Program Area: Education

High School Reform

Issue Brief: High School Reform

Lessons Learned from Forum Series on High School Reform

Briefs

06/11/10: Building a Portfolio of Options to Ensure All Students Graduate This forum highlighted the work of the Association for High School Innovation (AHSI), a collaboration of education providers and advocates that works to create pathways and expand options to future success for all youth. Over the past seven years, AHSI members have engaged in a variety of efforts at the state and local level to create and sustain the development of education options to ensure all students graduate. Presenters shared lessons learned from their work along with implications for policy. Presenters included Talmira Hill, Director, Association for High School Innovation (NH); Elliot Washor, Co-Director, Big Picture Learning (RI); Nick Mathern, Associate Vice President, Policy & Partnership Development, Gateway to College National Network (OR), and Dr. Vincent Mays, Director, Office of Alternative Education, Newark Public Schools (NJ) (Forum)
05/21/10: Preparing Students for the Rapidly-Changing World: Implications for Instruction and Assessment This forum is the second in a series of three forums that discussed the skills students need to be successful and address the imperative for drastically changing teaching, instruction, and assessment in our middle and high schools. Speakers at this forum addressed innovative approaches to instruction and the implications of such instructional changes for teacher preparation and professional development. Presenters at this forum included Tony Wagner, Co-Director of the Change Leadership Group in the Harvard Graduate School of Education (MA), and Monica Martinez, President of the New Tech Network (CA). (Forum)
04/23/10: Preparing Students for the Rapidly-Changing World: Implications for Instruction and Assessment This forum is the first of three that will discuss the skills students need to be successful and address the imperative for drastically changing teaching, instruction, and assessment in our middle and high schools. Speakers included Ann Cook, Director, New York Performance Standards Consortium (NY) and Arleen Thelemaque a student from the Urban Academy (NY). (Forum Brief)
12/14/09: Leveraging Resources to Create Alternative Pathways to Education and Employment Training for Disconnected Youth: Comprehensive reform strategies to serve disconnected youth ensure that young people have access to a range of services, including education, employment training, health, and mental health, to move them on a path to self-sufficiency. This event profiled successful efforts at the city-level to leverage a range of funding streams at federal, state, and local levels, private dollars, and resources within the community to create a comprehensive portfolio of options. Panelists also offered recommendations to the federal government on policies and strategies to leverage resources more effectively to serve disconnected youth. Panelists included Jenny Bogoni, Vice President of Strategic Partnerships, Philadelphia Youth Network (PA), Ernest Dorsey, Youth Opportunity Project Director, Mayor’s Office of Employment Development, City of Baltimore (MD), and Andrew Moore, Senior Fellow, National League of Cities, Institute for Youth, Education & Families (DC). (Forum Brief)
06/26/09: Rethinking Professional Development: Comprehensive Approaches to Ensuring Effective Teaching: As teacher quality is the number one factor affecting student achievement, improvement in teacher effectiveness is a top federal priority. This forum will showcase two comprehensive models that have been implemented in school districts that use continuous professional development that have proven effects on student achievement and the quality of instruction in the classroom. The Long Beach Unified School District is exemplary in its use of internal resources to improve teacher effectiveness through year-round professional development linked to school improvement strategies. The Urban Teacher Residency program of the Academy for Urban School Leadership in Chicago ensures continuous improvement of teaching through intensive pre-service training, classroom residency, induction coaching, use of student-level data to inform instruction, and mentoring for teachers in urban schools that have been targeted for school turnaround. Speakers at this forum will include Stephanie Hirsch, Executive Director of the National Staff Development Council, Dallas (TX); Chris Steinhauser, Superintendent of the Long Beach Unified School District, (CA); and Michael Whitmore, Director of the Teacher Residency Program, Academy for Urban School Leadership, Chicago (IL). (Forum Brief)
06/01/09: Preparing College-Ready High School Graduates: A Case Study of San Jose, CA: This forum is the third in our forum series entitled “Laying the Groundwork for a College-Going Culture,” focused on efforts to ensure more high school students graduate, both understanding their options for continued education and training and ready to succeed in college and careers. This forum will examine the efforts of the San Jose Unified School District in California to ensure all students are prepared for success beyond high school, including through requiring all students to participate in a college preparatory curriculum and providing the necessary resources and support to ensure students are successful. The San Jose Unified School District is a diverse urban district with 70% of students representing racial/ethnic minority groups. Efforts to increase the rigor of high school coursework for all students have been underway in San Jose since the mid-1990s. In 1998, San Jose became the first school district in the state of California to elevate its high school graduation requirements to match the requirements for entry into the University of California system. Don Iglesias, Superintendent of the San Jose Unified School District, Linda Murray, Acting Executive Director of Education Trust-West and former Superintendent of San Jose Unified School District, and Mark Walker, Managing Director of Community Affairs for Applied Materials, a community-based partner in college readiness initiatives in San Jose. (Forum Brief)
