Forum Brief
A Call to Action:
Transforming High School for All Youth
A Forum — April 29, 2005
This forum was the first in a series to be held over the next 18 months on high school reform supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. It provided an opportunity to learn about state, district and school-level perspectives on A Call to Action: Transforming High School for All Youth, which was released April 7, 2005 by the National High School Alliance.
Naomi Housman, the Director of the National High School Alliance, explained that the Call to Action grew out of two years of intensive collaboration by the 42 leading national organizations in the Alliance, which is housed at the Institute for Educational Leadership in Washington, D.C., and supported by the Gates Foundation and the Carnegie Corporation of New York. The member organizations are committed, both individually and collectively, to improve outcomes for youth through positive practice, research and public engagement in order to (1) produce high academic achievement, (2) close the achievement gap, and (3) promote civic and personal growth among all high-school-age youth.
Joe DiMartino, the Chairman of the National High School Alliance, is director for secondary school redesign at the Education Alliance at Brown University, which includes the Northeast and Islands Regional Educational Laboratory. He said A Call to Action provides a new framework of six core principles, each accompanied by suggested strategies, to be used at the national, state, district, school and community levels. The six core principles are inter-related and non-negotiable. They are (1) personalized learning environments, (2) academic engagement of all students, (3) empowered educators, (4) accountable leaders, (5) engaged community and youth, and (6) an integrated system of high standards, curriculum, instruction, assessments and supports. Each principle is accompanied by specific recommendations, which range from common planning time for teachers to the integration of literacy across the curriculum and the need for multiple measures of achievement.
Housman stressed that decision-makers should not pick and choose among the Alliance’s six core principles and that quick fixes and silver-bullet programs don’t work. The Call to Action does not prescribe a particular model of reform, because changes imposed from the top down would not be sustainable. Changes must be rooted deeply within each school, district and community.
Colleen A. Callahan, the Director of Professional Issues for the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers and Health Professionals, said that from a statewide perspective, she was pleased to see that the Call to Action sets non-negotiable principles, but doesn’t specify a one-size-fits-all model for districts and schools, each of which operates in a different environment. She saw that as a welcome confirmation of the context-sensitive approach taken by the Rhode Island Board of Regents for Elementary and Secondary Education. As a member of the board, she chaired its Secondary Education Restructuring Committee, which helped develop a new policy framework for Rhode Island’s middle and high schools in a series of public and private meetings with stakeholders that ranged from high school students, parents and administrators to representatives of unions and community and business groups. Regulations adopted in January 2003 set three priorities for the state’s secondary schools: literacy, graduation by proficiency, and personalization through restructuring of school environments.
The state’s three-tiered literacy requirement calls for all secondary students to obtain literacy skill-building opportunities across the curriculum, for students two years below grade level to obtain targeted instruction, and for students three years below grade level to obtain a Personal Learning Plan (PLP) that includes an intensive literacy program delivered by a reading specialist.
Beginning with the Class of 2008, in order to graduate, students will have to demonstrate proficiency in a core curriculum by standardized state tests (weighted at about 10 percent in making graduation decisions) plus at least two of the following performance-based measures: portfolios, end-of-course exams, exhibitions, common tasks or a Certificate of Initial Mastery.
To personalize their environments, schools can choose among such methods as teaming, looping, upper and lower “houses,” career academies or advisories. They must create comprehensive guidance systems or develop personal learning plans for all students. All certified personnel must complete 15 hours of professional development in the priority areas, and schools must provide weekly common planning time for teachers by the 2005-06 school year.
Challenges include funding, reviewing labor-management contracts, adhering to an ambitious timeline, anticipating potential legal challenges when the performance-based graduation standards become effective, and preparing teachers for new roles in such areas as literacy, school design coaches and advisors. Resources available to meet those challenges include a Gates grant, and technical assistance and support from the Education Alliance at Brown University, the Rhode Island Skills Commission and the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers.
Michael Bell, Assistant Superintendent for School Choice & Parental Options in the Miami-Dade County Public Schools, said all six core principles of A Call to Action are embodied in the Secondary School Reform framework adopted by the 366,000-student district at the urging of its superintendent, Rudy Crew. A review of a preliminary version of the Call reassured the principals, national leaders and others who developed the Miami-Dade framework that they were on the right track. With 35 high schools, serving from 3,000 to 5,000 students apiece, Miami-Dade is paying special attention to personalizing the schools through creating small learning communities. The district’s plan also includes internships, and an emphasis on college readiness and on the career skills needed by those who aren’t college-bound or will be working their way through college. Teachers get common planning time and more professional development. Though it will take three to four years to assess the efficacy of the changes, the district is comfortable with its decision to pursue systemic reform, rather than to rely on small-scale pilot programs that could falter when a superintendent or principal is replaced.
