Schoolwide Reform in High School

The Problem

Almost 30 percent of those entering high school never graduate (Greene & Winters, 2005). In many schools, that total is more than 50 percent, according to Johns Hopkins University researchers Robert Balfanz and Nettie Legters, whose recent work was funded in part by the Comprehensive School Reform program of the U.S. Department of Education. Balfanz and Legters also found that nearly half of all African-American students and almost 40 percent of all Latino students attend high schools in which most students did not graduate (Balfanz & Legters, 2004).

Even the students who do finish high school are often unprepared for college or a job. According to the National Center for Education Statistics (Parsad & Lewis, 2003), more than 50 percent of high school graduates take at least one college remedial English or math class. Students who enroll in such remedial courses are more likely than other students to drop out of college. Furthermore, most employers rate the basic writing, reading, and math skills of high school graduates as fair or poor, according to a survey conducted by the research group Public Agenda (2002).

While elementary schools have succeeded in narrowing the achievement gap, it has widened in high schools. A 27-state analysis by The Education Trust (2005), a Washington-based organization that advocates for poor and minority children, found that most states saw the reading and math achievement gap grow between Latino and white high school students. The achievement disparity between poor and nonpoor students also grew or stayed the same.

Why Now?

High school reform is in the news.

President George W. Bush recently proposed a number of high school reforms, including an expansion of the provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act. The president has called for high school students to take annual, state-administered tests in math and reading in Grades 9, 10, and 11. He also proposed that high school seniors be required to take the National Assessment of Educational Progress every other year. “Testing at high school levels will help us become more competitive as the years go by,” Bush said at a press conference on January 12. “Testing in high schools will make sure that our children are employable for the jobs of the 21st century.” Bush is expected to highlight the importance of improving high school achievement in his State of the Union address on February 2.

The National Governors Association and Achieve Inc., a bipartisan organization created by policymakers and corporate leaders to help states raise academic standards, will gather the nation’s governors, top business leaders, and K–12 education leaders on February 26–27 in Washington, D.C., to discuss secondary schools. The summit (information at http://www.achieve.org/) will focus on how to improve student preparedness for college and work, and ways to increase graduation rates.

Issues in High School Reform

No matter what the forum for addressing high school problems, it is likely that one or more of three key issues will be on the agenda: how to help struggling students achieve academic proficiency, how to structure schools to support achievement, and how to ensure that all students are offered a rigorous and challenging academic program.

Achieving academic proficiency

Far too often, students enroll in high school without basic literacy and numeracy skills. Almost three fourths of eighth graders, for instance, cannot read at a proficient level, and the math and reading skills of African-American 12th graders are about the same as those of white eighth graders (The Education Trust, 2003). In one southern state, only nine high schools achieved adequate yearly progress in 2003. Getting low-performing students up to speed without allowing them to languish in remediation is key to improving their chances of graduating and the overall success of the school.

Using the best available research—and there isn’t much—schools have instituted intensive reading programs in order to improve adolescent literacy. All Boston public high schools, for instance, now have their own reading or literacy coaches (Alliance for Excellent Education, n.d.). Strategic tutoring for low-achieving students has demonstrated some success (Biancarosa & Snow, 2004). President Bush has proposed spending $200 million annually for a Striving Readers program, targeted to increase reading achievement in middle and high schools.

Information: The Alliance for Excellent Education (http://www.all4ed.org/) provides news, research, and case studies on adolescent literacy initiatives.

School Structures

For several years, reformers have attempted to improve student achievement by improving the structures of high schools. This topic continues to attract attention—and funding.

Making large schools smaller is one popular strategy. Proponents contend that smaller schools can increase student learning by allowing students to have closer and more productive relationships with their teachers and fellow students. The U.S. Department of Education’s Smaller Learning Communities Program (http://www.ed.gov/programs/slcp/index.html) provides grant funding to help large schools resize (e.g., create schools within schools and career academies, or restructure the school day) to improve academic achievement. Since 1999, the Bill& Melinda Gates Foundation (http://www.gatesfoundation.org/Education/TransformingHighSchools/) has devoted more than $1 billion to making high schools more intimate, interactive, and personal.

