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Transforming the American High School:Lessons Learned and Struggles Ahead

Betsy Brand

December 2004

Bridging Youth Policy, Practice and Research

American Youth Policy Forum

American Youth Policy Forum - Bridging Policy, Practice and Research

The American Youth Policy Forum (AYPF) is a nonprofit professional development organization based in Washington, DC. Our mission is to bridge policy, practice andresearch by providing nonpartisan learning opportunities for professionals working onyouth policy issues at the national, state and local levels.

Our goal is to enable policymakers and their aides to be more effective in their professional duties and of greater service—to Congress, the Executive Branch, state legislatures, governors and national organizations—in the development, enactment, andimplementation of sound policies affecting our nation's young people. We believe thatknowing more about youth issues—both intellectually and experientially—will help thesebusy professionals formulate better policies and perform their jobs more effectively. AYPF does not lobby or take positions on pending legislation. Rather, we work to develop better communication, greater understanding and enhanced trust among these professionals, and to create a climate that will result in constructive action for the benefitof the nation's young people and their families and communities.

Each year, AYPF conducts 35 to 45 learning events (forums, discussion groups and fieldtrips) and develops policy reports disseminated nationally. For more information aboutthese activities and other publications, visit our website at www.aypf.org.

Funders

AYPF events and policy reports are made possible by the support of a consortium of philanthropic foundations: Carnegie Corporation of New York, Ford Foundation, FordMotor Company Fund, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, GE Foundation, George GundFoundation, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, KnowledgeWorks Foundation, Lumina Foundationfor Education, Charles S. Mott Foundation, and others. The views reflected in this publication are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the funders.

Copyright

American Youth Policy Forum, Washington, DC, 2004. This publication is copyrighted,but may be quoted without permission providing the source is identified as: Betsy Brand.2004. Transforming the American High School: Lessons Learned and Struggles Ahead.Washington, DC: American Youth Policy Forum. Reproduction of any portion of thisreport for commercial sale is prohibited. For additional copies of this publication, visit our website, www.aypf.org. ISBN #1-887031-88-X.

This report was made possible by the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

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Transforming the American HighSchool: Lessons Learned and

Struggles Ahead

Betsy Brand

American Youth Policy ForumNovember 2004

Table of Contents

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

Summary and Lessons Learned . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

Improving Student Achievement, Particularly for Low-performing and Disadvantaged

Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

Successful Transition of Underachieving Students to Postsecondary Education . . . . . . . . .8

Quality Career Preparation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11

Creating Connections for Youth to Caring and Knowledgeable Adults and to Community

Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14

Creating More High Quality Educational Options and Choices for Youth Throughout the

Community . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17

Community Engagement in Reform Efforts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Professional Development and Capacity Building . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22

District Leadership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25

Intangibles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27

Leverage Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29

High School Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

District Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29

State Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30

Federal Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30

Issues Needing More Attention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

How to Use This ReportThis report draws heavily on the materialalready written about the programs and siteswe visited, as well as speakers at our forums,presentations at roundtables, and summariesof discussion groups, available on our web-site, www.aypf.org. This report is not meantto summarize or encapsulate the entire knowl-edge of the field that exists on each topic orissue, but rather to describe some of the com-mon approaches, strategies, and policies thatreformers are using, as well as to highlight anumber of unique strategies that we learnedabout.

Each topical area includes a brief descriptionof programs, strategies, or policies thataddress that area. For example, under thetopic of Successful Transition ofUnderachieving Students to PostsecondaryEducation, the report includes descriptions ofvarious schools and programs that help stu-dents, ranging from the community-basedCleveland Scholarships Program to a uniquecharter school located at University ofCalifornia San Diego, the Preuss CharterSchool.

The descriptions are meant to give the reader an idea of the range of strategies in place and

to demonstrate different approaches to solv-ing a problem or dealing with a challenge.Descriptions are kept purposefully brief (1-2paragraphs), with a web link to the full docu-ment on AYPF’s website. This will allow thereader to access more detail and depth on theprograms or strategies of greatest interest.Appendix A of this report provides a completelisting of forums, field trips, and other eventsconducted for this project and also containsweb links to forum summaries, field tripreports, and other publications.

AYPF’s Learning Events

AYPF’s goal is to help policymakers learnabout what works to help youth be successful,and more particularly for this project, whatworks with regard to reforming high schools.As we share information with policymakers,we do not take positions or advocate for spe-cific legislation or governmental programs.Rather we seek to find the common strategiesthat support youth and lead to their success.The principles and elements of effective edu-cation and youth programs that we believe inhave been described in the High Schools ofthe Millennium report and our series of com-pendia that describe evaluated programs that

Transforming the American High School 1

INTRODUCTION

The American Youth Policy Forum (AYPF) was funded by the Carnegie Corporation of NewYork to help policymakers learn about and become more engaged in supporting highschool reform efforts. From October 2000-April 2004, AYPF provided a variety of expe-

riences for policymakers to help them gain knowledge of strategies to create more effective learn-ing environments for youth, particularly disadvantaged youth, that lead to increased academicachievement and better preparation for further education and careers. AYPF conducted this workby organizing speaker forums, field trips, discussion groups, and roundtables and by producing anumber of relevant publications for policymakers and practitioners. This report summarizes whatwe learned from these events.

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have positive outcomes for youth.1 Theseprinciples help guide our work in determiningwhat programs to showcase in our forums andfield trips.

AYPF serves a diverse audience of nationalpolicymakers, including Congressional staff,Executive Branch aides, officers of profes-sional and national associations, Washington-based state office staff, researchers, and edu-cation and public affairs media. We alsoinclude state and local practitioners, particu-larly from the D.C., Maryland, and Virginiaareas, in many of our events.

Speaker forums, held on Capitol Hill, areAYPF’s most popular and well-known learn-ing events. At forums, research experts andinnovative practitioners and educational lead-ers are invited to share their knowledge onreform strategies and approaches on a widerange of high school reform topics to helpinform the policy dialogue. Forums aredesigned to allow for an interchange betweenaudience and speakers, and this is often themost interesting part of the program, as poli-cies are questioned and debated.

AYPF field trips, usually one to two days inlength, provide a group of about 20 policy-makers an opportunity to see reform effortsfirst-hand at the state, district, and school lev-els. Visits are made to schools, colleges, andyouth and community programs and allow

participants opportunities to talk with stu-dents, teachers, parents, employers, educa-tional leaders, and elected and appointed offi-cials. During these visits, participants have a chance to see the realities that many urbanschools face and better understand the chal-lenges to high school reform. At the sametime, participants learn about innovative pro-grams and leaders and see what is possiblegiven a willingness to change.

In addition to forums and field trips, AYPForganizes discussion groups and roundtables.Discussion groups are designed to allow agroup of individuals to delve deeply into acomplex topic, such as developing a vision forreformed high schools, or improved careerand technical education. Discussion groupsmeet multiple times over a year or two, andallow for consideration of issues and consen-sus-building in a non-partisan, non-threaten-ing manner. Discussion groups almost alwaysresult in a summary publication. Roundtablesare one-day meetings that allow for a more in-depth examination of an issue than couldoccur at a regular lunchtime forum.Roundtables were held on issues such as newforms of student assessment, the value of con-textual teaching and learning as an instruc-tional strategy, detracking the high school cur-riculum, and the Schools for a New SocietyInitiative.

2 American Youth Policy Forum

1 High Schools of the Millennium, Report of the Workgroup. 2000. Washington, DC: American Youth Policy Forum; Some Things DO Make aDifference for Youth: A Compendium of Evaluations of Youth Programs and Practices. 1997. Washington, DC: American Youth Policy Forum;More Things That DO Make A Difference for Youth: A Compendium of Evaluations of Youth Programs and Practices, vol. II. 1999. Washington, DC:American Youth Policy Forum; Jurich, Sonia & Steve Estes. 2000. Raising Academic Achievement. Washington, DC: American Youth PolicyForum; James, Donna Walker, Sonia Jurich and Steve Estes. 2001. Raising Minority Academic Achievement: A Compendium of EducationPrograms and Practices. Washington, DC: American Youth Policy Forum; James, Donna Walker and Glenda Partee. 2003. No More Islands:Family Involvement in 27 School and Youth Programs. Washington, DC: American Youth Policy Forum.

Improving StudentAchievement,Particularly For Low-Performing andDisadvantaged Students

Improving student achievement and outcomesis obviously a priority for anyone involved inhigh school reform. Little by little, the public,policymakers, and educators have acknowl-edged the problems of academic performanceof high schools. Reports like Locating theDropout Crisis,2 Public High SchoolGraduation Rates and College ReadinessRates in the United States,3 and Projections of2003-2004 High School Graduates4 highlight

the low graduation and high dropout rates atmany schools and the realities that lead tothem. The current focus on standardized test-ing, assessments, and high school exit examshas also helped raise the issue of poor studentperformance to a new level of prominence.Disaggregated data has led to a clearer under-standing of which students do well and whichones do not and is leading to more focusedintervention strategies.

Schools and districts are engaged in variousstrategies to help low-performing and disad-vantaged students improve their academicoutcomes. One of the more common strate-gies is to provide ninth graders with increasedattention in smaller settings. Creating smaller


SUMMARY AND LESSONS LEARNED

Our work for the Carnegie Corporation of New York highlighted a number of policy issues,including strategies and policies that increase student achievement, particularly for low-performing students; help low-performing or disadvantaged students transition more

effectively to postsecondary education; provide high quality career preparation; and create con-nections to caring and knowledgeable adults.

In addition to these major issues, participants in our events learned about communities thatare creating a range of learning options from which youth can choose; youth employment pro-grams for youth who have left school; alternative assessment strategies; contextual teaching andlearning; the use of technology to improve teaching and learning; and financing and resourceissues affecting high school reform. Other policy topics dealt with that deserve much deeperattention and discussion include community engagement and involvement in high school reform;helping English language learners and students with disabilities master rigorous curriculum;building stronger connections between high schools and alternative education programs; andensuring that reform efforts include dropout prevention as well as dropout recovery. We were alsofortunate to have several speakers, such as Deborah Meier, Vice Chair Emeritus, Coalition ofEssential Schools and Paul Hill, Center for Reinvention of Public Education, University ofWashington, who provided their own unique perspectives on high school reform.

The remainder of this section provides a summary of lessons learned by topical area.

2 Balfanz, Robert and Nettie Legters. 2004. Locating the Dropout Crisis: Which High Schools Produce the Nation's Dropouts? Where are TheyLocated? Who Attends Them? Johns Hopkins University, Center for Social Organization of Schools.

3 Greene, Jay and Greg Forster. 2004. Public High School Graduation Rates and College Readiness Rates in the United States. New York: Manhattan Institute, Center for Civic Innovation.

4 Swanson, Christopher. 2004. Projections of 2003-2004 High School Graduates. Washington, DC: The Urban Institute.

schools or groups of students with more per-sonalized instruction based on student needsis also a common strategy. Many of theseinterventions include a laser-like focus onreading, literacy, and mathematics to ensurestudents have the basic skills to advance.Other strategies add more instructional time.

The Talent Development with CareerAcademies model is an education reform ini-tiative that aims to improve the academicachievement of students in large, non-selec-tive, comprehensive high schools. In opera-tion at 33 high schools in 12 states across thecountry, the approach encompasses five mainfeatures: small learning communities, organ-ized around interdisciplinary teacher teamsthat share the same students and have com-mon daily planning time; curricula leading toadvanced English and mathematics course-work; academic extra-help sessions; staff pro-fessional development strategies; and parent-and community-involvement in activities thatfoster students’ career and college readiness.One feature of Talent Development is theNinth Grade Success Academy, a school-within-a-school organized around interdisci-plinary teams designed to provide incomingninth graders with a smooth transition to highschool. In the Academy, students take a dou-ble dose (two periods) of reading (including aStrategic Reading course) and math, learnimportant study skills and are exposed tofuture career pathways through a FreshmanSeminar, and remain with a small team ofteachers and peers.