Lucy Fernandez, principal of South Texas High School for Health Professions in Mercedes, TX, since 1998, said the core principles apply in many aspects of her four-year magnet school, known as “Med High,” which has an open enrollment policy of first-come, first-serve for ninth-graders from 28 school districts that cover 3,600 square miles. A high-minority, high-poverty high school, it is one of only 13 in the state selected by the Texas Business and Education Coalition and Just for Kids to receive a 2004 Honor Roll award for sustained academic excellence.
Med High personalizes learning through mentoring, student ambassadors leading campus tours for potential applicants and their families, student-run health education in nearby communities, and leadership opportunities in the student council and Health Occupation Students of America. Academic engagement is encouraged through Advanced Placement courses for all students willing to take them. Teachers are engaged in developing new courses and course sequences. Students, who are required to perform 75 hours of volunteer service during their four years, also have opportunities for clinical experience during the school year and summer at 45 health-related sites, such as hospitals, nursing homes, pharmacies and veterinary offices. To help in the transition to high school, there is a summer camp and mid-year camp for freshmen and a “Med High 101” briefing for parents, many of whom didn’t go to high school themselves.
During the subsequent discussion, panelists and others advised linking high school reforms to the pre-service training of new teachers, out-of-school programs, collaboration with businesses and community groups, use of proven methods for helping English language learners in all types of courses, and valid and reliable evaluation of the outcomes of any reforms.
Callahan said research into which reforms work under what conditions is incomplete and partial. DiMartino agreed, but said the burden of proof is on traditional high schools, because there is abundant evidence that they do not lift all students to meet high standards.
Copies of A Call to Action: Transforming High School for All Youth are online at www.hsalliance.org.
Naomi Housman, the Director of the National High School Alliance, explained that the Call to Action grew out of two years of intensive collaboration by the 42 leading national organizations in the Alliance, which is housed at the Institute for Educational Leadership in Washington, D.C., and supported by the Gates Foundation and the Carnegie Corporation of New York. The member organizations are committed, both individually and collectively, to improve outcomes for youth through positive practice, research and public engagement in order to (1) produce high academic achievement, (2) close the achievement gap, and (3) promote civic and personal growth among all high-school-age youth.
Joe DiMartino, the Chairman of the National High School Alliance, is director for secondary school redesign at the Education Alliance at Brown University, which includes the Northeast and Islands Regional Educational Laboratory. He said A Call to Action provides a new framework of six core principles, each accompanied by suggested strategies, to be used at the national, state, district, school and community levels. The six core principles are inter-related and non-negotiable. They are (1) personalized learning environments, (2) academic engagement of all students, (3) empowered educators, (4) accountable leaders, (5) engaged community and youth, and (6) an integrated system of high standards, curriculum, instruction, assessments and supports. Each principle is accompanied by specific recommendations, which range from common planning time for teachers to the integration of literacy across the curriculum and the need for multiple measures of achievement.
Housman stressed that decision-makers should not pick and choose among the Alliance’s six core principles and that quick fixes and silver-bullet programs don’t work. The Call to Action does not prescribe a particular model of reform, because changes imposed from the top down would not be sustainable. Changes must be rooted deeply within each school, district and community.
Colleen A. Callahan, the Director of Professional Issues for the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers and Health Professionals, said that from a statewide perspective, she was pleased to see that the Call to Action sets non-negotiable principles, but doesn’t specify a one-size-fits-all model for districts and schools, each of which operates in a different environment. She saw that as a welcome confirmation of the context-sensitive approach taken by the Rhode Island Board of Regents for Elementary and Secondary Education. As a member of the board, she chaired its Secondary Education Restructuring Committee, which helped develop a new policy framework for Rhode Island’s middle and high schools in a series of public and private meetings with stakeholders that ranged from high school students, parents and administrators to representatives of unions and community and business groups. Regulations adopted in January 2003 set three priorities for the state’s secondary schools: literacy, graduation by proficiency, and personalization through restructuring of school environments.