05/29/09: Academic and Support Strategies for College and Career Readiness: This forum is the second in our three-part series entitled “Laying the Groundwork for a College-Going Culture,” focused on efforts to increase the number of young people who graduate from high school prepared to make informed decisions about continued education and training, and ready to succeed in college and careers. Viewing education as continuum that allows all Americans to access additional education and training is critical to ensuring our ability to emerge from the current economic downturn and compete in a global society. Presenters will include: Cecilia Cunningham , Executive Director, Middle College National Consortium, Angela N. Romans, New England Network Manager, Diploma Plus, Commonwealth Corporation, Nicole Farmer Hurd, National College Advising Corps, and Cassandra Castillo, Early College High School student. (Forum Brief)
04/27/09: Redefining College Readiness: Efforts from Leading States This forum is the first in our series entitled “Laying the Groundwork for a College-Going Culture” focused on efforts to ensure more high school students graduate, both understanding their options for continued education and training and ready to succeed in college and careers. At this event, presenters will both define critical indicators for college readiness as supported by the research and describe efforts in two states, Arkansas and Indiana, to create statewide high school graduation standards more closely aligned with expectations for success in postsecondary education and work. (FORUM Brief )
02/27/09: The Latino Education Crisis: The Consequences of Failed Social Policies: This forum featured Patricia Gándara, Professor of Education at UCLA (CA), presenting an overview of her new book entitled The Latino Education Crisis: The Consequences of Failed Social Policies. The book argues that the education of Latino youth constitutes a critical policy imperative, finding that Latinos are the only group that "has not made significant progress in degree attainment in 30 years." This crisis bears broad social and economic consequences, as Latinos represent the largest and fastest-growing ethnic minority in the country. Gándara identifies a broad web of issues that contribute to low rates of college enrollment and success, and offers policy recommendations. A panel of respondents included Sarita Brown, President, Excelencia in Education, (CA); Michael Casserly, Executive Director, Council of the Great City Schools (DC); and Alejandra Ceja, Professional Staff, House Education and Labor Committee (DC). (Forum Brief)
12/12/08: School Improvement and School Turnaround: State-Level Strategies in Louisiana and Maryland This forum highlighted state-level approaches to school turnaround from Louisiana and Maryland. Louisiana’s Recovery School District represents a unique model of state control of the majority of New Orleans’ public schools, in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Maryland’s approach is characterized by state technical assistance and oversight of restructuring conducted at the local level. Presenters included: Ramsey Green, Budget and Policy Director, Louisiana Recovery School District; and Ronald Peiffer, Deputy State Superintendent, Office of Academic Policy, Maryland State Department of Education. (Forum Brief)
12/05/08: School Improvement and School Turnaround: District-Level Initiatives in Chicago, IL, and Prince Georges County, MD: This forum will highlight two district approaches to school turnaround: Chicago, and Prince Georges County. Chicago is utilizing a wide-scale, comprehensive strategy, combining an “outside the system” approach by bringing in external providers and starting new schools with an “inside the system” approach of developing their own urban school leaders. In Prince Georges County School District the effort is focused on utilizing opportunity zones to implement school turnaround. Presenters will include Josh Edelman, Executive Director, Office of New Schools, Chicago Public Schools; Alan Anderson, Executive Director, Department of School Turnarounds, Chicago Public Schools; Derek Mitchell, Executive Director, New and Charter Schools, Prince Georges County School District, MD. (Forum Brief)
10/24/08: School Improvement and School Turnaround: Local Accomplishments Of MetLife Foundation/NASSP Breakthrough Schools The first forum in a series on school improvement and turnaround focused on a project by the MetLife Foundation and the National Association of Secondary School Principals. This project identifies, showcases, and recognizes middle level and high schools that are high achieving or are dramatically improving student achievement and serve large numbers of students living in poverty. This forum showcased three schools that utilized these school improvement strategies, and that were grant award winners in 2008: Forest Grove High School in Oregon; Cashman Middle School in Nevada; and Wheaton High School in Maryland. Mel Riddile of the National Association of Secondary School Principals, VA, led the presentation. Speakers were: Kevin E. Lowndes, Principal, Wheaton High School, MD; John O’Neill, Principal Forest Grove High School, OR; and Misti Taton, Principal, Cashman Middle School, NV. (Forum Brief)

