High Schools of the Millennium
Report Urges Redesign of America's High Schools
September 2000
Washington, DC
Contact: Betsy Brand at 202-775-9731
High schools are out of date and need to be redesigned to meet the needs of today’s youth, claims a new report High Schools of the Millennium: Report of the Workgroup, published by the American Youth Policy Forum. Information technology, the Internet, and distance learning are changing the way learning occurs; yet most high schools have been slow to embrace these new educational strategies and tools. Many high schools are too large and impersonal, and students see no value in what they are learning. Some inner-city high schools with thousands of students have dropout rates exceeding 50 percent, yet the schools look and act the way they did a generation ago.
The High Schools of the Millennium Report argues for a new vision of high school, one that uses all the resources of the community to create smaller learning environments, to engage youth in their striving for high academic achievement, to support them with adult mentors and role models, and to provide them with opportunities to develop their civic, social, and career skills. Chapters in the report focus on reasons why communities need to reassess their public education systems as well as the tough obstacles in their way. The report outlines a new concept of a learning experience for teens that uses all the resources of the community and helps every student succeed academically.
The report concludes with recommended strategies for federal, state, and local leaders focusing on improving professional and leadership development, alternative assessments to one-time, high stakes tests, creating learning opportunities for students in the community, and focusing resources at the secondary school level.
The report is based on a series of meetings and discussions held in Washington, D.C. in 1999 and 2000 with education reform leaders, including representatives from the U.S. Department of Education, the Council of Chief State School Officers, the National Association of Secondary School Principals, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and the American Federation of Teachers. The group included local practitioners and experts working in the fields of standards-based reform, career-technical education, service-learning, youth development, and community education.
Q&A on the High Schools of the Millennium Report
Q. There are a number of reports that share their ideas on improving schools. What makes this report different?
A. This report looks at all dimensions of the learning experience for teens and at the specific elements that need to be in place in the community to support that learning. Instead of focusing just on classroom practice, albeit a very important component of the education process, the report considers learning that occurs outside the classroom and how schools can structure and support it. The report also looks at what is needed to develop healthy, successful, and motivated youth as lifelong learners and contributors to society.
Q. Who was on the workgroup?
A. Members of the workgroup include senior appointees of the U.S. Department of Education; leaders in education at the national, state, and local levels, and nationally known researchers. Some of the organizations participating include the: Council of Chief State School Officers, National Association of Secondary School Principals, American Federation of Teachers; U.S. Chamber of Commerce; Johns Hopkins University, Council for Basic Education, Center on Education Policy, Jobs for the Future, Southern Regional Education Board, and Educational Testing Service.
Q. What obstacles to change in high schools did the workgroup discuss and consider to be most challenging?
A. One of the most difficult challenges is related to changing behaviors and attitudes of teachers and administrators. Unfortunately, in some schools, there is a culture of low expectations that assumes that some students cannot learn. Political issues and frequent turnover of leaders are other difficult challenges facing high schools.
Q. What are some of the Federal and National strategies recommended?
A. The report recommends that the federal government use its "bully-pulpit" to create a national agenda around high school redesign and to increase federal education funding for high poverty high schools, smaller learning environments, and leadership and professional development. Recommendations also include holding states and communities that receive federal education funds accountable for student outcomes including those of out-of-school youth