Another part of the Talent Developmentmodel is to provide “twilight” academies,alternative after-hours programs provided forstudents who have serious attendance or disci-

pline problems or who are coming to theschool from incarceration or suspension fromanother school. Instruction is offered in smallclasses, and extensive services are providedby guidance and support staff. The TalentDevelopment model recently received a posi-tive independent evaluation5 in terms ofincreased grade promotion and course com-pletion for ninth graders.

Morris High School was one of the lowest-performing high schools in Bronx, NY, andone of the hardest to reform. In 1997, only 80students from a freshman class of 600 gradu-ated, with half of the students already lost bytenth grade. The underlying problem was thatthe school was never designed to prepare allof its students for college or high-wagecareers; rather, it was structured to help onlyhigh achievers. For this reason, the districtleadership in the Bronx selected Morris as oneof the first high schools to be transformed intosmall schools.

The Morris High School campus began itstransition to smaller learning communitieswith the opening of the Bronx LeadershipAcademy II, High School for Violin andDance, School for Excellence, and BronxInternational High School in 2002. As thenew schools were phased in, the remainingstudents in the comprehensive school formeda fifth school that will eventually be replacedby a fifth new small school. The transitionfrom the comprehensive school to the newsmall schools is taking place over a period offour years, starting with the freshman classand adding a grade each year. There areapproximately 850 students in the four newsmall schools on the Morris campus, with 700students attending the “old” Morris High


5 Kemple, James and Corinne Herlihy. 2004. The Talent Development High School Model: Context, Components, and Initial Impacts on Ninth-Grade Students' Engagement and Performance. New York: MDRC.

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School program.

One sign that the small school design is hav-ing a positive impact is that the number of stu-dents graduating from the “old” high schoolhas increased from 77 to 220. Staff believesthat because the “old” high school is gettingsmaller, students are benefiting from the smallschool environment, and the culture of theschool building is changing to one of highexpectations and support for all students.

Each school has at least a 90 percent atten-dance rate, and the number of students whowant to attend the schools has increased overprevious years. The principals of the smallschools agree that there are other positivechanges as a result of moving to smallschools: the building is calmer and quieter,even though there are more students; there isa better learning atmosphere and higher atten-dance; security problems have been alleviat-ed; and security and administrative costs havebeen reduced.

James Ford Rhodes High School,Cleveland, OH began breaking into smallerlearning communities in 1997 with the imple-mentation of a ninth grade academy. The fol-lowing year several other smaller learningcommunities were added for upper classmen,including a Naval Junior ROTC program andthe Ford Academy of Manufacturing Sciences(FAMS). Now the entire school is beingtransformed into three themed schools, eachwith grades nine through twelve.

At Rhodes High School, a gateway programdesigned for ninth graders who are off-trackand low in credits was also implemented.This program focuses on basic skills andoffers no electives. In partnership with Johns

Hopkins University, the gateway programprovides double-dosing of English and math,world history, and science. Another interven-tion, the Sylvan Learning Lab, offers remedi-ation for math and English. These smallerenvironments allow teachers to assess theskills and abilities of each student more read-ily and to determine what individual assis-tance might be needed.

Some large comprehensive high schools, likeMission Bay High School in San Diego, CA,(1,600 student body) provide needy studentswith intensive literacy and mathematicsinstruction. Students who enter ninth gradereading at a third or fourth grade level taketwo English and two math courses each day,supplemented only by lunch and physicaleducation. Classes use high interest texts foradolescents, and teach a variety of readingskills, from decoding to fluency to compre-hension. While many high schools havemoved to these intensive blocks of timedevoted to reading and literacy, some schoolsstill struggle with the most effective ways ofteaching adolescents. Mission Bay has foundthat reading and literacy coaches are an effec-tive way to help teachers in various disci-plines learn how to support the teaching ofreading.

The “Credit Recovery Program” and “MakeUp” school at Central High School,Providence, RI seek to get students who failninth grade back on track by 11th grade. Tenpercent (approximately 50 students) of the2000-2001 freshman class at Central earnedfewer than two credits. The Credit RecoveryProgram was designed to serve ninth graderepeaters, allowing them to engage in extend-ed work after school, curriculum compacting(i.e., covering more course material by

covering a subject during regular and after





school hours), and a community service com-ponent. Students in the Credit RecoveryProgram attend a double period of Englishand math. If successful after the first quarter,students are also assigned community serviceand journal writing. Community Serviceearns students additional credits to keep themon track for graduation. The “Make Up”school is offered to ninth grade students fail-ing Algebra I or English after their firstsemester. Students attend a half credit make-up class to replace the failing grade theyreceived during the first quarter and avoidrepeating or going to summer school.Students in the program come to class imme-diately after regular school two nights perweek for English instruction and two nightsper week for math instruction. Students andtheir parents sign a contract with clear expec-tations and pay a $20.00 fee, which is refund-able if a student successfully completes theclass. Students must be present during theday to attend the after-school program, andafter two absences, students are dropped fromthe program.

At Southwest High School, San Diego, CA,the principal reported the most difficult aspectof his job was to cause a shift in the wayteachers think about the abilities of their stu-dents and the way they think about theirteaching. “Teachers can no longer be a con-tent teacher; they must now be a reading andwriting teacher in a content area. In otherwords, a chemistry teacher is a reading andwriting teacher in the content of chemistry,”he said. This has changed the way studentsgain basic skills, as each class supports stu-dent growth in literacy and math. The schoolhas also eliminated all remedial and lowerlevel classes because they do not meet theCalifornia “A-G” university entrance require-ments and has instead pushed students to takemore rigorous classes.

Project GRAD (Graduation ReallyAchieves Dreams), started in Houston, TX,is a holistic intervention that helps childrenwhen they are young and follows themthrough school into college by providing arange of supports to them and their families.Project GRAD consists of five components:summer institutes and scholarships for stu-dents; classroom management and discipli-nary strategies; Move It Math, a speciallydesigned math instruction; Success for All, areading and writing program; and aCommunities in Schools program that pro-vides counseling, mentoring, tutoring, andhelp to families to keep students focused ontheir work. These components are placed inelementary, middle, and high schools in feed-er systems to ensure consistency of effortacross all grade levels.

Project GRAD has been implemented in threefeeder systems in Houston, which affect 41schools and approximately 26,000 students.For the past ten years, Project GRAD has con-ducted an evaluation of its effectiveness bycollecting data on high school graduation andcollege attendance and student behavior, dis-cipline, and achievement. The following areindicators of the program’s success:

• The percentage of college-bound high school graduates from the Davis High School feeder system has increased from an annual 12% to 45%, well above the national average of 37% for Hispanic sen-iors and 33% for African-American sen-iors.

• Students qualifying for the scholarships at Davis High School increased from 47% of graduates in 1992 to 60% of graduates in 1999.

• At Davis High School, passing rates on the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) increased from 42% in 1994 to 79%



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in 2000, and TAAS passing rates in reading increased from 51% to 82%.

• At Yates High School, TAAS passing rates in math went from 25% in 1996 to 71% in 1999, while TAAS passing rates in reading went from 63% to 83%.

Menchville High School, Newport News,VA is a large high school that provides per-sonalization and supports to students in a vari-ety of ways. The block schedule allows for aplanning, professional improvement, andactivity period so that teachers and studentsdo not stay after school for co-curricularactivities. Instead, after school time is nowused to provide extra learning supports forstudents. A listing of extra-help opportunitiesfor students is published each year andincludes teacher tutoring schedules and otherprograms. A Smaller Learning Communitiesgrant focused on improving the ninth gradetransition, creating a more welcoming envi-ronment for these students as well as opportu-nities for upper classmen to serve as mentors.A decision was made not to separate theincoming students into a ninth grade academy,but to structure their experience so that upperclassmen could mentor them.

The commitment to success and opportunitiesfor all students is reflected in a curriculumthat offers college prep, as well as occupation-ally focused courses in a non-tracked manner.This is achieved through a focus on providingmultiple levels of supports for all students,open access to Advanced Placement courses(with the school district paying for the examsand opportunities for practice exams availableat the school), and a counseling program thatrequires all students to develop a four-yearplan so they know what courses are requiredto meet their career and postsecondary educa-tion goals.

A district-wide strategy to improve student

performance and reduce the achievement gapwas showcased in a forum on the MinorityStudent Achievement Network (MSAN) ,anational coalition of multiracial, relativelyaffluent suburban school districts workingtogether to study the disparity in achievementbetween white students and students of color.MSAN focuses on discovering, developing,and implementing the means to ensure thehigh academic achievement of minority stu-dents. MSAN argues against creating newprograms and assigning specific staff mem-bers to address the gap so that only some peo-ple in the district are responsible for address-ing the gap; all members of the district mustbe held accountable. One superintendent inthe network indicated that eliminating theachievement gap is not about adopting specif-ic programs, rather, it is about adopting a gen-eral approach and general principles to educa-tional improvement. MSAN suggests fourguiding principles for eliminating achieve-ment gaps: acknowledge and report the gappublicly; believe that the gap can be eliminat-ed; accept responsibility for making progress;and make elimination of the gap an importantpriority that is reflected in the plans of instruc-tional leaders, schools, departments, and theschool board.

One group of students that often garners spe-cial attention is English Language Learners,and several programs and small schools havebeen designed around the needs of recentimmigrant students. The BronxInternational High School, one of the smallschools housed at Morris High School, Bronx,NY, serves an immigrant population from 30different countries. Students who score at orbelow the 20th percentile on the LanguageAssessment Battery and have been in the U.S.less than four years are the target population.Students are allowed to use their native lan-guage as needed to help them understand content information. Students are usually



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ready to move to full-time English instructionin five to six months. The key components ofthe school’s design include: project-basedinterdisciplinary curriculum; English as aSecond Language development methodologyinfused in all content areas; heterogeneouscollaborative groupings; extended class peri-ods in core academic subjects; andautonomous teacher teams that collaborate toserve small cohorts of students.

Students with disabilities often perform atlower levels than students without disabilities.The No Child Left Behind Act has highlight-ed students with disabilities as one of the keygroups of students that need interventions inorder to close the achievement gap. Yet manyschools are still struggling with how best toserve students with disabilities, and manyteachers lack the necessary skills to providethe required individualized instruction. Mostschools are pairing special education teacherswith regular education teachers as a way toimprove teaching skills, and most schoolswere struggling to serve these youth. This isa key area that deserves increased attention.

Successful Transition ofUnderachievingStudents toPostsecondaryEducation Another key issue AYPF examined was thesuccessful transition of underachieving stu-dents to postsecondary education. No longercan students get by with a high school diplo-ma; in today’s knowledge-based economy,students need some postsecondary educationin order to earn a family wage. While finan-cial barriers are enormous for many students,other barriers, such as poor academic preparation and low family expectations, hold

many students back. The most successfulprograms dealt with easing multiple barriersto postsecondary access.

AVID (Advancement via IndividualDetermination) at Southwest High School(SWHS) in San Diego, is a national school-based college preparatory program for low-income and first-generation students thatrequires them to enroll in college preparatoryclasses, receive tutoring from college stu-dents, attend sessions with guest speakersfrom colleges and businesses, and participatein field trips to colleges and universities.There are four curriculum-based AVID strate-gies to help prepare students for postsec-ondary education: writing, inquiry, collabora-tion, and reading. The material is designed tobe rigorous, but also interactive and of highinterest to adolescents. One of the corner-stones of AVID is improving study skills andusing the Cornell note-taking system to helpstudents become more organized. All AVIDstudents participate in Advanced Placement(AP) or honors courses, and most studentswho take an AP course end up joining theAVID program.

SWHS is promoting rigorous college prepara-tion for all of its students and is using theAVID model as the foundation for its reformefforts. As a result of the AVID program, theschool has increased the number of studentstaking AP tests from 290 four years ago to 920now, with about 350 passing scores.

