The distinguishing characteristics of a high performing urban public high school: a descriptive analysis self-study

UnrestrictedVincent High School is an urban public high school with a population of working class children of color, most of whom are English Language Learners. The school is located in Southern California. Many schools with similar conditions produce poor summative outcomes, however Vincent High School's student performance on state-mandated tests has undergone statistically significant increases from 2001-2008, indicating substantial student learning gains during this period.; The researcher was a teacher at the school concurrent with these student achievement gains. The purpose of the current self-study was to identify, examine, and analyze the distinguishing characteristics of the high school, and stakeholder perceptions of them, in order to provide the field with additional school attributes for further exploration and hypothesis-testing. The researcher utilized his insider perspective to identify six distinguishing characteristics of the high school to investigate and analyze in this study.; The researcher interviewed teachers, students, parents, and administrators, gleaning their knowledge, perspectives, and experiences with the school in relation to its distinguishing characteristics. In order to achieve triangulation, the researcher conducted classroom and teacher collaboration observations and performed document analysis of school and district policies.; Findings indicate that stakeholders hold the school and its characteristics in high esteem. Analysis of interviews revealed perceptions of the high school as a safe and educationally conducive environment, where all of the school's characteristics have jointly enriched the learning that takes place there. Most participants responded favorably to the six distinguishing characteristics of the school. Additional school characteristics emerged from participant interviews, which were also explored in this self-study.; Participants' positive perceptions of the school and its characteristics were substantiated in classroom and collaboration observations. Data support interview responses that the school’s characteristics allow for educationally salient and supportive classroom instruction and teacher camaraderie.; The purpose of this study was not to determine causality of improvements in student academic performance as measured by standardized tests, but rather, to identify and examine the distinguishing characteristics of the school based upon the stakeholders’ perceptions. This study focused on school practices that have shown promise at Vincent High, for possible transfer to other school settings