Transforming an Urban School System

In 2009, the City of New Haven and New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) announced a sweeping K–12 educational reform, New Haven School Change. The district had three primary goals for School Change: (1) close the gap between the performance of NHPS students' and Connecticut students' averages on state tests, (2) cut the high school dropout rate in half, and (3) ensure that every graduating student has the academic ability and the financial resources to attend and succeed in college. Concurrent with School Change, in 2010 the City of New Haven partnered with the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, NHPS, and Yale University to create New Haven Promise, a scholarship program that aims to improve the college-going culture in the city and postsecondary enrollment and graduation rates of NHPS graduates as a way to enhance the economic development of the city, attract more residents to New Haven, reduce crime and incarceration, and improve residents' quality of life. The 2010–2011 school year marked the first year of a staged implementation for both efforts. In June 2013, the New Haven Promise Board of Directors asked the RAND Corporation to conduct a study to document and describe baseline conditions and early progress of these programs. Researchers worked with state and district data and conducted interviews with Promise Scholars and parents to document early trends and possible areas for improvement. This volume contains the study's supporting appendixes.