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Introduction:
High school reform has become a top priority across the country. This compendium on High School Reform is designed as a response to the national education policy agenda surrounding the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act to address current issues reflected by U.S. Department of Education, State Education Agencies, and local school districts. High School reform is being driven by issues at the forefront of the educational community such as alarmingly high drop out rates, increasing numbers of students referred to remedial classes upon college entrance, large numbers of low academic achievement reported from high school students and disproportionately high numbers of urban and rural schools being identified as in need of improvement (Quint, May 2006*). Education agencies are seeking answers to the current issues listed above. They are also seeking solutions to challenges that will allow them to create a culture of change from the current paradigm in which schools operate. Increasing student success and school graduation rates are top priority concerns in the education agenda. Currently, high school reform is being reviewed to determine priorities for creating a culture of change within a system that has long accepted the status quo. More importantly, reform strategies are being reviewed to determine the best and most appropriate strategies to serve the students that are a part of that system. Introducing change into a system that is inherently difficult to change is only the first step. Traditions make a powerful argument, whether real or perceived, to maintain the status quo. Making changes based on what we know works is the greater challenge and there is broad agreement that change must occur. High schools must be overhauled to reflect not only the traditional metrics of attendance, graduation and college matriculation rates, but also the relentless pursuit of the rigor required to improve learning, achievement and competencies that students need to master 21st century skills and content (Partnership for 21st Century Skills, March 2006**).
Description:
The purpose of this compendium is to provide educators with a body of information encompassing recent research and policy on best practices in high school reform. It will support users in discovering how best to provide an atmosphere of teaching and, most importantly, learning in our public high schools that will adequately prepare the nation's high school students beyond the 12th grade. The shifting paradigm of expectations in which high schools must prepare students to enter a high tech culture that has information at its fingertip is a first step. This high school compendium includes topics on reform that address instruction, assessment, culture, motivation, graduation, alternative education and the transition to post-secondary education and careers. The publications contained and selected for inclusion in this compendium provide a resource for educators interested in stepping outside the current "traditional high school education box" to one that will help redefine the best way to prepare high school graduates to succeed in the workforce of the 21st century.
* Quint, Jane, May 2006. Meeting Five Critical Challenges of High School Reform: Lessons form Research on Three Reform Models. MDRC.
**Partnership for 21st Century Skills, March 2006. Results That Matter: 21st Century Skills and High School Reform.
Categories:
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