1. City Year: Putting Idealism to Work for Philadelphia Students
City Year Overview
City Year has partnered with Philadelphia schools for over a decade, supporting academic achievement and improving behavior for at-risk students. Through a grant from the William Penn Foundation, the Office of Research and Evaluation (ORE) at the School District of Philadelphia (SDP) is conducting a two-year evaluation of the City Year program. Data collected included:
Teacher Feedback to Corps Members
For Corps members’ professional development teachers provide feedback to Corps members working with students in their classrooms through a feedback cycle
Principals
Teachers
Students
Corps Members
Mid-year and End-of Year Surveys
Mid-year and End-of-year Surveys
Achievement and Behavioral Data
Logs of Intervention Activities
Targeted Interviews
Mid-year And End-of-Year Surveys;
Program Implementation
City Year provides support in four target areas: English Language Arts, Math, Attendance, and Behavior to over 900 students in grades three to nine in the district, across 11 schools
Corps Member Satisfaction with City Year
Corps members were asked to evaluate their satisfaction with the City Year program.
My Program Manager…
Percent Agree& Strongly Agree
Effectively coaches me on my work with students
77%
Demonstrates he/she is committed to my success as a corps member
93%
Is a very effective leader
87%
“I have had great experiences with my students thus far and have been able to connect with them on many levels. I love the culture of City Year.”
Corps Member
Principal Feedback on Corps Members
Principals find City Year to be an effective and impactful program that enriches school culture.
Comparing Principal and Teacher Satisfaction
Principals and teachers were asked to evaluate their overall satisfaction with the City Year Program
Quality of City Year Team’s Performance
Percent Agree & Strongly Agree
Work well with teachers and staff
100%
Serve as positive role models
88%
Have integrated smoothly into our school
76%
Establish a college and career going culture
87%
Overall, how satisfied are you with:
% Satisfied and Very Satisfied
Principals
Teachers
The overall experience of working with City Year.
100%
90%
The quality of service provided by your City Year team.
88%
87%
77% of Principals were City Year Promoters
71% of Teachers were City Year Promoters
“I think the kids can really identify with the Corps members because they are young. I think its great having a young role model in the room for the kids”
9th grade Teacher
How likely is it that you would recommend City Year to someone else who serves in your position at another school?
Very Unlikely 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Extremely Likely 10
Teacher Feedback on Corps Members
Teachers are overwhelmingly positive in evaluating the support Corps Members offer to students:
My Corps Members Help to Improve My Students’…
Percent Agree & Strongly Agree
Math Performance
89%
English/Language Arts Performance
82%
Time Spent on Learning Tasks
87%
Motivation to Learn
Active Engagement in Learning
Contact Information
Alexandra List, Sr. Research Associate
SDP Office of Research and Evaluation
(p): (e):
City Year Evaluation Team
Alexandra List, Ph.D.; Amber Goldberg, M.A.; Melissa Karakus, M.A.