Preuss Charter School is a middle/highschool, grades six through twelve, charteredunder the San Diego Unified School Districtand located on the campus of the Universityof California – San Diego (UCSD). PreussCharter School was created in response toCalifornia Proposition 209 which prohibitsusing affirmative action in higher educationadmissions. UCSD felt that a program





designed to prepare low-income students, par-ticularly students of color, for college wouldhelp ensure campus diversity. Students areselected through a lottery process and must beeligible for free or reduced price lunch,demonstrate that they are motivated to attendcollege, and be a first-generation college stu-dent. The school provides a very rigorouscurriculum designed to allow all students toexceed the “A-G” university entrance require-ments. Many students, given their back-grounds, need various supportive services tosucceed, so Preuss offers a range of supportssuch as tutors, a longer school day, a longerschool year, Saturday and summer school andother extended learning opportunities, and amentor program. All the members of its firstgraduating class attended postsecondary edu-cation.

Garfield Alternative High School , SanDiego, CA, is a school for students who havevery few credits or no plans to graduate froma regular high school. Students are encour-aged to take college credit classes at SanDiego City College (SDCC) where a middlecollege high school program exists betweenthe college and Garfield. The program is ablend of secondary and postsecondary classesand experiences, which challenge students torealize goals and responsibilities they may nothave been aware of before. High school stu-dents spend two weeks in an orientation pro-gram, six weeks in college classes, and twoweeks as “interns” with business organiza-tions in San Diego. The internship allowsclose observation of highly skilled workers inan industrial or commercial environment andalso involves mock interviews and a mentor-ship component. The ten-week program isfocused on at-risk students and operates withfunding from the state. SDCC waives the$10/class fee for Garfield students, and fund-ing from the school district provides opportunities for the high school and college

faculty to develop the program and curricu-lum. While many traditional middle collegehigh school programs have focused on higher-ability students, Garfield is demonstrating thatcredit-deficient students can succeed in thistype of program as well. However, studentsneed a higher level of reading than many ofthem have to be successful. Thus, they worka great deal on their literacy skills at first andtake classes that are preparatory to collegework. These courses are not transferable forcredit to SDCC, rather they prepare studentsto take courses for credit at a later date. Byphysically locating some of the preparatoryclasses on the college campus, studentsbecome acclimated to college and begin to seethat enrollment in postsecondary education ispossible.

Once the students finish the required prepara-tory coursework and the internship, they cantake regular classes at SDCC for credit.According to the program director, the pro-gram has been a success: a group of 175 stu-dents that participated in the middle collegehigh school program completed a total of 200more college classes than a comparable groupof students who did not participate in the mid-dle college program.

Cleveland Scholarship Programs (CSP),Cleveland, OH, a private non-profit organiza-tion, addresses four barriers students face inaccessing college: preparedness, affordabili-ty, matriculation, and retention. To help stu-dents prepare for college, CSP emphasizescore curriculum and postsecondary choicesbeginning in the first grade. Early awarenessactivities continue in grades one througheight. CSP also works in ten middle schools,because they have learned that students whoparticipate in CSP activities for an entire yearhave a higher promotion and attendance rate.CSP is also working to change the school curriculum to align with their goals of ensur-




ing that all sixth graders are taking the appro-priate curriculum that will allow them to dohigher level work in middle and high schooland that all eighth graders take pre-Algebraclasses.

With regard to affordability, CSP advisorshelp students and families apply for financialassistance, and they disbursed nearly $2.7million of their own “last dollar scholarships.”For every scholarship dollar that CSP awards,they leverage another $12 in student aid. CSPhelps students matriculate by funding an advi-sor for each high school to assist with allaspects of college enrollment, such asresearching institutions, applying for admis-sion, securing financial aid, and encouragingparental involvement in the college planningprocess. As a retention strategy, CSP advisorsmeet with their scholarship recipients at leastonce a year and provide a toll-free hotline thatstudents can call whenever they need help.Another strategy is for CSP students who arealready in college to mentor incoming CSPstudents.

LaGuardia Community College’s MiddleCollege High School, Queens, NY, is a highschool that collaborates with a postsecondaryinstitution to offer students who have tradi-tionally been underrepresented in postsec-ondary education the opportunity to earn col-lege credit at the same time they earn a highschool diploma. The middle college highschool model, which is evolving into the earlycollege high school model, helps make con-nections for youth on a college campus. Inaddition to academic acceleration, high schoolstudents benefit because they do not paytuition for college classes.

Challenges of the program have been prepar-ing students for college level work, helpingthem adjust to the “world” of postsecondaryeducation, and dealing with the personal

issues of many at-risk students. To help easethe transition, students are grouped in cohorts,and MCHS provides a coach for each cohortof students. The coaches provide studentswith on-going support and advice as theymake the transition to higher level classes.Each student is also assigned a mentor as partof a four-year advisory program. Despitethese efforts, there is a continued need forenhanced academic and affective supportsbecause students continue to have difficulty inmastering academic material and making thetransition to and succeeding in postsecondaryeducation. In addition, financial barriers con-tinue to keep many students from completingpostsecondary education.

The early college high school model isdesigned to allow students to earn a highschool diploma and two year’s worth of post-secondary credit within a five-year period, avariation on the middle college high schoolprogram. Extra support is provided to helpstudents master the high school curriculum,prepare for postsecondary experiences, andenroll in college, at no expense. Collegetuition is waived and college textbooks areprovided for all students in the early collegeprogram. While the middle college modelallows students to take college classes whenthey desire or are ready, the early collegemodel is structured with the intention of help-ing students earn a high school diploma andtwo years of postsecondary credit in fiveyears. Therefore, the course structure and stu-dent supports are much more defined.

Diploma Plus, started in Boston, MA, is aneducational initiative that re-thinks how edu-cationally disadvantaged teens and youngadults can best learn, finish high school, andtransition to postsecondary education andcareers. Diploma Plus (DP) has three interre-lated goals: (1) to raise standards and expectations for high risk youth; (2) to





demonstrate that with the right mix of chal-lenges and supports, many such young peoplecan succeed academically at high levels; and(3) to assist significant numbers of theseyouth to earn their diplomas and successfullymake the transition into postsecondary educa-tion and careers.

There are two stages to the program. The firststage emphasizes instruction and assessmenttied to clear standards or competencies, indi-vidual and group projects, the development ofa portfolio, and strong guidance and support.To enter the second stage – the Plus Year –students must show a high level of academicreadiness, as determined by attainment of spe-cific competencies, portfolio assessment,teacher recommendations, and college place-ment test scores. In the Plus Year, studentswork on intensive, year-long projects anddevelop college success skills in a smallSenior Seminar. Students also participate inan internship that is structured according to awork-based learning plan. Finally, Plus Yearstudents enroll in one or more courses, forcredit, at local community colleges.Outcomes from all the Diploma Plus sites inMA include:

• 70% of 1999 and 2000 graduates enrolled in postsecondary institutions upon gradua-tion.

• Average grade level increased 1.69 in math across DP sites.

• Approximately 75% of DP students have higher academic/career aspirations now than when they began the program.

• 96% of Plus Phase students say they are more interested in attending college after participating in DP.

• At the Boston Adult Technical Academy DP site, 26 of 31 of the first class of graduates went on to two-year college.

Quality CareerPreparationWith regard to quality career preparation pro-grams, AYPF helped participants learn abouta number of different efforts. While careerand technical education (CTE) has not alwaysbeen as academically rigorous as it needs tobe, many schools are infusing stronger aca-demics into their occupational programs.Also, many high schools have decided toorganize smaller learning communities andhave chosen to use career themes, career clus-ters, or career academies as the organizationalframework. Joint professional developmentand planning time for teams of career educa-tion and regular teachers, and integrating aca-demic and occupational curriculum andinstruction are other common strategies inuse.

Brighton High School in Boston, MA hasbeen restructured into four career-themedlearning communities, including the School ofBusiness and Technology; the School ofHealth Professions; the School of Law,Government and Public Service (whichincludes Teach Boston); and the School ofMedia, Arts, and Communication. It also con-tains a ninth grade academy which provides arigorous academic program that allows stu-dents to transition successfully from middle tohigh school. The school undertook an exten-sive outreach process working with teachers,students, parents, and employers to identifyand design the four career clusters. Despitethe two-year design process, there was a greatdeal of concern on the part of teachers andparents about the proposed design. For exam-ple, all the English teachers wanted to join themedia/communications pathway, and all thehistory teachers wanted to join the govern-ment pathway. But the plan called for eachcluster to have college entrance requirementcourses, so disciplinary groups were split up



across all pathways. Parents were concernedthat the pathway courses would crowd outpreparation for college. Five AdvancedPlacement courses (English, History, Biology,Chemistry, and Calculus) open to studentsfrom all pathways were added, and parents’fears were allayed when they saw the range ofclasses being offered. Because of the need formath skills among all students, math is notconnected to a pathway, so students sharemath classes across pathways, grouped byability. Early data shows that students havehigher grades, fewer absences, and better col-lege placement, and for the past several yearsincreased numbers of students have passedthe Massachusetts ComprehensiveAssessment System tests.

Ten years ago, Frankford High School,Philadelphia, PA organized into career acad-emies to help students learn about possiblepostsecondary education and high levelcareers, resulting in the current configurationof seven small learning communities, eachwith about 300 students located in a specificarea of the school. The academies include:Arts, Music & Performance; Business;Health; Law & Government; IndustrialTechnology; Science, Engineering andComputers; and Travel & Tourism. Eachsmall learning community program requires23 credits which meets college preparationentrance requirements.

The Law and Government Academy isdesigned to expose students to a variety ofcareers in the fields of law and government.In the ninth and tenth grades, students spendone day in the community volunteering in“real work” situations. This service-learningexperience gives students an opportunity towork in a specified area of interest as well asearn extra credit towards graduation. In the11th and 12th grades, students are given theopportunity to work in law enforcement agen-

cies, law firms, local and state governmentagencies, and schools. These paid positionsare available to students who maintain a Caverage or better, and display good attendanceand behavior.

The Industrial Technology’s BuildingEngineer Program is helping to train futureemployees of the school district. Instructorsstressed that this is “not the industrial arts ofthe 1950s.” In addition to the core academicprogram, students take courses in ComputerAssisted Design (CAD), graphic arts, andbuilding management and cost. Students haveopportunities to gain experience in a numberof trades, manage people, problem solve,apply mathematics and computer skills, andlearn OSHA requirements. They are able toapply their lessons in service-learning andwork-based placements in the school build-ing, other schools, and in the community.Before being eligible to participate in thework-based program, students must makepassing grades in their other courses. Theyalso must make up any missed work while ontheir one-day per week work-based assign-ment.

Michael DeBakey High School for HealthProfessions (DeBakey) , Houston, TX pro-vides students with a college preparatory cur-riculum in the context of health careers and aninternship at the Texas Medical Center orBaylor Medical College. DeBakey was estab-lished in 1972 as a partnership between theHouston Independent School District (HISD)and Baylor College of Medicine (BCM). Thefirst school of its kind in the nation, DeBakeywas designed to increase opportunities for allstudents to gain access or enter careers inmedicine, science, and the health professions.DeBakey, a magnet career academy thatdraws students throughout the HISD, hasgrown from 45 students attending classes inthe Baylor College of Medicine facilities to a






current enrollment of over 700 students ingrades nine through twelve. The curriculum issolidly academic: four years each of mathe-matics, science, health science, and socialstudies are required. Even in PhysicalEducation, students must write essays onhealth topics. Students in the 12th grade par-ticipate in clinical externships at the TexasMedical Center or BCM. One hundred hoursof community service are also required of stu-dents, but they say it is easy to meet thatrequirement because so many clubs and activ-ities are focused on service. Being on a blockschedule allows the teachers more flexibilityin scheduling project-based work and labs.The schedule also gives students the freedomto pursue internships and other career-basedactivities.

