Only five of Philadelphia's 26 high-poverty, high- minority schools had eighth-graders who earned a combined PSSA average of 2200 or higher in 2001; four of those schools were Talent Development Middle Schools. In 2002, eight of the 14 high-poverty, high-minority schools to break 2200 were Talent Development Middle Schools.

"Schools using the Talent Development Middle School model have substantially and consistently improved their achievement levels," said Robert Balfanz, an associate research scientist at the Center for Research on the Education of Students Placed at Risk (CRESPAR) at The Johns Hopkins University. "Their gains have been twice as great in comparison to overall school district gains, and 20 percent greater than matched sets of control schools. It should also be noted that the longer schools have been implementing the model, the greater their achievement gains."

Four of the 11 schools, however, are no longer using the Talent Development model. During a system-wide reorganization last year, Clemente, Shoemaker and Tilden middle schools were turned over to private educational organizations, which chose to introduce their own reforms, while Roosevelt was assigned to a set of schools restructured by the school district.

Designed specifically to engage middle schoolers with a challenging yet nurturing learning environment, Talent Development Middle Schools is a whole-school reform model developed by researchers, educators and experienced curriculum writers at CRESPAR. Philadelphia's Central East Middle School was the nation's first Talent Development Middle School. In Philadelphia, Johns Hopkins' collaborators are the Philadelphia Education Fund and the School District of Philadelphia.

The model combines instructional, curricular, organizational and professional development reforms that are based on extensive research into what really works in middle schools. Students participate in hands-on classroom activities in every subject area. The model features small- group learning, extended class periods for core subjects and extra-help electives in math and reading. Teachers participate in monthly after-school or Saturday sessions and receive weekly in-classroom feedback from curriculum coaches.

The Talent Development model is being used in 18 schools in six states: New Jersey, Louisiana, Washington State, Michigan and Minnesota, as well as Pennsylvania.

To speak with Balfanz and other CRESPAR researchers, contact Amy Cowles at 410-516-7160.


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