The Politics of School Reform - A Broader and Bolder Approach for Newark

Oct 15, 2026

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A substantial body of evidence indicates that many prior school reforms have not improved education in urban areas. After reviewing major efforts from the past two to three decades, the authors argue earlier initiatives failed to address how poverty shapes students’ academic outcomes and overall school performance. The article presents Newark, New Jersey’s emerging strategy as a demonstration model of the Broader and Bolder Approach, emphasizing integrated policies that mitigate local social and economic conditions.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages22

Reading Time55 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Evidence on past reform outcomes

Poverty’s role in student achievement

The Newark strategy as a demonstration model

Dropout rates and accountability

UC Berkeley Berkeley Review of Education Title The Politics of School Reform: A Broader and Bolder Approach for Newark Permalink [https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9mj097nv](https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9mj097nv) Journal Berkeley Review of Education, 2(1) ISSN 1947-5578 Authors Noguera, Pedro A. Wells, Lauren Publication Date 2011-01-01 Peer reviewed [eScholarship.org](eScholarship.org) Powered by the California Digital Library University of California Available online at [http://escholarship.org/uc/ucbgse_bre](http://escholarship.org/uc/ucbgse_bre) The Politics of School Reform: A Broader and Bolder Approach for Newark Pedro A. Noguera 1 and Lauren Wells New York University Abstract A substantial body of evidence has shown that past reforms have largely failed to improve schools in urban areas. After reviewing some of the major reforms that have been undertaken over the last 20 to 30 years the authors conclude that prior efforts failed to address the numerous ways in which poverty influences student academic outcomes and school performance (Coleman et al., 1966; Rothstein, 2004). As a contrast to the decontextualized approach to school improvement that has characterized national reforms, a new strategy to school improvement that is underway in Newark, New Jersey is presented as an alternative model. Conceived as a demonstration model for the Broader and Bolder Approach,2 the Newark strategy follows an approach that has been pursued by the Harlem Children’s Zone, the Children’s Aid Society, and a small number of similar efforts. These initiatives are based on the premise that educational reforms must be designed to counter and mitigate the effects of social and economic conditions in the local environment. The case of Newark is presented as a model for what it might take to enable a greater number of schools in distressed neighborhoods to experience success. Keywords: Social Context, School Reform, Impact of Poverty on Education, Integrated Social Policy Perhaps one of the most ambitious goals of President Obama’s Blueprint for Reform is its call for the transformation of the nation’s persistently failing schools. According to U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan, there are over 5,000 chronically underperforming schools throughout the country. Many of these are high schools that he and others have described as “dropout factories” because they consistently lose far more students than they graduate each year (Gonzalez, 2010) . Although recent data indicate that there has been a slight increase in high school graduation rates from 70% to 72%(Pearson Foundation, 2010), a closer examination of the evidence reveals little change in many of the nation’s largest cities and school districts where dropout rates typically hover at around 50% and are generally substantially higher for Black and Latino males. This article begins by presenting an analysis of the major school reform efforts that have occurred over the last 20 to 30 years and offers an explanation for why they have largely failed to bring about the dramatic changes in student achievement that have been promised. A central argument of this paper is that one of the reasons why past reforms 1 Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Pedro A. Noguera, Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Development, [New York University. Email: pedro.noguera@nyu.edu](New York University. Email: pedro.noguera@nyu.edu) 2 The Broader and Bolder Approach is a set of policy prescriptions adopted by a broad number of researchers, policymakers, and educators as a counter to the current No Child Left Behind policy. For a detailed description, see [http://www.broaderbolderapproach.com](http://www.broaderbolderapproach.com) . Berkeley Review of Education Vol. 2 No . 1, pp. 5-25 6 Noguera & Wells have failed to improve schools in urban areas in particular is because they have failed to address the numerous ways in

FAQs

Why do the authors argue that past school reforms failed in urban areas?

They argue prior efforts largely overlooked how poverty affects students’ academic outcomes and school performance, leaving key local conditions unaddressed.

What alternative strategy is presented for school improvement in Newark?

The article describes a Newark, New Jersey approach designed as a demonstration model for the Broader and Bolder Approach, with strategies intended to counter and mitigate local social and economic effects.

How does the article connect poverty, dropout rates, and school performance?

It links persistent poverty to weaker educational outcomes, noting many chronically underperforming schools and discussing dropout patterns that remain high in major cities and among Black and Latino males.

Oct 15, 2026

Upload by Ben