Currently, 99% of DeBakey’s graduates enterpostsecondary education. A follow-up studyof the 2,033 students who graduated fromDeBakey between 1975-1987 indicates thatthe school had successfully prepared studentsto access postsecondary education and careersin the health-related and scientific profes-sions. Respondents indicated that they:

• had accessed postsecondary education in large numbers (92%);

• were doing well in their respective under-graduate programs, averaging slightly over a 3.0 on a 4.0 scale;

• had maintained interest in and were pursu-ing studies leading to careers in the health sciences (56%); and

• preferred medicine as a first career choice (30%).

One AYPF Forum explored how technologycontributes to academic and career preparation at Wakefield High School,Arlington, VA. Wakefield’s mission is to pre-pare students for college and the high tech

economy of Northern Virginia by providingstudents with instruction supported by state-of-the-art computer applications and a com-prehensive and inclusive technology program.All students are enrolled in a technologycourse, including the many newly arrivedimmigrant students. Wakefield High School’sprincipal and faculty are dedicated to chang-ing the way employers view their students aspotential employees. School leaders wantemployers to see how much high school stu-dents have to offer. A career education spe-cialist coordinates the intern program at theschool and aggressively promotes students tolocal businesses, securing 200 paid studentinternships a year.

The High Schools That Work (HSTW)Initiative, managed by the Southern RegionalEducation Board, helps high schools integrateacademic and vocational programs that pre-pare students for success in both postsec-ondary education and careers. HSTW hasfound a bevy of support strategies that states,districts, and schools can use to help career-oriented students meet more demandingcourse requirements. First, HSTW advocatesintegration of math, reading, and technologyinto career preparatory programs that havehistorically lacked rigorous academic stan-dards. Second, it proposes continuous careerand college guidance for all students fromninth grade until graduation, pointing out thatschool guidance resources have often beenfocused on students in college preparatorytracks. Third, it suggests that longer blocks oftime for core classes, such as reading, duringthe ninth grade could help lower-performingfreshmen catch up. Fourth, HSTW pushesschool systems to require Algebra by theeighth grade, so all students are prepared foradvanced mathematics in high school.

AYPF also held a discussion group on thefuture of career and technical education,





resulting in Rigor and Relevance: A NewVision for Career and Technical Education,A White Paper . The paper recognizes thatevery high school student must meet higheracademic standards in secondary and postsec-ondary education to be prepared for the chal-lenges of work, continued learning, and citi-zenship. Therefore, CTE must be integratedwith rigorous academic work, all studentsmust be exposed to and learn about careeropportunities, and students need to havesmoother routes to postsecondary education.

As a strategy to help improve CTE, the reportrecommends that federal funding be used todevelop and build the capacity of states,school districts, and schools to offer and sup-port high quality CTE programs of study. ACTE program of study is defined as a multi-year (grades nine through fourteen or sixteen),well-planned sequence of courses that inte-grate core academic knowledge with technicaland occupational knowledge leading to anindustry certification or associate’s or bache-lor’s degree, with the following elements:

• In grades nine and ten, courses would focus primarily on academic foundations using the context of careers to help make the core curriculum relevant and meaning-ful.

• In grades eleven and twelve, students would continue to take the required core curriculum, as well as technical electives and integrated, contextual coursework in their chosen career field.

• Pathways between the high school and postsecondary institution with the option for dual enrollment and credit attainment would exist.

• Internships or work-based learning oppor-tunities would allow students to explore careers.

• Early and ongoing college and career exploration and counseling is available.

• Students and schools are held to high stan-dards consistent with NCLB requirements, and programs measure labor market out-comes.

This report has been used as a reference bymany Congressional staff as they work on thereauthorization of the Carl D. PerkinsVocational and Technology Education Act, aswell as by numerous state education agenciesas they seek to upgrade the academic rigor oftheir CTE programs and make high schoolstudies more relevant for students.

Creating Connections forYouth to Caring andKnowledgeable Adultsand to CommunityResources Another issue AYPF studied was how to cre-ate connections for youth to caring andknowledgeable adults and to communityresources for high school aged students.Research consistently demonstrates that oneof the most important factors for youth to besuccessful is a relationship with a caring,capable adult.6 Part of the movement tosmaller learning communities is to allow formore relationship building between youth andadults, but these relationships can be accom-plished by having youth work with employersin internship positions, engaging in servicelearning or community service along with


6 See footnote 1 for list of AYPF compendia that discuss these factors.

http://www.aypf.org/publications/aypf_rigor_0004v.3.pdf



involved adults, or by creating stronger rela-tionships between schools and their commu-nities.

The Preuss Charter School , San Diego,works hard to ensure that their students arewell-connected to adults or older youth duringtheir school years. The school’s partner,UCSD, provides approximately 150 studenttutors per semester – one for each classroom.The school also draws upon retirees, commu-nity volunteers, and university personnel toserve as mentors. Advisory programs(cohorts of students paired with a teacher orstaff from sixth grade to graduation) help highschool students learn how to prepare for col-lege and about student financial aid. Thesecohorts also help students develop a socialsupport network and create positive peer pres-sure to perform well academically. As a smallschool with an average class size of 25, learn-ing is personalized, and adults know the stu-dents well.

Preuss offers other significant supports to itsstudents, both in terms of connecting studentsto adults at many points in their lives, and byreaching out to the community to help providesome of the services, such as:

• A Head Counselor provides academic, social/emotional, and college counseling and works closely with parents and faculty to monitor and support academic progress. A second Guidance Counselor serves stu-dents in grades six through eleven.

• A Dean of Students provides support for students who are experiencing behavior and citizenship problems.

• A partnership with the UCSD Healthcare Department supported by a foundation grant allows access to medical care on a referral basis. The services of an adoles-cent physician and a Nurse Practitioner on

adolescent health are also available. Aschool nurse is on site five days a week.

• A Resource Specialist serves students with Individual Education Plans and an itinerant Resource Specialist serve students with speech, hearing, and physical disabilities.

• A district psychologist is available one day per week for testing and counseling, and a private psychologist sees students on-site in a therapeutic relationship.

• Regular problem-solving sessions with Preuss teachers, students and families are held.

A very different approach to helping youngpeople connect to adults and the communitythey live in is provided by Civic Works , inBaltimore, MD, a comprehensive youthdevelopment and community service organi-zation. Its mission is twofold: to provide crit-ical community services that would otherwisego undone and to enhance the work, educa-tion, and citizenship skills of young people.Civic Works corps members serve on teamswith an adult supervisor on various projects,including renovating low-income homes,building community parks and gardens,boarding up vacant houses, reforesting streambuffers, and tutoring and mentoring schoolchildren. Civic Works collects data on pro-gram and student outcomes annually. Amongoutcomes documented in 1998: nine differentcommunity improvement projects were initi-ated; corps members tutored 1,000 studentswith special needs; 31 corps members workedwith 10 different Police Athletic League cen-ters on behalf of children and teens; and 50percent of corps members receiving GEDinstruction passed the GED exam. Corpsmembers have opportunities to be helped byadults who participate in these programs, butthey also learn that they can help youngerchildren, building even more connections to




the community.

The Youth Opportunities (YO) program inPhiladelphia, PA, is designed to improve thelives of youth in the neighborhoods of itsEmpowerment Zones where poverty anddropout rates are the highest. The YO Centerslook and function as community centers andprovide a range of activities to young peoplesuch as:

• classes in dance, computer skills, arts and crafts, video and CD production;

• clubs, such as Author’s Lounge designed to increase members’ comprehension skills and interest in reading, Masters of Destiny-College Bound where members plan and complete paperwork necessary to research and enroll in higher education or training schools;

• workshops such as Community Building designed to bring about cultural and com-munal awareness, and Employability & Job Readiness, an eight-part series with discussions of why people work, career exploration, preparing a resume, recogniz-ing and developing professional skills, etc.;

• a learning lab where youth can participate in individual tutoring, individual and small group project-based activities, Pre-GED coursework, and a variety of interest driven and functional assignments; and

• recreation and sports.

Each of these activities is staffed by caring,trained youth workers, who often work one-on-one with youth and who also provideadvice and guidance along the way. Manyyoung people will credit a staff person, who isoften a young adult, with helping them setgoals, see the value and purpose of their lives,and get involved in positive activities, educa-tion, or training, as opposed to drug or gangactivity.

A small, innovative school, The Met, inProvidence, RI, has developed a uniqueapproach that personalizes each student’slearning, places students in internships in thecommunity, and draws upon the resources inthe community as students work on requiredacademic and skill building. “LearningThrough Internship” (LTI) allows students toserve a meaningful internship two days aweek with an employer who is committed tomentoring and helping the student learn newskills. Students also design a self-directedcourse of independent study and work closelywith an advisor who helps students determinewhere and when over the course of the fouryears the students will develop required com-petencies. Students are able to pursue inde-pendent study, work with a group of studentsfrom their advisory on projects to learn cer-tain skills, take college courses, primarily atRhode Island Community College andJohnson and Wales University, and learnthrough the internship experience. Advisorswith certain content knowledge engage insmall tutorials with students to address certainsubjects. The majority of the advisors’ day isspent connecting their students to resources,individually coaching them in their work,helping them develop projects, and communi-cating with their mentors and parents.

Advisors work closely with a student andemployer to determine what skills have beenlearned and what additional learning is need-ed. The Met philosophy also includes helpingthe families of students and addressing issuesaffecting students outside of school. In somecases, parents of Met students have takenGED classes at the Met.

Menchville High School, a High SchoolsThat Works site, has established a careeradvising and support program for at-risk stu-dents, called the “Bridge,” that matches anadult mentor in the building to a student and is





designed to ensure that an additional adult islooking out for that young person all fouryears. Mentors also counsel students on col-lege and career plans. Several times a year,activities are held with the mentors, such as adinner where students are acknowledged fortheir achievements and receive awards.

Creating More HighQuality EducationalOptions and Choices forYouth Throughout theCommunity

The issue of creating more educationaloptions for youth has emerged as an importanttopic, as communities struggle with ways ofserving the varying needs of students. As weexamined this issue, we encountered multiplereasons for providing more and better optionsand choices for youth. First, the traditionalhigh school does not suit all young people –they need learning options that speak to theirinterests, talents, and future goals. Many highschools are too large, and students feel lost ordisconnected. Others find the courseworkirrelevant to their interests or future plans.Second, many students, both high- and low-performing students, drop out or leave tradi-tional high schools for various reasons, yetwant to continue their education in a differentvenue. However, there are generally very fewhigh quality options open to youth who wantto return. Third, most communities haveexciting and rich opportunities for learning(museums, zoological parks, public healthinstitutions, employers), if they are organizedappropriately. But most school districts rarelylook beyond the school house walls or think

of providing education in different physicallocations. Lastly, allowing students and par-ents to choose their school appears to increasethe attachment and satisfaction of the studentand family to the school.7 A few communitiesare experimenting with broader school choiceand creating new options for students, butmost are implementing a narrower approachby adding a few new programs at the tradi-tional high school setting.

One alternative to high school has been pro-vided a group of schools known asCommunity Based Organization (CBO)Schools. These are public secondary schoolsoperated by a community based organizationthat offer a diploma-granting academic pro-gram. About half of CBO schools are in largeurban school districts where the regular publichigh schools have very high dropout rates.Because so many urban high schools are fail-ing students, CBO schools provide anotheroption for students to be successful. CBOschools have adapted both curriculum andschool structure to the idea that young peoplelearn best in relationship to caring adults whoengage them and have high expectations forthem. Youth development is a critical part ofCBO schools. In some communities, youthdevelopment is seen as something that hap-pens, if at all, outside of school, and educationhappens within the school from 9 AM – 3 PM.In CBO schools, youth development, educa-tion, and good pedagogy are synonymous andaligned. Some communities allow publicschool funding to follow students who haveleft the regular high school to go to a CBOschool, but most of them rely on private andfoundation funding.