05/20/08: Improving the Transition from Middle Grades to High Schools: Promising District Initiatives in Coaching and Planning This forum was the final presentation in the series on “Improving the Transition from the Middle Grades to High Schools.” Presenters showcased how Lowndes County Schools in Georgia are implementing the state’s Middle and High School Graduation Coach Initiative to help students transition successfully from the middle grades to high school. The forum also highlighted the use of a new course for incoming freshman, called Keystone - The Freshman Experience, in Duval County, Florida, which helps high school students to become career-focused while learning how to make effective decisions about their futures. Presenters included Dr. Steve Smith, Superintendent, Lowndes County Schools, GA; Wes Taylor, Principal, Lowndes High School, GA; and Beverly Strickland, Director, High School Programs, Duval County Public Schools, GA. (Forum Brief)
04/24/08: Building Afterschool Capacity at the Local Level: Spotlight on the NYC City-Wide Out-of-School Time Initiative Under the mayor’s leadership, NYC is investing in numerous capacity-building techniques in their OST system, such as evaluation, data systems, and professional development, and the city’s youth are already experiencing positive results because of it. Speakers included: Jeanne B. Mullgrav, Commissioner, NYC Department of Youth & Community Development; Elizabeth Reisner, Principal, Policy Studies Associates, Inc.; and Richard Berlin, Executive Director, Harlem RBI. (Forum Brief)
04/11/08: Improving the Transition from Middle Grades to High Schools: Promising State Initiatives in Literacy and Mathematics By addressing mathematics and literacy deficiencies, educators improve the chances of at-risk students remaining in school, and graduating on time. This forum, the second in the series on “Improving the Transition from the Middle Grades to High Schools,” featured Sherrill W. Parris, Assistant State Superintendent of Education for the Alabama Department of Education and Linda M. Wallinger, Assistant Superintendent for Instruction at the Virginia Department of Education. (Forum Brief )
01/25/08: Improving the Transition from Middle Grades to High Schools: The Role of Early Warning Indicators This forum, the first in the series on “Improving the Transition from the Middle Grades to High Schools,” focused on early warning indicators, particularly the use of on-track indicators, that can identify potential high school dropouts as early as sixth grade. Presenters included Robert Balfanz, Research Scientist, Center for Social Organization of Schools, Johns Hopkins University; Elaine Allensworth, Co-Director for Statistical Analysis, Consortium on Chicago School Research at the University of Chicago; and Craig D. Jerald, independent consultant, Break the Curve Consulting, DC. (Forum Brief)
01/25/08: Improving the Transition from Middle Grades to High Schools: The Role of Early Warning Indicators with Robert Balfanz, Associate Research Scientist, Center for Social Organization of Schools, Johns Hopkins University; Elaine Allensworth, Co-Director for Statistical Analysis, Consortium on Chicago School Research, University of Chicago; Craig Jerald, Independent Consultant, Break the Curve Consulting (Forum Brief)
09/21/07
: Exemplary CTE Districts and Programs with Gary Hoachlander, Executive Director, ConnectEd: The California Center for College and Career, Michael Hanlon, Founder, Health Careers Academy at Palmdale High School, California, Michael Owens, Associate Secretary, Adult Education and Workforce Development, Delaware Department of Education, Patrick Savini, Superintendent, Sussex Technical School District, Delaware (Forum Brief)
07/20/07: The Role of Career and Technical Education in High School Reform: Linking Secondary and Postsecondary Education through CTE with Dr. Laurel Adler, Superintendent, East San Gabriel Regional Occupational Program, West Codiva, CA and Mark Whitlock, CEO, Central Education Center, Coweta County, GA (Forum Brief and webcast)
06/22/07: The Role of Career and Technical Education in High School Reform: State Efforts to Integrate CTE with Rigorous Standards with Patrick Ainsworth, Assistant Superintendent for Secondary, Postsecondary & Adult Education, California Department of Education, Kathy Oliver, Assistant State Superintendent, Maryland Department of Education, and Alex Harris, Senior Policy Analyst, National Governors Association (Forum Brief and webcast)

