Principal Investigator
Susan Lyons – Lyons Assessment Consulting
Project Description
This is a landscape scan conducted by The Canopy Project, which used qualitative data and review of internal and external quantitative data on school performance to achieve three aims. First, the researchers sought to identify the types of student performance outcomes that Canopy schools chose to prioritize. Second, they examined how Canopy schools measured success on those outcomes of interest. And third, they explored whether they could demonstrate any evidence of impact for Canopy schools in their network.
Research Questions
- What outcomes are Canopy schools choosing to prioritize?
- How are Canopy schools measuring success on their prioritized outcomes?
- To what degree are innovative schools demonstrating evidence of impact?
Key Findings
Findings revealed that Canopy schools prioritized a range of academic and non-academic student outcomes, with a specific focus on broader outcomes capturing deep learning rather than more traditional assessments of academic skills. Innovative schools with some evidence of success on traditional measures also focused on a broader set of student outcomes. However, schools did not have consistent ways to measure these outcomes. This means that it was difficult for most schools to understand their impact and compare student data across settings. There was also no evidence that Canopy schools performed differently in terms of student performance than non-Canopy schools.
Study Citation
Lyons, S., Caines, J., & Lawson, J. (2023). Evaluating the impact of innovative schools. The Canopy Project Internal Report.
The Key Findings above were reproduced from the published report and do not necessarily reflect interpretation of Overdeck Family Foundation staff.
