| This dissertation explores how the development of Bridges Institute, a small Bronx high school, was influenced by the interaction between its unique educational processes and the challenges it has confronted over time. Bridges Institute, which was organized around Coalition of Essential Schools principles, emerged from the restructuring of Presidential HS, a failing comprehensive high school in the Bronx, in 1994. The school was one of four Bronx schools that were part of a larger small school reform initiative in New York City called the Coalition Campus Schools Project.; Drawing from the literature on small school reform, I developed a conceptual framework to examine the "core of educational practice" (Elmore, 1996) at Bridges Institute, and the extent to which that core has been instrumental in sustaining the school's vision of small school reform. Through ethnographic interviews with school founders, veteran and novice staff, as well as school alumni, a description of the school's evolution, including its successes and challenges, are presented.; In spite of challenging community and policy contexts, Bridges was successful at reversing failing trends, with graduation rates higher than both city and nationwide averages, as well as higher than the comprehensive high school from which it emerged. Findings from this research suggest that these successes were due, in part, to three key areas: instructional practice; professional community and leadership. Bridges built processes into the core of their practice that both helped address challenges present at the school's inception, as well as equipped them with the ability to develop useful strategies to address other challenges as they arose. At the same time, the school struggled in key areas, including maintaining high expectations for their students, and preserving a tradition of staff involvement while managing high staff turnover and increasing numbers of novice teachers.; Understanding the evolution of Bridge and how its community and policy contexts impacted it, revealed important lessons that inform small school reformers and advocates as we look forward to the newest generation of small schools. |