05/10/07: The Role of Career and Technical Education in High School Reform: Career and Technical Education Responding to Industry Needs with Phyllis Eisen, Vice President, The Manufacturing Institute and Executive Director, The Center for Workforce Success, Duane Crum, California State Director, Project Lead the Way (forum Brief and webcast)

03/8/07: Philadelphia’s Project U-Turn, Citywide Efforts to Address the Dropout Problem with Paul Vallas, Chief Executive Officer, School District of Philadelphia, Ruth Curran Neild, Research Scientist, Center for Social Organization of Schools at Johns Hopkins University, Courtney Collins-Shapiro, Director, Multiple Pathways to Graduation, School District of Philadelphia, Laura Shubilla, President of the Philadelphia Youth Network. (forum Brief)
01/26/07: Results from A National Study of Mathematics in Career and Technical Education with Jim Stone, Prinicpal Researcher, University of Minnesota, Joe Fullerton, Program Development Specialist, Lenape Technical School, Ford City, PA, and Jeff Linko, Teacher, Lenape Technical School, Ford City, PA. (Forum Brief)
10/27/06: New Century High Schools Initiative with Bob Hughes, President, New Visions for Public Schools, Ronald Chaluisan, Vice President of Programs, New Visions for Public Schools, and Elizabeth Reisner, Principal, Policy Studies Associates (Forum brief)
09/29/06

Secondary-Postsecondary Learning Options: Best Practices in the Field with Ron Kindell, Director, Miami Valley Tech Prep Consortium, Chery Wagonlander, Principal, Mott Middle College High School, and Jennifer Brown Lerner, Program Associate, American Youth Policy Forum (FORUM Brief)
09/08/06
: Dropout Reconnection as a Local Economic Development Strategy with Andrew O. Moore, Senior Consultant, National League of Cities, Deborah Feldman, Administrator, Montgomery County, Ohio, and Karen Sitnick, Director, Mayor’s Office of Employment Development, Baltimore, Maryland. (Forum brief)
06/23/06
: Middle Grades Reform: Breaking Ranks in the Middle and Schools to Watch with John Nori, Director, School Leadership Services, National Association of Secondary Schools Principals, Irv Howard, Director, California Schools to Watch, Linda Hopping, Co-Chair, Georgia Lighthouse Schools to Watch (Forum brief)
05/19/06: Career and Technical Education's Role in High School Reform with the Association for Career and Technical Education (Forum brief)
05/15/06: Schools for a New Society Roundtable Discussion with Rochelle Nichols-Solomon, Director, Schools for a New Society Technical Assistance Program. Academy of Educational Development, Donnie Evans, Superintendent, Providence Public Schools, Mary Harrison, Executive Director, Rhode Island Children's Crusade, Jesse Register, Superintendent, Hamilton County Department of Education, Dan Challener, Public Education Foundation, Chattanooga, and Mindy Hernandez, Carneige Corporation of New York (Forum brief)
04/07/06: How Do High School Students Get Academic, Leadership, Work Skills, and Still Manage to Serve the Community? With students and faculty from Howenstine High School, Tucson, Arizona (Forum brief)
03/31/06: Reconnecting Out-of-School Youth: Two Public High School Principals Talk about How They Re-engage Dropouts (Release of Whatever It Takes: How Twelve Communities Are Reconnecting Out-of-School Youth) with James Anderson, Principal, Horizonte Instruction and Training Center, William Tracy, Principal, Daylight/Twilight High School, Trenton, Nancy Martin, Senior Program Associate, American Youth Policy Forum, and Samuel Halperin, Senior Fellow, American Youth Policy Forum (forum brief)
03/17/06: The Toolbox Revisited: Paths to Degree Completion from High School Through College with Cliff Adelman, Senior Research Analyst, Department of Education (forum brief)
03/10/2006: Rhode Island High School Diploma System: Lessons Learned from Implementation with Joe DiMartino, President, Center for Secondary School Redesign, Andrea Castaneda, Development Officer, Providence Public Schools, and Joe Maruszczak, Principal, Ponaganset High School (Forum brief)
01/13/06: Charter Schools Providing Academically-Based Workforce Development for Out-of-School Youth: with Ann Higdon, president and founder of Improved Solutions of Urban Systems ISUS and Phil Matero, Deputy Director of the Los Angeles Conservation Corps. (Forum brief)
10/28/2005

