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Internet Resources & Research
This annotated resource list provides links to websites and research articles from other organizations throughout the nation that are currently working to support high school redesign. These organizations identify and assess high-performing high schools and districts, capture knowledge of the field’s best and most promising practices, and provide tools and resources to educators, policymakers, and others who are working to redesign comprehensive high schools.
 Websites American Diploma Project, Washington, D.C. The American Diploma Project is an initiative of Achieve, Inc. The ADP has developed English and mathematics benchmarks that describe the specific content and skills that graduates must have mastered by the time they leave high school if they expect to succeed in postsecondary education or in high-performance, high-growth jobs. Actual workplace tasks and postsecondary assignments illustrate the practical application of the "must-have" competencies described in the benchmarks. These benchmarks are accompanied by an action agenda with specific recommendations for creating a high school diploma that counts. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Seattle, WA The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation focuses its education investments in two primary areas: creating more small high schools and reducing financial barriers to higher education. The foundation is helping large, troubled high schools transform themselves into smaller, more personalized learning environments, while at the same time funding the replication of successful small school models. The Bridge Project, Stanford Institute for Higher Education Research, Stanford, CA The Bridge Project builds on the view that reforms affecting K-12 and higher education must occur across systems in order to achieve the desired outcomes. The overarching purpose of the project is to improve opportunities for all students to enter and succeed in higher education by strengthening the alignment between higher education admissions-related requirements and K-12 curriculum frameworks, standards, and assessments. Center for Reinventing Public Education, Seattle, Washington The Center on Reinventing Public Education studies major issues in education reform and governance in order to improve policy and decision-making in K-12 education. The Center's work is grounded in the idea that the current system does not work as well as it should and that efforts to improve schools have to include a broad and fair look at the possibility of fundamental change in the institutions that provide them. The Education Trust, Washington D.C. The Education Trust works for the high academic achievement of all students at all levels, kindergarten through college, and forever closing the achievement gaps that separate low-income students and students of color from other youth. The Education Trust advances its mission along several fronts, from raising its voice in national and state policy debates to helping teachers improve instruction in their classrooms. First Things First, Toms River, NJ First Things First (a project of the Institute for Research and Reform in Education) provides a clear but flexible framework for reform that districts and schools can adapt to their specific needs. Using the FTF framework, schools focus on three goals: strengthening relationships among students and adults, improving teaching and learning, and reallocating budget, staff, and time to achieve the first two goals. Staff and consultants work with schools as they organize into small learning communities, involve families in supporting student success, and develop new ways to engage all students in achieving high standards. Over time, schools implementing FTF expect to prepare all students for success in post-secondary education and high-quality employment. High School Renewal and the Boston Small School Network, Boston, MA Boston's Office of High School Renewal supports the creation of small, dynamic learning environments that promote student engagement, positive relationships among adults and students, and a love of learning. They seek to assist schools in the development of skilled, motivated, independent learners who graduate with a commitment to their communities. The purpose of this website is to collect and share products, projects, resources, news, and success stories to support teachers, students and partners in advancing the work of high school renewal. Jobs for the Future, Boston, MA Jobs for the Future studies, supports, and develops ways to provide young people-particularly those who are poorly served by current educational and employment systems-with the learning and credentials they need to make the transition to productive adulthood. MDRC (New York, NY & Oakland, CA) MDRC is a non-profit, non-partisan education and social policy research organization dedicated to learning what works to improve programs and policies that affect the poor. They design and study new approaches to the problems confronting public education; low-income children, families and communities; and low-wage workers and people with serious barriers to employment. The School Redesign Network, at Stanford University, Stanford, CA Responding to the need for new school models that are designed to teach all children to high levels, the School Redesign Network serves as a valuable resource for school communities working to improve their schools. The Network is a learning collaborative that helps school leaders to develop a broader knowledge base about school design, teaching and