Getting to Outcomes: A User's Guide to a Revised Indicators Framework for Education Organizing

Overview & Synopsis

Research about education organizing has proliferated during the past decade, generating an increasingly rich collection of case studies, national surveys, and other analyses. Research for Action (RFA) has been among those engaged in this work and has drawn on its previous efforts - as well as the knowledge built by community organizing groups and other researchers - to create this User's Guide. The Indicators Framework offered here can serve as a tool to help education organizing groups engage in self-reflection and evaluation of their efforts. At the same time, organizing groups, funders, and educators can use this framework to make a stronger case for an education reform paradigm that starts with and builds the resources and strength of the stakeholders most directly affected by what happens to public education. In 2002, in partnership with the Cross City Campaign for Urban School Reform, RFA developed a theory of change explaining how education organizing worked to strengthen communities and improve schools. Accompanying this theory of change was a set of indicators that could be used to assess the outcomes of the organizing process. Recognizing the value of such tools, and in light of the substantial changes within education organizing groups and in the education field, Communities for Public Education Reform (CPER) commissioned RFA to update its previous work. This updated Indicators Framework reflects the adaptations education organizing groups are making in response to the new education realities, and to over a decade of experience working to change schools in low-income neighborhoods. Together, the theory of change and indicator charts that make up the Framework provide a common understanding of education organizing, and a common language for discussing its processes and outcomes in the current reform era. The THEORY OF CHANGE offers an overview of how the strategies of education organizing can lead to various outcomes--not only in the form of education "wins," but also the capacity building and empowerment that emerge from the organizing process. The INDICATORS, organized into a set of charts, include quantitative and qualitative measures of these processes and outcomes. In order to make the theory of change and complementary indicator charts accessible, this guide provides a detailed explanation of how to use them to measure and demonstrate the impact of education organizing on education systems, individuals, and communities. Appended are: (1) Bibliography; (2) CPER-Supported Groups Interviewed by RFA; (3) Recommended Surveys; and (4) Glossary of Terms. [This guide was also produced by Communities for Public Education Reform (CPER).]