The Distinguishing Characteristics of a High-Performing Urban School

Vincent High School is an urban public high school with a population of working class children of color most of whom are English Language Learners. The school is located in Southern California. Many schools with similar conditions produce poor summative outcomes however Vincent High School’s student performance on statemandated tests has undergone statistically significant increases from 2001-2008 indicating substantial student learning gains during this period. The researcher was a teacher at the school concurrent with these student achievement gains. The purpose of the current self-study was to identify examine and analyze the distinguishing characteristics of the high school and stakeholder perceptions of them in order to provide the field with additional school attributes for further exploration and hypothesis-testing. The researcher utilized his insider perspective to identify six distinguishing characteristics of the high school to investigate and analyze in this study. The researcher interviewed teachers students parents and administrators gleaning their knowledge perspectives and experiences with the school about its distinguishing characteristics.