learning, curriculum and assessment, and a deeper understanding of the features of schools that have been successfully redesigned to support excellence and equity. The Small Schools Project, Seattle, WA Planning Resources for Teachers in Small High Schools provides small school leaders and teachers with a collection of resources to help them re-think their teaching and learning practices. The four collections of resources are based on extensive research, as well as interviews with teachers and site visits to schools across the country. Resource collections include sample lesson plans, recommended readings, school profiles, professional development sources, and planning guides. Each resource collection focuses on a different set of topics. For example, the spring 2003 collection covers such topics as project-based learning, literacy, and college access, while the winter 2004 collection covers such topics as family and community connections, school culture, and discipline. ED.GOV/HIGHSCHOOL, Washington D.C. This website has been created by the U.S. Department of Education as a one-stop clearinghouse for information on high schools as part of the Department's Preparing America's Future - High School Initiative. The site contains links for a wide range of topics related to improving achievement for all of America's high school students. [ TOP ] Articles Why Redesign? "Public High School Graduation and College-Readiness Rates: 1991-2002" The Manhattan Institute for Policy Research's February 2005 report shows grad rates are still unacceptably low across the U.S. This study uses a widely respected method to calculate graduation rates, both nationally and for each state, for each public school graduating class from 1991 to 2002. It also combines graduation rate calculations with data provided by the U.S. Department of Education to calculate the percentage of all students who left high school eligible for college in each year. Because the requirements to graduate from high school are set lower than the requirements to apply to a four-year college, many high school graduates are ineligible to enroll. "Making the Case for Small Schools" A concise, informative summary of the research illustrating the shortcomings of comprehensive high schools, including information on average high school drop-out rates, low daily attendance rates, large pupil loads for teachers and guidance counselors, and the impact of "large, impersonal" learning environments on student academic achievement. "Are Small Schools Better? School Size Considerations for Safety and Learning" This 3-page policy brief from WestEd provides a concise summary of the research on small schools. It includes an explanation of why size matters, an overview of barriers to implementing small schools, and a short list of policy recommendations. "Closing the Graduation Gap: Toward High Schools That Prepare All Students for College, Work, and Citizenship" The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is committed to helping all students graduate from high school ready for college, work, and citizenship. This commitment is based on a vision of a secondary education system built on rigor and relationships-a system of high-quality, small high schools that offers rigorous preparation for any post-secondary education or employment pathway. This document outlines the foundation's thinking on these issues, the evidence and research underpinning them, and a policy agenda that supports this vision of high quality high schools for all students. [ TOP ] Guiding Principles for Redesign "State Strategies For Redesigning High Schools and Promoting High School to College Transitions," This issue brief focuses on what increasingly are seen as the major stumbling blocks that students face in high school and in enrolling in postsecondary education. It summarizes recommendations from several national reports and conference proceedings on how high schools should be redesigned and how the transition to postsecondary education can be made more seamless for students. This brief also provides several examples of what state leaders are doing to deal with these issues and some sources for additional information. "Crisis or Possibility?: Conversations About the American High School" This report offers an overview and analysis of the conversations that took place during a series of conferences about high schools held in the fall of 2003. While conference participants agreed about the need to rethink and reinvent today's high school, there emerged two very different ideas about how to proceed. Regardless of viewpoint-"crisis or possibility," participants agreed on "seven key levers" that can positively affect high school reform. The levers include: integrating K-12 and postsecondary education, preparing all students for college, improving teacher competence, ensuring literacy among students, decreasing dropouts, creating smaller learning environments, and setting appropriate standards. The paper concludes that the path toward high school reform will be long and hard. "Redesigning Schools: What Matters and What Works" This report describes the 10 features of effective small schools: personalization, continuous relationships, high standards and performance-based assessment, authentic curriculum, adaptive pedagogy, multicultural and anti-racist teaching, knowledgeable and skilled teachers, collaborative planning and professional development, family and community connections, and democratic decision making. The report explains each feature in detail, and includes examples of schools that are successfully implementing these features. "Breaking Ranks: Changing