Chosen in a highly competitive process by [the] Carnegie Corporation of New York, Heubert's award will support research and writing on "Promotion and Graduation Tests: How Do They Affect Student Learning and Progress and How Can Proper Test Use Be Promoted?" Shipps' award will support her project on "School Reform , Corporate Style: The Nexus of Politics, Business and Education Change in Twentieth Century Chicago."

"For more than 90 years, Carnegie Corporation has identifies and promoted ideas that have shaped positive and permanent social change," said Vartan Gregorian, President of Carnegie Corporation of New York. Gregorian inaugurated the Scholars program in 1999. "We believe that scholarship such as Professors Heubert's and Shipps' is an important asset in our democratic process where new policy solutions must be supported by credible research and analysis."

Heubert will work on a two-part interdisciplinary study of "high stakes" tests that determine promotion and graduation for students in grades k-12. The first part will analyze empirical research on how tests affect the learning and life chances of students, particularly children of color, children with limited English proficiency, children with disabilities, and children of low socioeconomic status. Identifying areas of agreement and disagreement among scholars, his research will strive to determine evidence policy makers need to assess the positive effects of high-stakes testing and to monitor unintended negative effects. The second part of his study will explore methods of ensuring that high-stakes tests are used appropriately to enhance the life chances of children, especially those whose needs are greatest."

Through her case study of Chicago's schools, Shipps will integrate two approaches to analyze the chronic problem of failing urban schools. The first perspective views urban school reform as a long, steady process of improving our empirical knowledge about the changes needed in schools to meet the special needs of disadvantaged children. The other places urban schooling in big-city politics and focuses on the civic capacity necessary to generate and sustain change. Her integration of the two approaches uncovers the value dilemmas inherent in "fixing" urban schools and highlights the role of corporations in Chicago's long-running improvement efforts. Because of Chicago's visibility and historical salience, Shipps' project promises to influence how urban school reformers view their own strategies and possibly help erode the wall between educators and their civic partners in reform.

Nominated scholars and their research projects were evaluated by committees including both Carnegie Corporation leaders and external advisors. Heubert and Shipps were selected from an initial group of 89 scholars. According to The Chronicle of Higher Education, the recipients "represent elite colleges and universities. The winners included both established researchers and rising stars."

Published Tuesday, Sep. 18, 2001