Another U.S. Department of Education program supports a different kind of structural change. The Comprehensive School Reform (CSR) program funds whole-school reform designed to increase academic achievement. Although the program has been traditionally viewed as an effective elementary school initiative, states have increasingly awarded these grants to high schools. Maine funds school designs aimed at improving the middle to high school transition; Texas has devoted more than half of its $24 million in CSR funds to high school reform. Other states, including Ohio and Montana, have combined CSR funds with other grants to support whole-school reform.

The number of middle and high schools using CSR funds to implement a schoolwide reform model also has increased. The most popular high school model is High Schools That Work (http://www.sreb.org/programs/hstw/hstwindex.asp), implemented in about 134 CSR-funded high schools. Others include the Coalition of Essential Schools (http://www.essentialschools.org/) in 53 high schools; Effective Schools (http://www.effectiveschools.com/) in 36 high schools; and America’s Choice (http://www.ncee.org/acsd) in 30 high schools.

Information: The National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities (http://www.edfacilities.org/rl/size.cfm) offers news, research, and case studies on school facilities and structure.

Rigorous and Challenging Academic Programs

While a focus on proficiency is necessary and a focus on external structures is understandable, reform focused on rigor and challenge for high school students is essential.

The idea behind the push is simple. Students who meet more demanding goals in high schools are often better able to succeed in college and work. In fact, a study by Clifford Adelman (1999) at the U.S. Department of Education found that the quality and rigor of high school courses had a greater impact than any other factor on whether a student who goes to college succeeds in earning a degree. The average college completion gap between white and African-American freshmen shrinks by two thirds among students who complete a rigorous set of academic courses before enrolling in college.

Strategies to ensure a challenging academic program include eliminating academic “tracks,” abandoning low-level math and science courses, and expanding access to Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, or other college-credit classes. Above all, reform in this area prepares all students for college, whether or not they enter college right after high school. Information: The Education Trust (www.edtrust.org) provides data and information on student achievement and opportunity patterns. Achieve Inc. (http://www.achieve.org/), which works to raise standards and student achievement through policy and research initiatives, recently published a report titled Ready or Not: Creating a High School Diploma That Counts. The report identifies achievement benchmarks for the knowledge and skills students need to graduate from high school prepared to succeed. Moving Forward

High schools continue to pose some of the most difficult issues in education today. But there is no doubt that they will remain on the reform agenda. Secondary schools need to improve for the future of our students—and our society.

References

Adelman, C. (1999). Answers in the tool box. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education.

Alliance for Excellent Education. (n.d.). Boston, MA—Literacy coaches. Retrieved January 27, 2005, from http://all4ed.org/publication_material/case_studyboston_plan_excellence

Balfanz, R., & Legters, N. (2004). Locating the dropout crisis. Baltimore, MD: Center for Social Organization of Schools.

Biancarosa, G., & Snow, C. E. (2004). Reading next—A vision for action and research in middle and high school literacy: A report from Carnegie Corporation of New York. Washington, DC: Alliance for Excellent Education.

Education Trust. (2005). Stalled in secondary. Washington, DC: Author.

Education Trust. (2003). African American achievement in America. Washington, DC: Author. Retrieved January 27, 2005, from http://www2.edtrust.org/NR/rdonlyres/9AB4AC88-7301-43FF-81A3-EB94807B917F/0/AfAmer_Achivement.pdf

Greene, J. P., & Winters, M. A. (2005, February). Public high school graduation and college-readiness rates: 1991-2002. Education Working Paper, Center for Civic Innovation, The Manhattan Institute

Parsad, B., & Lewis, L. (2003). Remedial education at degree-granting postsecondary institutions in fall 2000. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved January 24, 2005, from http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2004010

Public Agenda. (2002). Reality check 2002. New York: Author.