A visit to Boston, MA allowed us to learnabout the Boston pilot schools, a unique part-


7 Gill, Brian P. & P. Michael Timpane, Karen E. Ross, and Dominic J. Brewer. 2001. Rhetoric Versus Reality: What We Know and What WeNeed to Know About Vouchers and Charter Schools. Santa Monica, CA: Rand Corporation.



nership among the Boston Mayor, SchoolCommittee, Superintendent, and TeachersUnion. The pilot schools opened in 1995 topromote increased choice options within theschool district, largely in response to 1994state legislation creating charter schools andthe subsequent and potential loss of Bostonstudents to area charter schools. The pilotschools were explicitly created to be modelsof educational innovation and to serve asresearch and development sites for effectiveurban public schools.

These public schools are unique in that theyhave autonomy over budget, staffing, gover-nance, curriculum, and the school calendar.These autonomies provide increased flexibili-ty to organize schools and staffing to bestmeet students’ needs, while operating withinthe economy of scale of a large urban publicschool district. These conditions have beenfound to be critical in creating successfulurban schools, and in particular, improvingthe achievement of low-income students andstudents of color. Currently, there are 17Boston pilot schools spanning grades K-12and serving approximately 5,750 students, orabout 9.5% of the total Boston public schoolenrollment.

One pilot school, Fenway High School,groups students into three “houses” or learn-ing families, each of which has its own facul-ty and student support staff. Students typical-ly remain in the same house throughout theirfour years at the school, and they become wellknown by their teachers and form strongbonds with their classmates. Most studentswant to come to Fenway because of the safeand smaller environment, the strong focus onsocial justice, and the opportunity to work inthe community as part of their learning.

As described before, San Diego’s GarfieldAlternative High School is an option for stu-

dents who have not been successful in tradi-tional high school. Once at Garfield, studentshave several programmatic options to select.In addition to the middle college high schoolalready mentioned, students at Garfield canselect the Oracle Independent Study Program.Students in this program are expected to ful-fill the same requirements as they would in atraditional high school, but have the opportu-nity to work one-on-one with a teacher whospecializes in customizing courses to fit thestudent’s diverse educational needs and goals.Garfield also offers the Pregnant Minor pro-gram for pregnant teens and teen mothers.(Fathers are welcome to participate in the pro-gram, but most work or are in school, so it ishard for them to attend.) The self-containedprogram has about 30 students, with threeteachers. The girls come from all over the dis-trict when they learn they are pregnant, andoften after the birth of their baby, they returnto Garfield to finish their studies. Courses areoffered in parenting, language arts, and sci-ence. Still another program, the HospitalityRestaurant Program, introduces students to arange of hospitality career opportunities inSan Diego’s tourism industry and is very pop-ular with the students. Each of these pro-grams is small and personalized and allowsstudents to select the one that fits best withtheir aspirations, interests, and situation.

At James Ford Rhodes High School,Cleveland, OH, teachers found that manystudents needed alternatives to the regular dayclasses for various reasons. While the schoolprovided a twilight academy with individual-ized learning and small classes for disruptiveand low-achieving students, they decided toexpand it to any student who needed help out-side the regular classroom structure. Thisincludes students who transfer from otherschool districts and are on grade level butneed to make up credits because of the trans-fer. The twilight academy is structured to







allow students flexibility to take one, two, orthree classes, and if they want to take morecredits, they can take a class from the regularschedule.

Another take on expanded options for highschool students is the use of distance educa-tion. The Florida Virtual School (FVS) is astate-funded school established in 1997 thatserves students in grades eight throughtwelve. The school offers courses deliveredover the Internet to students from Florida pub-lic schools, home-schoolers, and studentsfrom other states and countries. The school’smotto, “Any time, any place, any path, anypace” helps describe the school’s philosophy.The purpose of the school is to provide stu-dents with additional opportunities that maynot otherwise be available, rather than toreplicate or replace traditional schools andface-to-face instruction. FVS and other virtu-al schools offer flexible schedules, enhancedcourse selection, the opportunity to earn need-ed graduation credits, and individualizedinstruction. Access to online instruction hasproven to be particularly valuable to home-schooled students and students from rural orlow-performing schools may have limitedaccess to a broad selection of high-qualitycourses.

One of the school’s strengths is its capacityfor individualization of instruction; studentscan move through course material at an accel-erated, traditional, or extended pace. Teachersare also able to teach to multiple intelligences,use multiple forms of assessment, and takeadvantage of the interactive features of theInternet to emphasize real world applicationsof academic content. These characteristicsmay contribute to the school’s high course-completion rate and high student-satisfactionratings.

Lastly, a series of discussion groups held on

finance and resource issues that impact highschool reform dealt with the topic of allowingpublic school funds to follow students.Generally, there was consensus that fundsshould follow students if they leave the highschool and continue their education in anoth-er public setting, although concerns wereexpressed about transferring funding fromhigh school when funds are already short.Given the large number of students who leavetraditional high schools, the group encouragedefforts to increase awareness of the value ofalternative education programs and the needto support high quality programs, equitablydistributed throughout the community so allstudents have access to them.

Many school districts, however, do not have aclear and consistent policy for how to handlefunding for students who transfer from a tra-ditional school to an alternative education set-ting. In those districts that have few or noprocedures for transferring funding from astudent’s home school to an alternative set-ting, a financial burden is often placed on thereceiving alternative school. Tracking themovement of students more frequently andusing that information to allot the per pupilexpenditure funds on a more regular basismight alleviate this problem. A uniform stu-dent identifier might also be used to track stu-dents so that funds can be allotted readily.

Another suggestion to improve the systemwas to provide alternative schools an allot-ment based on their average daily attendancefrom the previous year rather than attendancein September. Most alternative schools startoff with a low number of students in thebeginning of the year, and while the numbergrows throughout the school year, they onlyreceive funding based on the small numbers atthe start. It is also hard for alternative schoolsto prepare the school’s budget without know-ing how many students will be at the school.


http://www.aypf.org/pdf/FinanceandResourceIssuesinHighSchoolReform.pdf


In Philadelphia, PA, Twilight Schools (not tobe confused with the Twilight schools in theTalent Development Program) began at twohigh school sites in 1997 as an alternativeeducational program designed to meet theneeds of students ages 17 through 24 who arenot likely to graduate high school through atraditional program or who have alreadydropped out and want to return to earn a highschool diploma.8 A minimum of approxi-mately 10 credits is required for admittanceand 21.5 to 23.5 credit units are required forgraduation. These schools provide alternativeand flexible means of earning credits andmultiple entry-points throughout the year. Alltwilight graduates receive a PhiladelphiaSchool District diploma and are permitted toparticipate in all senior class activities and thegraduation ceremony. Students attend classesfrom 2:45 p.m. to 5:45 p.m., Monday throughThursday, accumulating credits through coreacademic courses (taught by teams of twoteachers); elective independent/cooperativeprojects (developed by the program coordina-tors); life experience, including community-volunteer service, work experience, and GEDtest preparation; and Cooperative CommunityPartnerships (e.g., advanced credit educationat community college, continuing educationprograms, Job Corps, community agencies,etc.). Instruction is presented in four 9-weekcycles. The success of these alternative pro-grams has created increased demand and war-ranted a scale-up each year to its current 18sites.

While public school choice remains contro-versial in some locations and political circles,there are actually a fair number of school dis-

tricts that allow open choice between publicschools. New York City allows its students toselect the high school they want to attend.Students and parents are provided a lengthycatalogue that describes all the high schools(the traditional ones and the growing numberof new small schools) and then submit a list oftheir top choices. While not all students gettheir first choices, the system does allow formany students to attend themed schools theywant outside of their neighborhood. Overall,students and parents seem pleased with thesystem, but wish there were more high quali-ty choices in certain neighborhoods of thecity.

Community Engagementin Reform EffortsAs high school reform unfolds, it becomesclear that the community has critical and mul-tiple roles to play, yet is often not engaged ina meaningful way. The community canorganize to become one of the loudest voicesfor change, particularly when equity issuesare involved; it can help keep the pressure on,when education leaders start to falter; it mustprovide input on what it wants its schools tobe like; and every community, regardless ofits economic condition or geographic location, has a variety of resources to lend tothe schools. Key to community engagementis the importance of including youth in ameaningful, respective, and responsive man-ner.

The Schools for a New Society (SNS)Initiative, funded by the Carnegie


8 The model has been revised as the Educational Options Program for students in grades 10 through 12 to meet the requirements of graduation byattending classes in 27 designated sites from 3:30 - 6:00 p.m. Students, who must be at least 16 years old, can use this opportunity for either creditrecovery or to accelerate their graduation from high school. To maximize options for young people and to recapture dropouts, the CompanionProgram, operating with WIA funds to community based organizations, targets out-of-school youth who need to work wholly or partially outside thetraditional high school setting to attain an Adult Basic Education Diploma, Alternative High School Diploma or GED. Here, young people, ages 17-21can receive basic education instruction, participate in internships, life skills and specific training for employable vocational skills from 8:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. and also accelerate their graduation through participation in the Educational Options programs at the high schools from 3:00 - 6:00 p.m.





Corporation of New York, supports districtsand communities as they engage in theprocess of high school reform and redesign.School and community representatives (stu-dents, teachers, parents, school officials, busi-ness and civic organizations) jointly redesigntheir outmoded comprehensive high schoolsto help all youth develop into well-educatedand productive citizens. Participants in thisprocess from several cities indicate that forreform to be successful, it is essential toinvolve all stakeholders from the beginning.Educators often feel more or less alone as theydo the difficult work needed to implementreform; the community can add value bypressing for reform. Parents who are outragedby the poor performance of their students canhelp create the demand and climate forchange and support ongoing reform efforts.The depth of community engagement is keyto reform efforts, and school leaders mustcommit to a serious campaign to help parentsunderstand how they can and should beinvolved in improving their child’s school inconcrete ways. Students, too, are essential tothe reform process. Students have an insideunderstanding of the schools they attend, yettoo often this perspective is overlooked, andthey are left out of the conversations aboutreform.

Another unique feature of the SNS Initiativeis that the grant funds are given to the commu-nity partner, not the school district, to manage,which creates a different dynamic and pushestowards stronger school-community collabo-ration.

The San Diego, CA, school district, one ofthe cities participating in the SNS Initiative,started its high school reform conversation bysharing student outcome data with the broad-er public. San Diego has approximately 9,000ninth grade students, but only 6,000 of themgraduate. When the community learned about

this situation, people wanted to come togetherto solve the problem. Student and parentfocus groups were held to learn what theirneeds are compared to what they are getting,and this feedback was then provided to princi-pals and teachers. The district also askedteachers and the business community for theirinput and feedback. The voice of the students,however, was one of the most important andled to creating schools that are more engagingand academically rigorous.

In Providence, RI (another SNS city), thepartnership between the school district andthe Rhode Island Children’s Crusade forHigher Education has led to success thatcould never have been achieved alone. Thecommunity partner has helped with much ofthe work, and according to the district super-intendent, “it’s been a relief to have a partnerto help out. Also, the core partner can saythings that need to be said, especially with theteacher’s union.” Community partners havealso helped when changes in leadership occurby making a commitment to stick with thereform effort and keep focused.

Reaching out to and engaging the communityare not simple tasks and can slow downreform efforts as relationships and communi-cation are established. The Cleveland, OHschool district experienced this difficulty andlearned the importance of developing a trust-ing relationship with parents and the commu-nity. The district started working with EastHigh School, which had very poor studentperformance and outcomes and extremely lowexpectations for students. Their first step wasto install a new leadership team and strongersecurity team. The new school leadershipteam wanted to focus on making the curricu-lum more rigorous and academic, but they raninto opposition from the community membersand parents, who wanted a vocational focusfor the school, as they considered it the best





“training” for their children. Faced with thisstandoff, the district used a process known asthe Appreciative Inquiry Process (a way ofcommunicating about difficult change) andworked with community leaders to help themsee the potential of a more academically rig-orous program. Despite a great deal of ongo-ing outreach to the community, it took a yearfor the community and parents to feel com-fortable with the proposed changes, which hasdelayed progress.

