Elementary Schools: Collective Case Study

The methodology selected for this article involves a collective case study of hyper-segregated public elementary schools in Connecticut from 2010-2014. The cases selected for analysis consist of 131 elementary schools identified as hyper-segregated using the Sheff Standard. The Sheff Standard considers a school hyper-segregated if less than 10% or more than 90% of a school’s student body are Minority. For the purpose of this research, the 131 elementary schools identified using the Sheff Standard as hyper-segregated were hyper-segregated during each of the four academic years included in the research. Schools that fell outside the 90%-10% threshold during any of the four school years that comprise the 2010-2014 timeframe were removed from the …show more content…
In 1990, the Connecticut General Assembly adopted CGS Section 10-22(c) that requires:
…each local and regional board of education shall submit to the commissioner of education a strategic school profile report for each school under its jurisdiction and for the school district as a whole. Each profile report will contain information on measures of student needs, school resources, and student and school performance.
According to the Connecticut State Department of Education, the purpose of these reports is to, “…serve as an accountability system which informs the public about what is happening in Connecticut schools; and to stimulate school improvement through shared information.” (CITE) In addition to quantitative performance data and indicators of student need, the Strategic School Profiles and Performance and Profile Reports require each school to write a narrative response to three prompts. These prompts include “Home School Communication and Support,” “School Improvement Planning and Activities,” and “Efforts to Reduce Racial, Ethnic, and Economic Isolation.” The directions for the narrative statement under the heading “Efforts to Reduce Racial, Ethnic and Economic Isolation” directs school districts to provide …show more content…
We acknowledge that the narratives does not provide sufficient detail to determine the full impact of the efforts on meaningfully reducing racial, ethnic and economic isolation. The 250-word summary does not provide the administrators who wrote the narrative a sufficient opportunity to provide detailed that includes reflection and an analysis of the efficacy of the efforts to reduce racial, ethnic and economic isolation. However, a broad indicator of efforts to reduce racial, ethnic and economic isolation in hyper-segregated public elementary schools, we believe that the data source is accurately and reliably reflects statewide efforts to reduce racial, ethnic, and economic isolation in hyper-segregated elementary