Evaluating Education Reform in Hobbs Municipal Schools

This project is a mixed-methods evaluation of the implementation and outcomes of the Hobbs Municipal Schools Common Core State Standards Initiative. AIR's evaluation includes a descriptive review of district reform and student performance history from the early 2000s through 2013 and an evaluation of the implementation of the Common Core in Hobbs, the relationship of Common Core reform with other district reforms, and the impact of Common Core implementation on student opportunity to learn, as well as academic and other outcomes.
 

Research Questions

1. To what extent and in what respects is the Common Core State Standards initiative implemented as intended by HMS and the Dana Center?
2. To what extent and in what respects do students’ opportunities to learn improve in subjects, grades, and schools where the Common Core State Standards initiative is implemented?
3. To what extent and in what respects are improvements in opportunities to learn associated with the implementation of the Common Core State Standards initiative and caused by the implementation of the Common Core State Standards initiative?
4. To what extent and in what respects does students’ academic performance improve in subjects, grades, and schools where the Common Core State Standards initiative is implemented?
5. To what extent and in what respects are improvements in students’ academic performance associated with improvements in opportunities to learn and caused by improvements in opportunities to learn?
6. To what extent and in what respects is the implementation of the Common Core State Standards initiative influenced by the implementation of other HMS and state education reforms, such as the district’s data-driven instruction initiative that the J. F Maddox Foundation supports and the state’s transition to Common Core State Standards and assessments and educator evaluation initiatives? Does the implementation of the Common Core State Standards initiative influence the implementation of other HMS and state education reforms?
    

Methods

AIR conducted a historical review of student performance and district reform efforts. This work followed three main strands: (1) the districts reform history; (2) documentation of trends in student outcomes (academic and nonacademic) and opportunity to learn; and (3) the relationship among changes in student outcomes and opportunity, and reform efforts.

The next phase of the evaluation is a mixed-methods evaluation of the implementation and outcomes of the Common Core initiative. The evaluation team will analyze quantitative and qualitative data to document and assess implementation, outcomes in terms of changes in opportunities to learn and students' performance, and the relation among implementation and the two sets of outcomes. AIR will conduct a quasi-experimental comparative interrupted time series analysis to determine if changes in opportunities to learn and changes in student academic performance are the result of the Common Core.