A unique approach to engaging the communi-ty has been pioneered by New Visions forNew Schools, in New York City, with theirinitiative, New Century High Schools(NCHSI). NCHSI is a groundbreaking pro-gram to rethink secondary education and pro-vide New York City’s students with small,effective high schools that help them meethigh standards of academic and personal suc-cess. Each New Century High School has itsown identity, yet all combine rigorous aca-demic programs with innovative teaching,personalized learning environments and deepties to the local community. Each school iscreated through a partnership between educa-tors and community organizations, who worktogether on every aspect of the school’sdesign and operation. One new school, theFire Department of NY (FDNY) High Schoolof Fire and Life Safety has the FDNY FireSafety Education Fund as the lead agency andcommunity partner. The lead partner foranother school, the Performing Arts andTechnology High School, is Nia TheatricalProduction Company, Inc.

Mott Haven Village Prep High School , oneof the New Century High Schools housed atSouth Bronx High School campus, partnerswith the East Side House Settlement (ESHS),which provides a counselor and social workerand support services during the school dayand after-school activities, such as homework

assistance, tutoring, and recreation. ESHSalso provides a weekly workshop with outsidespeakers on the importance of college, as away to raise the students’ expectations ofthemselves and prepare them for college.ESHS pays for exploratory college visits andprovides grants and support to students onceadmitted to college to help them persist. Theclose relationship between the school andESHS is exemplified when the leader ofESHS steps in to act as principal on the dayswhen the official principal is gone.

ProfessionalDevelopment andCapacity Building

If there has been one consistent messageabout high school reform, it is about the needto provide teachers and school leaders withhigh quality professional development andcapacity building opportunities to change andimprove classroom instruction and studentachievement. Teachers need help understand-ing and translating rigorous content materialand standards into classroom-based curricu-lum and instruction, in manageable ways.Instructional coaches are an increasingly pop-ular strategy, as is giving teachers opportuni-ties to come together to share, analyze, andreflect upon student work, team teaching,common planning time, and teacher-directedprofessional development. Helping principalsbecome instructional leaders is another com-mon strategy. Districts have a large role toplay in setting up appropriate professionaldevelopment and capacity building for teachers and school leaders.

In Providence, RI , the district is usingteacher coaches as a major reform strategy.Content-focused coaching is a long-rangeprofessional development practice that trainscoaches to work individually with classroom






teachers to design, implement, and reflect onrigorous, standards-based lessons that pro-mote student learning. The coach and teacherwork together during a pre-conference torefine lesson design, during the enactment ofthe lesson in which both the teacher and coachare co-accountable for student learning, andduring a post-conference in which they reflecton evidence of student learning and plan forsubsequent lessons. Coaches are formerteachers who possess deep knowledge about arange of issues central to lesson design anddelivery in their content areas, including theo-ries of teaching and learning, standards,instructional practices, assessments, and cur-riculum resources.

Literacy coaches (called instructional coachesat high schools) have been assigned to eachhigh school in Providence, and work with theninth grade teachers across all disciplines.Providence plans to have coaches for othersubjects, like math, but have not yet institutedit. For teachers in other disciplines, profes-sional development is focused on developingmore rigorous content as the first step. Oneway to help teachers develop more rigorouscoursework is for them to look at studentwork as a team. To continue the process ofdevelopment, the lead teachers from eachhigh school in a discipline meet to discuss thequality of student work as they move to thesame level of rigor across the system.

At Glenville High School in Cleveland, OH,the principal and her staff indicated that ongo-ing professional development has been a keyingredient to ensure staff support for thereform efforts. The school uses outsideexperts and has sent staff to visit other schoolsto learn about new models, but “the bestresources are in-house.” Teams of teachersreview student work and share informationand insights on why students are succeedingor failing, and they are improving their under-

standing of how to use assessments, such asthe Ohio Graduation Test (OGT), to improveinstruction. When staff was asked how theylearned about research on small schools, theyreplied they were “gently guided” to research-based and best practices by their principal andthat she constantly shares information withthem.

Staff at Glenville also said they learned agreat deal from having the opportunity to visitsmall schools with block scheduling inBaltimore and Philadelphia. Many staffmembers also visited James Ford RhodesHigh School in Cleveland, which had alreadyswitched to block scheduling and ninth gradeacademies. However, teachers were mainlyconvinced about the need to change by hear-ing from students about how much betterblock scheduling and small learning commu-nities are for their learning. They said the stu-dent voice was most convincing.

Professional development and time for teach-ers to plan in teams is built into the BrightonHigh School week. All pathway teachers ingrades ten through twelve meet three timesper week for a total of 180 minutes in interdis-ciplinary Common Planning Time (CPT)meetings. In one meeting each week, teachersand representatives from student support serv-ices and special education discuss the stu-dents’ academic and behavioral challengesand strengths and formulate plans and inter-ventions using a case management approach.The two other CPT meetings focus on bestpractices and looking at student work. Thereis also an instructional leadership team composed of teacher volunteers, teacher facil-itators from each pathway, administrators, andcoaches. The purpose of this team is toimprove teaching practices in the classroomso that all students can achieve at high stan-dards. At these meetings, teachers are invitedto present their best practices or their “best





challenge” on which they would like advice.

One of the benefits of small schools, accord-ing to a small school principal, is that just as asmall class size helps teachers know the stu-dents, a small faculty allows the principal toknow and work closely with the teachers.“With a small school and fewer faculty mem-bers, you can get coherence in school thatpushes for student achievement.” One goalfor the principals of the small schools at theMorris High School campus is to make sureteachers are talking about instructional prac-tice and student work on a regular basis.Morris High School staff indicated that oncean open culture is developed, teachers andadministrators begin to trust each other, and itis easier to share teaching practices, whatworks, and what does not. There is not a largeamount of outside professional developmentbrought into the schools; rather, ongoing dis-cussions and review of student work andinstructional practice is becoming the fabricof the school. Teachers indicate what theywant to learn and work collaboratively to doso.

The New Century High School Initiative isalso exploring new models of professionaldevelopment for teachers, especially when anew school is created. A focus on classroomstructure and instructional practice and how tocreate connections between them is critical.But rather than outside professional develop-ment, reflection on the work is the most pro-found professional development, but difficultto determine how best to allow that to happen.NCHSI also holds a principal leadership acad-emy focused on relationships between theprincipals of small schools in a building.Each principal is provided a mentor, andweekly meetings with building principals areheld to encourage open communication anddiscuss resource sharing and best practices.New Visions for New Schools is also work-

ing systematically in New York City to createa support system for the new small schools.The organization works with the regionaloffices in the city to help build their capacitythrough technical assistance, and it providesprofessional development and advice on clar-ifying the role of the community partner andhow to effectively engage the community inthe design and implementation process. NewVisions also recognizes the challenge ofdeveloping a cadre of qualified leaders for thenew schools and assigns each principal amentor as well as hosting networks to allowprincipals to share information across the city.Each region is also provided funds to supportan office for small high schools, which isstaffed with experts in community engage-ment, partnerships, and curriculum.

As part of its work on high school transforma-tion in Ohio, the KnowledgeWorksFoundation provides technical assistance tothe urban school districts with which it works.The foundation helps districts develop stake-holder advisory groups to provide input on theconversion process; offers a leadership insti-tute three to four times a year; has created asmall schools leadership network; providesschool change coaches (22 experts fromaround the country who are on call) to theschools; matches up veteran principals andsuperintendents as mentors for the schoolleaders at the conversion schools; and identi-fies “centers of strength” within the commu-nity upon which the school and district candraw. KnowledgeWorks Foundation also seesitself at a statewide center of strength, in thatit is constantly introducing teachers andschool leaders to research and strategies toimprove student achievement.

First Things First (FTF) , a comprehensivehigh school reform model, changes relation-ships (between students and teachers, teachersand administrators, schools and communities,








and among students themselves) by creatingsmall learning communities with smallergroups of students and teachers that staytogether across the school day and schoolyears. The three critical features of FTF are:(1) equip, empower and expect all staff toimprove instruction (the goal is not to repli-cate the brilliant but transform the typical);(2) institute flexible allocation of availableresources including people, facilities, time,and money; and (3) assure collective respon-sibility for student outcomes, looking at suchoutcomes as attendance and persistence,respectful and safe behavior, progress towardgraduation, proficiency on standards, and suc-cess on high stakes tests. This collectiveresponsibility includes the small learningcommunities, the building leadership, districtleaders and support staff, students, parents,and community members.

To change teaching and learning, FTF helpsteachers build a repertoire of effective strate-gies and places a strong emphasis on profes-sional development. It also supports stan-dards-based learning activities, so that teach-ers’ efforts are aligned with standards, it cre-ates opportunities for a deeper dialogueamong teachers to improve instruction anddiscuss student work, and it allows for com-mon planning time every day.

Professional development in the system ofschools supported by the U.S. Department ofDefense (DoD) Education Activitiesreceives high priority and attention. DoDoperates 224 elementary and secondaryschools (155 are overseas and 69 are in theUnited States) that enroll about 112,000 stu-dents. Of the students, 50% are white, 20%are African American, 9% Hispanic, 15%Bi/Multi Racial, and 6% Asian. Students whoare white, African-American and Hispaniceach scored well compared to their counter-parts in other states and the gap between the

performance of white students and that ofAfrican-American or Hispanic students wasnarrower than this gap in the 50 states.Elements of the system include a large num-ber of highly qualified teachers and profes-sional development programs that include asystemic focus on the strategic plan as well asmeeting the unique needs of local schools.DoD schools tailor professional developmentteacher by teacher, carefully structured toenhance a teacher’s identified deficiencies orneeds, and sustained over time.

Many schools, particularly small schools,continue to face challenges in serving stu-dents with disabilities. As schools integrateand mainstream students with disabilities andhelp them meet higher standards as requiredby No Child Left Behind, teachers are beingasked to serve such students with little or nopreparation. Small schools are generally toosmall to offer any self-contained classes, put-ting a larger burden on regular educationteachers. Repeatedly, we learned about theneed for all teachers to be given pedagogicalskills and strategies to help students with dis-abilities and to develop effective teamingstrategies that integrate special education andregular curriculum.

District LeadershipThe central office in the school district playsan important role in helping high schoolsreform and in creating a high performing sys-tem. Districts can have a huge impact on howfinances and resources are allocated, the pro-fessional development provided, how leadersare selected and held accountable, and howmuch flexibility and autonomy schools aregiven. On top of that, districts need to makecertain the community (including youth) isappropriately informed, engaged, andinvolved; collect and share outcome data; andhold schools accountable for performance.




No small task and no wonder many districtsstruggle with pieces of this complex puzzle.

A discussion group report on finance andresource issues in high school reform heldby AYPF managed to touch on many itemsrelated to district leadership. The group feltthat districts must ensure that their plans forstandards-based reform are accessible andunderstood by the larger community, but par-ticularly by individual schools. Districts mustalso play a key role in helping school leadersalign their resources with district reformgoals, but ensure that schools have enoughflexibility to target resources based on theneeds of the student population.

Districts also need to be creative in exploringways to share resources among schools andwith community organizations, postsecondaryeducation institutions, and local businesses.Districts can support schools that arrange toshare employees, such as allowing a teacherto work half-time at two schools or to allowstudents from different schools to participatein shared course offerings at one location.

How much autonomy schools need or canmanage is a matter of great debate at the dis-trict level. More frequently, district leadersare giving schools with strong and capableleadership greater freedom to meet reformgoals, while holding them accountable forimproved student outcomes. For schools inwhich the leadership capacity is limited,districts are providing more hands-on anddirect intervention to help school leaderschange the way resources are allocated andused to improve student outcomes. In thesecases, districts often required lower-perform-ing schools to use specific and detailedinstructional strategies and curriculum frame-works. The concept of local school autonomyor site-based management is often discussedand sometimes initiated, but most districts are

not ready to move to a fully autonomous sys-tem.

