Abstract for: Halting the Decline of U.S. Public Education Systems

United States’ urban school systems have been under reform for decades with millions of dollars spent to improve academic outcomes and few results. Achieving educational growth in schools serving children in high poverty communities is tough––educators must improve student learning despite disparities that are associated with poverty. Few, if any, reforms account for the complex feedback systems that make it difficult to improve schools in high poverty settings, sometimes exacerbating the disparities it intended to solve. This mixed-methods system dynamics study examines the problem of declining enrollment and academic performance for students in an urban school system. Community-Based System Dynamics workshops and semi-structured interviews with educators and families were used to specify a system dynamics model and intervention were simulated to solve patterns of declining enrollment and academic decline. Results show the imperative for school system leaders to pursue bold changes for students. Limitations and future directions are discussed.