CGR completed an implementation evaluation of 5 secondary schools opened in the Rochester NY City School District in 2010-11. CGR found the schools have successfully established generally positive environments where students feel cared about and teachers are proud to work. Some academic outcomes are higher that the district as a whole, though performance on state tests was mixed. Ensuring that students are actively engaged in learning and that all classes offer appropriately rigorous content are paramount challenges. CGR’s evaluation included student outcome data, surveys, focus groups and classroom observations.

For the third straight academic year, CGR is providing external research support to the Rochester NY City School District (RCSD), ranging from analyzing data to assessing progress on initiatives to supporting implementation of policies designed to improve specific district outcomes. CGR’s current work focuses on building staff capacity to use data for decision making, communicating more strategically, and evaluating the progress of new schools recently opened by the district (for evaluation report, see above). Earlier work included a 4-part policy review series on RCSD reform efforts.

Faced with enrollment declines, increased operating expenses, and steep reductions in state aid, the Sullivan County (NY) BOCES engaged CGR to determine whether there are cost savings and efficiencies from combining business office functions for any of 7 participating school districts.  CGR provides 4 models that give the districts an understanding of what a CBO might look like if they contract with BOCES for a suite of core business functions; outlines interim paths to implement the CBO; and provides a cost-benefit tool to determine, depending on which services are combined, the range of cost savings.

The Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) Middle College is partnering with the Rochester NY public school district to increase college access by offering urban high school students an opportunity to enhance their college readiness. CGR was engaged to assess the pilot program by following the first cohort of students from freshman year (2007-08) through graduation (2010-11). Currently, CGR is designing an evaluation plan, and will evaluate the 2011-12 program.