an American Institution" and "Breaking Ranks II: Strategies for Leading High School Reform" "Breaking Ranks" offers a series of recommendations that have become a guiding force for high school redesign throughout the nation. It reflects the belief that "teaching and learning must provide the focus for high school reform," and emphasizes that "the high school of the 21st century must be much more student-centered and above all much more personalized in programs, support services, and intellectual rigor." "Breaking Ranks II" was formulated from the first edition of "Breaking Ranks" and is intended to assist principals by providing strategies for implementing the recommendations; illustrating possible entry points or areas in which to begin reform; and profiling the successes, challenges, and results of schools implementing the recommendations. Copies of these reports can be ordered from the NASSP website. [ TOP ] Implementation Strategies for Redesign "Common Conversion Questions" This document by provides ideas for how to answer the following questions, with advantages and disadvantages listed for each suggested strategy: What is the difference between a small school and a small learning community? How do you assign existing faculty to small schools? How do you assign students to small schools? What becomes part of the small school, and what remains large school? What should be the identity of the small schools? How do small schools address the needs of bilingual students, special education students, and students at high achievement levels? How do you build increased parent and community awareness and support of small schools? "How Boston Pilot Schools Use Freedom Over Budget, Staffing, and Scheduling to Meet Student Needs" This publication uses the Boston Pilot Schools, which are district schools that have increased flexibility and autonomy in exchange for increased accountability, as a case study to explain why autonomy is important and how it can be used effectively. "Big Buildings, Small Schools: Using a Small Schools Strategy for High School Reform" This article describes emerging efforts by communities such as Boston, Oakland, New York City, and Sacramento to convert large, comprehensive high schools into "education complexes" made up of multiple autonomous small schools under one roof. Lili Allen and Adria Steinberg of JFF draw on strategies being undertaken in these communities to explore implementation issues that arise concerning school-level autonomies, governance, and leadership of high school reform at the district level. They also delve into the challenges for "central office" leaders of managing a system of learning options that offers a broader range of choices for students and parents. [ TOP ] Evaluations of High School Redesign Initiatives "The National School District and Network Grants Program: Year 2 Evaluation Report" This report is the second in a series of reports on the evaluation of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's National School District and Network Grants Initiative, a program which provides grants to organizations to assist in the creation of small schools around the country. In general, the evaluation results matched the foundation's theories, and showed that intermediary organizations could, in fact, help create small high schools that foster personalization, high expectations, and teacher collaboration. The report also identifies key challenges for these small schools, including the effective implementation of innovative teaching approaches, the development of appropriate curriculum content, and the achievement of financial stability. Based on the findings, the report recommends a number of refinements to the program, including providing schools with more support in the development of curricula, creating a strategy to promote the new school culture among staff and students, and offering guidance on where to turn for financial support. "An Early Report on Comprehensive High School Conversions" This report describes the early stages of the conversion of three large Washington state high schools into several small learning communities. Each of these schools received a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation under one of three different programs: the Washington State Achievers Program, the Model School Initiative, and the Model District Initiative. The report offers insights and recommendations to other schools in the early stages of conversion, such as having strong principal leadership, using data to make the case for change, making the process inclusive and transparent, and balancing structural and teaching issues. "Reinventing High School: The Coalition Campus Schools Project" This report thoroughly describes the design features that, in the research of the six coalition campus schools of New York, were found to have significant student achievement and engagement results. The study found that five new schools that were created to replace a failing comprehensive high school produced, as a group, substantially better attendance, lower incident rates, better performance on reading and writing assessments, higher graduation rates, and higher college-going rates than the previous school, despite serving a more educationally disadvantaged population of students. The schools shared a number of design features, detailed in this study, that appeared to contribute to these outcomes. The study also describes successful system-level efforts to leverage these innovations and continuing policy dilemmas influencing the long-term fate of reforms. [ TOP ] |
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