Compendiums > Structural High School Reform
This Arizona Department of Education website provides information about the Arizona Middle and High School Renewal and Improvement Initiative. The website provides historical as well as a current information about the initiative.
This report summarizes the best practices and policies that were successful in the transformed high schools visited by selected national policymakers. Site visits were made to San Diego, CA; Cleveland, OH; New York City, NY; and Boston, MA. Findings include: 1) policies affecting secondary schools need to be flexible, 2) public policy must support building the capacity of teachers, administrators, and educational leaders, 3) accountability systems that take into consideration the contributions of other public programs as well as various ways of measuring success, 4) data systems that keep track of where students are and how they are doing, and 5) policymakers that ensure funds follow students. The report also identified essential elements of effective reforms. They include: 1) school leaders with high expectations for students and teachers, matched with accountability standards and ongoing assessment, 2) small and personal learning communities, 3) sustained professional development for teachers and principals, 4) close links with community, and 5) empowerment of the building-level personnel concerning hiring, budgeting, curriculum, and scheduling that supports student needs.
The Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE), on behalf of career and technical education (CTE) professionals in the United States, advocates for clearly focusing American high schools on the goal of preparing EVERYstudent for full participation in a spectrum of college opportunities, meaningful work, career advancement, and active citizenship. We call upon leaders to make needed changes in school culture, instructional strategies and organizational priorities that will support this new purpose.
This 1999 paper focuses upon the review of ten secondary school reform strategies:
- Raise academic standards and expectations.
- Create small learning environments enabling students and teachers to work together.
- Structure learning around careers and students’ interests.
- Promote student achievement by enhancing educators’ professional development.
- Link students’ out-of-school learning experiences to classroom learning.
- Provide counseling to encourage in-depth college and career awareness.
- Reorganize the school day into flexible, relevant segments.
- Assess students’ progress by what they are capable of doing.
- Forge partnerships with two- and four-year postsecondary institutions.
- Forge active student support alliances involving educators, employers, parents, and communities.
Many of these strategies were implemented by 17 selected school sites, representing the spectrum of secondary schools located throughout the United States. These sites, labeled New American High Schools, combine academic and career preparation.
For the purpose of “what works” and “what matters”, each strategy is thoroughly discussed and summarized while citing the relevant research and providing recommended readings.
- Vision, Standards, and Expectations
- Principles of Youth Development
- New Forms of Assessment
- Immersion in the Adult World
- Using the Community for Learning
- Structure and Organization
- Accountability
- Teaching and Learning
The report points to an alignment of the strategies that must be utilized by State Leaders and Local Leaders to take on this institution [high school] of mythic proportions. For generations, we have assumed that this model of education is a good one. It worked for us, so why change it? The Work Group reports the reasons for change; the obstacles impeding that change; and then discusses each Key Element in detail.
This study compares the practices of “high-impact” high schools – schools which produced significant academic gains for students who entered substantially below grade level – against demographically similar schools producing average achievement growth. The findings are organized into five “spheres”: (1) Culture, (2) Academic core, (3) Support, (4) Teachers and (5) Time and other resources. The “School Practices at a Glance” table on pages 30-31 offers an at-a-glance comparison of key practices in high-impact and average-impact schools. Some highlighted practices of high-impact schools: preparing all students for college and careers instead of for high school graduation; maintaining high expectations for all students, regardless of prior academic performance; and making support for struggling students mandatory rather than optional.
