Which Schools Beat the Odds? In National Study, Researchers Find Top Results for Newark, Boston and Pittsburgh
This is the most recent article in ongoing ‘Big Picture’ series, which aims to provide a clearer understanding of American education through new research and data. Take a deeper look: Explore our complete series of articles.
New research on K-12 education in the largest cities in the United States has found that schools in Newark, Boston, and Pittsburgh are the most successful in helping students exceed the academic achievements of their peers. The study, conducted by MarGrady Research and funded by the New Jersey Children’s Foundation, highlights the significant impact of charter schools, although they are not the sole contributors to students’ exceptional learning outcomes.
The New Jersey Children’s Foundation is a relatively new education-focused nonprofit organization that aims to foster collaboration between school districts and charter schools. They have previously supported research that showcased the positive impacts of education reforms implemented by former Newark mayor and current senator, Cory Booker, including a notable expansion of charter schools.
This recent report takes a broader perspective by examining academic data from 50 major cities across the country to determine how many students are "beating the odds." In other words, it looks at how many students are outperforming their demographically similar counterparts in other areas of their respective states. For instance, if a specific school in Albuquerque achieves better state testing results than other schools in New Mexico with comparable racial and socioeconomic characteristics, it is considered a "beat-the-odds" institution.
The concept of "beat-the-odds" schools originated from a 2015 report published by the Center on Reinventing Public Education, which also identified Newark as the leader among the 50 cities in terms of the percentage of students enrolled in such schools. This finding has frequently been cited in discussions surrounding educational reform in Newark, inspiring the research team to update the report with up-to-date data and a revised analysis.
Jesse Margolis, the founder of MarGrady Research and the lead author of the study, explained the decision to build upon the previous study: "We found that the CRPE study still held significant influence, particularly within the context of Newark, and its methodology was both straightforward and compelling. This motivated us to delve deeper into Newark and explore a broader range of cities nationwide."
Kyle Rosenkrans, the executive director of the New Jersey Children’s Foundation, expressed the organization’s curiosity about the progress made by different cities in comparison to five years ago.
"Creating schools that enable children to surpass expectations is the most challenging aspect of public education," Rosenkrans stated. "It is the cornerstone of educational reform and embodies the principles of equity and social justice that many individuals have dedicated themselves to for years. This study demonstrates the slow, yet steady, progress we are making."
To conduct their research, Margolis and co-author Eli Groves utilized data from the federal EDFacts initiative and the Common Core of Data, which collect statistics on enrollment and test scores for every public school in the United States. They updated the Center on Reinventing Public Education’s analysis by using this data to predict how schools in each city would perform on standardized tests. These calculations considered factors such as a school’s size, the proportion of students from different racial and ethnic backgrounds, and the percentage of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch (commonly used as an indicator of socioeconomic status). Beat-the-odds schools were identified as those that substantially exceeded their expected performance on exams.
Margolis emphasized that this analysis is a relative measure, stating, "The key question is how schools within the same state compare when it comes to educating low-income students or those who traditionally struggle academically."
The findings revealed that Newark maintained its position as the top-performing city, with 35 percent of its students attending beat-the-odds schools. Boston followed closely with 20 percent, and Pittsburgh ranked third with 17 percent. On the other end of the spectrum, Fort Wayne and Tampa had the lowest percentages, with only 1 percent of their students enrolled in beat-the-odds schools.
The researchers also obtained more specific results by examining the enrollment rates of particular racial groups. In Newark, almost 40 percent of African-American students attended beat-the-odds schools, along with 19 percent in Boston and 16 percent in Pittsburgh. Similarly, Latino students were enrolled in beat-the-odds schools at rates of 27 percent in Newark, 20 percent in Pittsburgh, and 17 percent in Boston.
MarGrady Research
"In several cities, including Newark, Denver, Houston, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Memphis, and Nashville, charter schools are driving a significant improvement in student performance," stated Margolis, emphasizing that this trend is not ubiquitous.
Pittsburgh, for instance, stands out with the highest proportion of non-charter schools surpassing expectations compared to other cities in the study. Over the past five years, Pittsburgh, Denver, and Seattle have experienced notable growth in the number of students attending beat-the-odds schools.
On the other hand, Baltimore and Cincinnati, which once ranked alongside Newark as leaders in the CRPE study, have witnessed a significant decline in the number of beat-the-odds schools. In Cincinnati, 9 percent fewer students attend such schools compared to 2012, while in Baltimore, the decline is 11 percent.
Please note that the New Jersey Children’s Foundation and receive financial support from The City Fund.
Disclosure: The City Fund provides financial support to the New Jersey Children’s Foundation and .
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