Frequent changes in district leadership areanother challenge and make it difficult todevelop coherent, systematic, and effectiveplans that lead to meaningful and lastingimprovements. To the extent possible, wheredistricts have been able to maintain and sup-port particular reform strategies over time,there has been a greater impact and the com-munity has been involved in pushing forreform. Districts should also keep longitudi-nal outcome data to determine the effective-ness of particular reform strategies.

In San Diego, CA, the reform effort is basedon three guiding principles: (1) principal lead-ership development; (2) personalization of thelearning process; and (3) academic rigor.Rather than force schools to use pre-packagedreform strategies, the district has heavilyinvested in the development of current princi-pals as instructional leaders, as well as devel-oping the knowledge and capabilities of newprincipals. Principals have mandatory train-ing one day a month, and the school districtcan remove principals if they are not focusedon improving instruction. The districtdescribes their work as transforming princi-pals from being a “plant manager” to aninstructional leader. Principals are also pro-vided training on how to assess their teachersto determine how instructionally effectivethey are. In-service helps the principalanalyze instructional practice and thendetermine what to do about changing it. Thehigh school principals have developed astrong sense of collaboration from this ongo-ing professional development, and they sup-port each other and share a common visionand vocabulary, yet have the freedom toimplement reforms that meet the needs oftheir particular student body. The role of thedistrict in creating this cadre of skilled princi-





pals has been essential.

In Cleveland, OH, the district is engaged inhow best to design and structure the leader-ship component for the newly created smallschools. The district would like to have com-pletely autonomous small school leaders, butit is unclear whether the small schools need awhole building leader or campus manager,and if so, how to structure these relationships.With support from the Cleveland EducationFoundation, the district is bringing the princi-pals of the nine conversion schools together todiscuss leadership issues and to study ways todevelop new leaders and structure new rela-tionships. One approach the district will mostlikely pursue is to have some of the more sen-ior current principals become mentors oradvisors to work with schools that are justbeginning the conversion process. This willallow current principals to work with theschool district in a new leadership positionand share their expertise with others.

Houston Independent School District(HISD) is a data driven system that ratesevery school by dropout rates and academicperformance on standardized tests. HISDuses data to track student performance at theclassroom level to determine what teachersare doing right and where teachers might needhelp. Also, HISD requires low-performingschools to hold community meetings to helpraise awareness of their outcomes, needs, andhow parents and community members canhelp support their students and the school’sefforts. Performance contracts are in place forprincipals and assistant superintendents, whoare held accountable for student performance,but who are also given flexibility to carry outtheir work. Principals’ salaries are negotiatedbased on their performance and special needsof the school. Resources are redistributed andconcentrated on the lowest-performing, need-iest schools.

New York City’s Department of Education(DOE) considers the school to be the agent ofchange, but the central office must supporttheir work. The goal of the reform agenda isto give all schools and the teachers and prin-cipals in them the necessary resources andsupport to improve instruction. To meet thecity reform’s goals, the central office is work-ing with other groups, such as New Visionsfor New Schools and the New Century HighSchools Initiative and funders like theCarnegie Corporation of New York and theBill and Melinda Gates Foundation to helpschools:

• develop highly qualified teachers;

• create systems of internal and external accountability;

• support schools where students are known well by adults in the building;

• provide rigorous academics, continuous assessment, pathways to postsecondary education and careers, and ongoing professional development;

• encourage a strong youth voice; and

• engage parents.

The district has also been concerned aboutstudents who have been pushed out of highschools because they are not able to pass theRegents exams. DOE now monitors allschools and requires them to have an explicitprocess in place for documenting whathappens to each student and to maintain andshare that documentation with the districtoffice and the public.

IntangiblesIn every school we visited that seemed to bemoving ahead successfully with its reformefforts, there was an atmosphere and cultureof respect, equity, and a commitment to youth.






In these schools, students said they feltrespected by teachers and staff; teachers wereinterested in their opinions and views; theywere treated fairly and equitably by all adults;and that staff cared about them and, in somecases, were like family. The teachers and staffindicated that students were equally respectfulof them, and there tended to be few incidentsof students speaking out of order or being dis-ruptive or rude. No policy can mandate thisculture of respect, but good leaders can nur-ture and support it. School leaders need tounderstand the importance of creating a cul-ture of equity and respect.

Successful schools also hired adults that likeadolescents. While we assume that highschool teachers select that profession becausethey like adolescents, unfortunately, it is farfrom true. Too often, on classroom visits or inmeetings with school leaders, it was clear thatsome teachers and staff just did not like theyoung people with whom they were working.It is somewhat shocking to think of teachers spending 40-hour workweeks with students they do not like or enjoy. But it happens more than we admit. In the successful schools we

visited, we met teachers and school leaderswho clearly relish being with adolescents, andthey fully appreciate their growing intellects, their curiosity, and their attitudes and inter-ests. Most of these teachers seemed to under-stand the principles of youth developmentintuitively and worked them into their classroom routines. Students know in a heartbeatwhich teachers want to work with them, andwhich ones are thinking how nice it would beto teach if there were no students in the class.

While it seems obvious that high schoolsshould only hire teachers and staff that respectand like adolescents, there are almost no poli-cies to enforce such practices. Having stu-dents participate in an interview team mightbe one way to gain student input, but very fewtraditional high schools (or teachers unions)allow this. An occasional alternative pro-gram, built on the principles of youth involve-ment and input, will have youth sit on aninterview committee, but more can certainlybe done to involve young people in the day-to-day business of schools. Careful hiring ofadults who enjoy being with students is veryimportant but rarely acknowledged.


High School Level

The focus at the school level must be on help-ing each student succeed by improvinginstruction and tailoring instructional strate-gies to each student’s strengths and needs. Todo this, teachers need on-going professionaldevelopment opportunities to:

• ensure strong content skills and academic rigor;

• understand the basics of teaching adolescent literacy;

• use a variety of assessments and outcome data to determine student success and failure and adapt instruction based on assessment data; and

• teach a heterogeneous grouping of students, including students with disabilities and English language learners (although the burden for these students cannot fall solely on the regular education teacher).

Professional development must be part ofdaily practice, include time for reflection anddiscussion of student work, and help eachteacher gain the skills he or she most needs.Teachers need time for individual planningand as part of a team of teachers. Masterteachers should serve as mentors or coachesto new or less skillful teachers.

The principal (and other school leaders) mustcreate an environment and culture for highand equitable expectations for all students andensure access to rigorous curriculum to allowall students to be prepared for postsecondaryeducation and high wage careers. Schoolleaders also must create a culture of respectbetween adults and youth and actively seekout the student voice and act upon it. Schoolleaders also need to work with parents andcommunity members to seek their active inputand involvement in the reform process and toaccess community resources to support stu-dent learning.

District LevelThe central office must determine the appro-priate level of support and autonomy for eachschool, based on the capacity and ability ofthe school leaders and teachers. For highercapacity schools, more autonomy should beallowed. Districts also need to ascertain whenschools need help and in what areas. Forinstance, every high school in a district mightneed help dealing with low level readers, butonly some schools might need help on anissue like helping teachers use student assess-ment data to improve classroom instruction.Districts should also create more choices andoptions for students and parents by ensuring avariety of themed schools, alternative settingsand venues, encouraging funding mechanismsthat support students as they move to different


LEVERAGE POINTS

In the previous pages, we have described many policies, strategies, and programs that are beingtried in an effort to improve outcomes for high school aged students. Without a great deal ofresearch on many of these efforts, it is difficult to say which ones are truly effective and which

ones might be most effective with certain groups of students. Lack of empirical evidence notwith-standing, it does appear that there are indeed certain points of leverage that need to be consideredas schools, districts, states, and national organizations press for high school reform. What followsis an attempt to summarize these leverage points at various levels of governance.

public school settings, and options foraccelerated coursework at the postsecondarylevel. Districts need to establish disaggregat-ed data collection systems and hold schoolsaccountable based on student progress for allsubgroups. The data needs to be shared withthe public and used as the basis for continuousimprovement strategies. Districts shouldensure that students have multiple options andchoices and that high quality alternatives tothe traditional high school exist. Lastly, dis-trict leadership needs to engage the communi-ty in reform efforts and draw upon itsresources in offering educational services.

State LevelStates play an important role in supportinghigh school reform. Perhaps most importantis to develop and establish clear and realisticstandards or high school exit exams to deter-mine what skills and knowledge high schoolstudents possess. High school exit standardsshould be aligned with college entrance stan-dards. States can also support dual enrollmentprograms that allow students to earn collegecredit while in high school by considering stu-dent eligibility criteria, funding levels andsupport, and participation of postsecondaryinstitutions. States have a responsibility todevelop data systems that can determine theoutcomes for students, including longitudinaloutcomes that cross the K-16 system. Lastly,states can begin the process of researchingand developing a performance- or competen-cy-based system, rather than one based onCarnegie units or seat time.

Federal LevelThe federal government is limited by what itcan do to support high school reform.Focusing on standards and accountability isright, although the current structure under NoChild Left Behind could be changed to recog-nize more value-added improvement. From aresearch perspective, we are limited in whatwe really know works to reform high schoolsand improve student outcomes, especially atlarge, urban high schools. We need moreresearch and evaluation at the federal level todetermine what policies and practices lead tohigher student achievement and improvedoutcomes of high school graduation, postsec-ondary access and success, and even longerterm outcomes like wage rates and employa-bility levels. Without this type of longitudinaldata, we will never truly understand theimpact of reform efforts. The federal govern-ment can also support the development ofnew strategies through selected demonstrationefforts. Working with several school districtsor one or two states on developing a compe-tency-based system would advance the fieldgreatly, for example. Finally, the governmentneeds to promote data collection systems thatspan the K-16 educational system and acrossfunding streams.


First is helping improve outcomes for stu-dents with disabilities and other needy stu-dents by determining the most effectiveinstructional and supportive strategies to inte-grate and mainstream them into regular class-es and to meet higher expectations and stan-dards. Low level readers and English lan-guage learners fall into this category.

A second area is to experiment with largescale competency or performance-based sys-tems, as opposed to requiring students to earna certain number of course credits. While anumber of small, innovative schools are usingcompetency-based instruction and assess-ment, translating such a system to a largescale is daunting.

Third is to find ways of creating choice andoptions across a district, and using the fullresources of the community to do so. Whilesome school districts have created openchoice within the district, or allowed studentsto select the high school they want to attend,most communities have only scratched thesurface in creating a full spectrum of learningopportunities that meet the needs of manytypes of students across many different ven-ues, locations, and durations.

Fourth is to ensure that all the pieces of thepuzzle get put together. High school reformrequires synchronization of many discreteefforts. Some reformers are good in onearea – say, for example, putting in a standards-based instructional system. But they mayhave paid little or no attention to other impor-tant matters, like personalization of theschool, creating relevance for young people,

engaging the community in the reform efforts,or linking to postsecondary education. Whatmakes this work so difficult is trying to get allthe pieces right and then getting them to fittogether nicely, or as nicely as possible. Onlya few innovative small schools have been ableto manage these multiple dimensions ofreform.

Fifth and last, youth need to play a larger rolein the transformation of secondary schooleducation. While many schools, communities,and reformers have token youth input, it isoften limited to the student council members,class officers, or other “bright” young people.There is certainly nothing wrong in havingthose young people involved – it is a goodthing. But often, these youth do not truly rep-resent the full range of students at a school. Itis rare for the silent girl or boy, who rarelyspeaks up, to be asked for her or his opinion.It is rare for “C” student to be asked to escortvisitors around the school and explain thechanges the school is going through. It is rarefor a disruptive student to participate in meet-ings with parents or other school leaders. It israrer still for schools to reach out to studentswho have already left. Yet, these are the voic-es we are missing as we proceed in our questto redesign an institution that they will use.

Many exciting possibilities exist for trans-forming the high school as we know it into ahigh performance, flexible, personalized, rig-orous, relevant, and equitable learning envi-ronment for every student. It is clear that suc-cessful transformation will be dramatic, formaintaining the status quo and merely tinker-ing around the edges will not be sufficient.