The state’s three-tiered literacy requirement calls for all secondary students to obtain literacy skill-building opportunities across the curriculum, for students two years below grade level to obtain targeted instruction, and for students three years below grade level to obtain a Personal Learning Plan (PLP) that includes an intensive literacy program delivered by a reading specialist.
Beginning with the Class of 2008, in order to graduate, students will have to demonstrate proficiency in a core curriculum by standardized state tests (weighted at about 10 percent in making graduation decisions) plus at least two of the following performance-based measures: portfolios, end-of-course exams, exhibitions, common tasks or a Certificate of Initial Mastery.
To personalize their environments, schools can choose among such methods as teaming, looping, upper and lower “houses,” career academies or advisories. They must create comprehensive guidance systems or develop personal learning plans for all students. All certified personnel must complete 15 hours of professional development in the priority areas, and schools must provide weekly common planning time for teachers by the 2005-06 school year.
Challenges include funding, reviewing labor-management contracts, adhering to an ambitious timeline, anticipating potential legal challenges when the performance-based graduation standards become effective, and preparing teachers for new roles in such areas as literacy, school design coaches and advisors. Resources available to meet those challenges include a Gates grant, and technical assistance and support from the Education Alliance at Brown University, the Rhode Island Skills Commission and the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers.
Michael Bell, Assistant Superintendent for School Choice & Parental Options in the Miami-Dade County Public Schools, said all six core principles of A Call to Action are embodied in the Secondary School Reform framework adopted by the 366,000-student district at the urging of its superintendent, Rudy Crew. A review of a preliminary version of the Call reassured the principals, national leaders and others who developed the Miami-Dade framework that they were on the right track. With 35 high schools, serving from 3,000 to 5,000 students apiece, Miami-Dade is paying special attention to personalizing the schools through creating small learning communities. The district’s plan also includes internships, and an emphasis on college readiness and on the career skills needed by those who aren’t college-bound or will be working their way through college. Teachers get common planning time and more professional development. Though it will take three to four years to assess the efficacy of the changes, the district is comfortable with its decision to pursue systemic reform, rather than to rely on small-scale pilot programs that could falter when a superintendent or principal is replaced.
Lucy Fernandez, principal of South Texas High School for Health Professions in Mercedes, TX, since 1998, said the core principles apply in many aspects of her four-year magnet school, known as “Med High,” which has an open enrollment policy of first-come, first-serve for ninth-graders from 28 school districts that cover 3,600 square miles. A high-minority, high-poverty high school, it is one of only 13 in the state selected by the Texas Business and Education Coalition and Just for Kids to receive a 2004 Honor Roll award for sustained academic excellence.
Med High personalizes learning through mentoring, student ambassadors leading campus tours for potential applicants and their families, student-run health education in nearby communities, and leadership opportunities in the student council and Health Occupation Students of America. Academic engagement is encouraged through Advanced Placement courses for all students willing to take them. Teachers are engaged in developing new courses and course sequences. Students, who are required to perform 75 hours of volunteer service during their four years, also have opportunities for clinical experience during the school year and summer at 45 health-related sites, such as hospitals, nursing homes, pharmacies and veterinary offices. To help in the transition to high school, there is a summer camp and mid-year camp for freshmen and a “Med High 101” briefing for parents, many of whom didn’t go to high school themselves.
During the subsequent discussion, panelists and others advised linking high school reforms to the pre-service training of new teachers, out-of-school programs, collaboration with businesses and community groups, use of proven methods for helping English language learners in all types of courses, and valid and reliable evaluation of the outcomes of any reforms.
Callahan said research into which reforms work under what conditions is incomplete and partial. DiMartino agreed, but said the burden of proof is on traditional high schools, because there is abundant evidence that they do not lift all students to meet high standards.
Copies of A Call to Action: Transforming High School for All Youth are online at www.hsalliance.org.
This brief summarizes an American Youth Policy Forum that took place on April 29, 2005 on Capitol Hill, reported by Andrew Mollison.
The American Youth Policy Forum (AYPF) is a non-profit, nonpartisan professional development organization that bridges youth policy, practice and research for professionals working on youth policy issues at the national, state and local levels.
AYPF’s events and policy reports are made possible by the support of a consortium of philanthropic foundations: Ford Foundation, Ford Motor Company Fund, GE Foundation, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, WT Grant Foundation, George Gund Foundation, W. K. Kellogg Foundation, KnowledgeWorks Foundation, Lumina Foundation for Education, Charles S. Mott Foundation, Nellie Mae Education Foundation, and others.