ISSUES NEEDING MORE ATTENTION

One could say that all of high school reform needs much more attention and research – andit does. But there are a number of important issues that have been neglected, yet may holdthe key to significant improvements for many students.

We need to have the courage to completely re-think the traditional high school and our ideasabout educating youth, opening the highschool box wide and pulling it apart. Thisreport demonstrates that there are successful

schools, practices, and policies that havealready tossed out the old high school model,yet there is much more to be done to ensurethat every student receives a high quality, sup-portive, and relevant education.



APPENDIX AList of Forums, Field Trips, and Discussion Groups for

Carnegie Corporation of New YorkOctober 1, 2000 - April 30, 2004

Click on a link below to read the summary ofthe event.

Field Trips:Michael DeBakey High School a NewAmerican High School, and ReformStrategies in Houston, Texas , with visits toMichael DeBakey High School for HealthProfessions, Project GRAD, Wheatley HighSchool, and a discussion with representativesof the Houston Independent School District.October 26-27, 2000

High School Reform and WorkforceDevelopment in Baltimore, Maryland , withvisits to Patterson High School, A TalentDevelopment High School, Lake CliftonEastern High School (career academies),Civic Works (service and conservation corps)and meetings with the Mayor’s andSuperintendent’s office to learn about schoolreform in Baltimore. March 22-23, 2001

How Does a City Effectively Serve All ItsYouth, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania , withvisits to Edison High School, University CityHigh School to learn about service learninginitiative, Frankford High School (careeracademies), Change Charter School (formerlyYouthBuild Charter School), a YouthOpportunities site, as well as meetings withrepresentatives of the Philadelphia Office ofEducation for Employment and representa-tives of the Workforce Investment Board andYouth Council. May 10-11, 2001

School and Community Reforms forStudent Achievement in Boston,Massachusetts, with visits to Fenway HighSchool (pilot school), Brighton High School(career clusters), Diploma Plus program atBoston Adult Technical Academy, and BostonExcels Full Service Community School visitto Ellis Elementary School. June 4-5, 2001

A View of Exemplary Practices in TwoVirginia Cities – A Nationally RecognizedHigh School in Newport News and YouthDevelopment and Comprehensive YouthProgramming in Hampton , featuring a visitto Menchville High School, a New AmericanHigh School, and insights into Hampton’scommitment to comprehensive programmingfor youth with a focus on youth as assets.October 18-19, 2001

Interventions for Youth in the School andOut-of-School Hours in Denver, CO, focus-ing on Colorado’s Small Schools Initiativeand high school reform, including a visit toManual High School, community schools andextended learning opportunities, Cole MiddleSchool, the site of a Beacon NeighborhoodCenter, and a Youth Opportunity Grant site.April 24-26, 2002

High School Redesign and Innovation,Providence, RI , with visits to The Big PictureCompany and The Met, Rhode IslandChildren’s Crusade for Higher Education,Central High School, Mt. Pleasant HighSchool, and meetings with state and districtofficials. May 13-14, 2002




















Comprehensive High School Reform andExtended Learning in New York City , withvisits to Morris High School, South BronxHigh School, Harlem Children’s Zone, AdlaiStevenson High School, and ManhattanCenter for Science and Mathematics.November 18-19, 2002

Effective Practices in AlternativeEducation and School Accountability inAustin, TX, with visits to AmericanYouthWorks Charter School, Health Centerand AmeriCorps and YouthBuild programs;Austin Independent School District leaders;and Garza Independence High School.December 3-5, 2002

High School Reform in San Diego, CA, withvisits to High Tech High School, Mission BayHigh School, Garfield Alternative HighSchool, and Southwest High School, andmeetings with officials from the San DiegoCity Schools, Patrick Ainsworth, Director,High School Leadership Division, CA StateDepartment of Education, and Doris Alvarez,Principal, Preuss Charter School. May 21-24,2003

High School Reform in Cleveland, OH,with visits to Glenville High School, SuccessTech Academy High School, James FordRhodes High School, Cleveland ScholarshipProgram, Cuyahoga County WorkforceDevelopment Board, and representatives ofKnowledgeWorks Foundation. December 2-3, 2003

High School Reform in New York, NY, withvisits to Morris High School and South BronxHigh School to learn about the transformationof large high schools to small high schools,LaGuardia Community College’s middle col-lege high school programs, and to meet withthe Core Group Governing Team of the NewYork City school reform effort. January 8-9,2004

Forums:Project GRAD (Graduation ReallyAchieves Dreams): A Multi-InterventionApproach In Urban Schools ShowsSuccess, with Fred Doolittle, Vice Presidentand Deputy Director, ManpowerDevelopment Research Corporation, RobertRivera, Associate Director of Project GRADHouston, TX, and Tycene Hicks-Edd, LucentTechnologies, Murray Hill, NJ. October 6,2000

New Rules, New Roles: Preparing AllYoung People for a Changing World , withGene Bottoms, Senior Vice President,Southern Regional Education Board, Atlanta,GA; Hilary Pennington, President, Jobs forthe Future, Boston, MA; David Stern,University of California, Berkeley; JimKemple, Senior Research Associate,Manpower Research DemonstrationCorporation, New York, NY; EphraimWeisstein, Vice President, Center for YouthDevelopment and Education, Corporation forBusiness, Work and Learning, Boston, MA;Dorothy Stoneman, President, YouthBuild,Somerville, MA; and Kathleen Selz,President, National Association of Serviceand Conservation Corps, Washington, DC.January 30, 2001

High Schools that Work with Gene Bottoms,Senior Vice President, Southern RegionalEducation Board. May 11, 2001

It Takes A City: Getting Serious AboutUrban School Reform, with Paul Hill,Center for Reinvention of Public Education,University of Washington. May 14, 2001

Wakefield High School: How TechnologyContributes to Academic and CareerSuccess, Marie Djouati, Principal, studentsand teachers from Wakefield High School,Arlington, VA. June 1, 2001






















Reinventing Youth Corps for the 21stCentury, A Successful Model for ServingYouth , with Kathleen Selz, ExecutiveDirector, National Association of Service andConservation Corps; David Archie, graduateof The Work Group; Lori Godorov,Development Director, The Work Group;Sally Prouty, Chief of the Ohio CivilianConservation Corps; and Bryon Skeel, OhioCorpsmember. June 15, 2001

First Things First, a District-wide SchoolReform Model with Jim Connell, President,Institute for Research and Reform inEducation, Philadelphia, PA, and SteveGering, Executive Director for Instruction,Kansas City, KS Public Schools. November9, 2001

Community-Based Organization Schools,with Richard Murphy and Jean Thomases,Academy for Educational Development,Daniel Grego, TransCenter for Youth,Milwaukee, Perry Price, Minneapolis UrbanLeague Street Academy, and Arnaldo Rivas,former student, Shalom High School,Milwaukee. November 16, 2001

Can Policy Keep Pace with ChangingPractice in Our High Schools? with MikeCohen, Senior Fellow, The Aspen InstituteProgram on Education in a Changing Society,Adria Steinberg, Jobs for the Future, and TimKnowles, Deputy Superintendent forTeaching and Learning, Boston PublicSchools. April 5, 2002

March Toward Excellence: School Successand Minority Student Achievement inDepartment of Defense Schools , with ClaireSmrekar and Debra Owens, Peabody Centerfor Education Policy, Vanderbilt University,and Taffy Corrigan, Assistant AssociateDirector for Education, U.S. Department ofDefense Education Activities. April 26, 2002

Closing the Achievement Gap in UrbanSchools, with Mike Casserly, ExecutiveDirector, Council of Great City Schools, andFred Doolittle and Jason Snipes, ManpowerDevelopment Research Corporation. June 7,2002

The Rapid Increase of Young People inGED and Adult Education Programs , withAlan Werner, Deputy Superintendent forInstruction and Student Services, Office ofAdult and Continuing Education, Schools andPrograms, New York City Board ofEducation, Edith Gnanadass, DeputyExecutive Director of TurningPoint/Discipleship Outreach Ministries, andMartha Kamber, Director of SupportiveServices, Sunset Park Adult and FamilyEducation Program. July 26, 2002

Florida Virtual School: The Future ofLearning?, Julie Young, Executive Directorand Debbie Adams, American Governmentteacher, Florida Virtual School, and RonSkinner, Project Director, Tech Counts,Education Week. October 18, 2002

In Schools We Trust: CreatingCommunities of Learning in an Era ofTesting and Standardization , DeborahMeier, Vice Chair Emeritus, Coalition ofEssential Schools. November 13, 2002

Minority Student Achievement Network ,with Robert Smith, Superintendent, ArlingtonCo., VA Public Schools, Allan Alson,Superintendent, Evanston, IL Public Schools,and Rossi Ray-Taylor, Superintendent, AnnArbor, MI Public Schools. November 22,2002

A Place to Grow: Evaluation of the NewYork City Beacons , with Constancia Warren,Carnegie Corporation of New York, PeterKleinbard, Fund for the City of New York,


























Tracy Calderon, Beacons Director, andJonathan Guity, student. February 21, 2003

Creating Equitable High Schools:Strategies to Eliminate Tracking andAbility Grouping , with Kevin G. Welner,Assistant Professor, University of Colorado,Boulder School of Education, Carol Burrisand Delia Garrity, Rockville Free UnionSchool District, Long Island, NY, and TomLedue, Principal, Noble High School, NorthBerwick, ME. December 12, 2003

Schools for a New Society: Systemic HighSchool Reform in Three Cities , withConstancia Warren, Senior Program Officerand Director, Urban High School Initiative,Carnegie Corporation of New York; RochelleNichols Solomon, Academy for EducationalDevelopment; Jesse Register, Superintendent,Hamilton County Department of Education,Dan Challener, President, Public, EducationFoundation, and Cheri Dedmon, Principal,East Ridge High School, all fromChattanooga, TN; Melody Johnson,Superintendent, Providence Public Schools,Mary Sylvia Harrison, President andExecutive Director, Rhode Island Children’sCrusade for Higher Education, DavidAndrews, Director for High Schools, andCheryl Gomes, Principal, Classical HighSchool, all from Providence, RI; RichardOwen, Associate Superintendent, HighSchool Improvement, Sacramento CityUnified School District, Deanna Hanson,CEO LEED-Sacramento, and Kelly Young,Professional Development Consultant, allfrom Sacramento, CA. February 4, 2004

Discussion Groups:• Financing and Resource Issues in High

School Reform (link to report). 7/12/01, 10/29/01, and 11/13/01

• Perkins Act Reauthorization Discussion Group (link to report). 12/18/01, 1/29/02, 3/4/02, 4/25/02, 7/24/02, and 2/5/03

Roundtables:

• Roundtable on Improving Teaching and Learning Through Assessment (link to report). 5/9/02

• Roundtable on Instructional Strategies and Structures for Improved Learning in High Schools (link to report). 7/23/02

Publications:

• Rigor and Relevance: A New Vision for Career and Technical Education, A White Paper, 2003.

• Finance and Resource Issues in High School Reform, 2003.

• Essentials of High School Reform: New Forms of Assessment and Contextual Teaching and Learning , 2003.

• Local Intermediary Organizations: Connecting the Dots for Children, Youth ,and Families, 2002, co-funded with Academy for Educational Development, Institute for Educational Leadership, The Finance Project, Jobs for the Future, and New Ways to Work.

• All Over the Map: State Policies to Improve the High School , 2002, co-funded with a consortium of organizations for the National High School Alliance.









http://www.aypf.org/pdf/EssentialsofHighSchoolReform.pdf











http://www.aypf.org/publications/Intermediaries.pdf



http://www.hsalliance.org/resources/docs/Allfinal.pdf

http://www.hsalliance.org/resources/docs/Allfinal.pdf

American Youth Policy Forum

1836 Jefferson Place, NW

Washington, DC 20036

www.aypf.org

ISBN: 1-887031-88-X

http://www.aypf.org

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