CUNY College Now with John Garvey, Associate Dean for Collaborative Programs, City University of New York, Tracy Meade, Deputy Director of Collaborative Programs, City University of New York, and Jennifer Lee, Director of College Now and Collaborative Programs, Baruch College. (forum Brief)
10/21/2005: Coordinated Efforts Focused on Workforce Development for Out of School Youth in Portland with Carole Smith, Director of Alternative Education, Portland Public Schools, Linda Huddle, Director, Alternative Programs/PCC Prep, Portland Community College, and Andrew Mason, Executive Director, Open Meadow Alternative Schools (forum Brief)
9/23/2005
: First Things First: An Effective High School Reform Model with Jim Connell, Founder and President, Institute for Research and Reform in Education and Janet Quint, Senior Associate, MDRC . (Forum Brief)
7/15/2005: On Course for Success: A Close Look at Selected High School Courses that Prepare all Students for College with Stephanie G. Robinson, Principal Partner, Education Trust, Mary Stein, Manager of Elementary and Secondary School Programs, ACT, Norman Grange, Assistant Principal, Lewis Cass Technical High School, and Diane Maisel, Assistant Principal, Murphy High School. (Forum Brief)
6/17/2005: Talent Development High School Model: Findings from MDRC Evaluation, with James Kemple, Senior Research Associate and Corinne Herlihy, Research Associate, MDRC; Jim McPartland, Project Director, Talent Development, Johns Hopkins University; Lois Mondesire, Principal and Laura Schulz, Talent Development Organizational Facilitator, Strawberry Mansion High School, Philadelphia, PA. (Forum Brief)
4/29/2005: A CALL TO ACTION: Transforming High School for All Youth, with Joe DiMartino, Director, Student Centered Learning, LAB at Brown University; Naomi Housman, Director, National High School Alliance; Colleen Callahan, Rhode Island Board of Regents; Michael Bell, Assistant Superintendent, Miami Dade Public Schools; and Lucy Fernandez, Principal, South Texas High School for Health Professions. (Forum Brief)
3/11/2005: Restoring the Balance between Academics and Civic Engagement in Public Schools with Sarah Pearson, Program Associate, American Youth Policy Forum; Gene Carter, Executive Director and CEO, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development; Shelley H. Billig, Vice President, RMC Research; Barbara Greenspan Shaiman, Founder and Executive Director, Champions of Caring, Ann Marie Marranzini, English Teacher, University City High School, Philadelphia, PA; and Shanae Bentley, Senior, University City High School, Philadelphia, PA. (Press Release)
7/16/2004: States and Districts Can Make Progress and Close the Achievement Gap. Research Reveals Clear Results in School Improvement in Schools Using America’s Choice School Design, The No Child Left Behind Act encourages schools to seek out school improvement plans that have been scientifically proven to raise student achievement. This forum looks at one such plan: the America's Choice School Design. (Forum Brief)
7/1/2004: Four “Ex-Feds” Discuss Federal Education, Considering the increasingly important role that the federal government plays in education, it is important to consider the successes, failures, and possible futures of federal education policy. Accordingly, the American Youth Policy Forum gathered a panel of four senior veterans of federal education policymaking to share their insight. (Forum Brief)
2/4/2004: Schools for a New Society: Systemic High School Reform in Three Cities, with Constancia Warren, Senior Program Officer and Director, Urban High School Initiative, Carnegie Corporation of New York; Rochelle Nichols Solomon, Academy for Educational Development; Jesse Register, Superintendent, Hamilton County Department of Education, Dan Challener, President, Public Education Foundation, and Cheri Dedmon, Principal, East Ridge High School, all from Chattanooga, TN; Melody Johnson, Superintendent, Providence Public Schools, Mary Sylvia Harrison, President and Executive Director, Rhode Island Children's Crusade for Higher Education, David Andrews, Director for High Schools, and Cheryl Gomes, Principal, Classical High School, all from Providence, RI; Richard Owen, Associate Superintendent, High School Improvement, Sacramento City Unified School District, Deanna Hanson, CEO, LEED-Sacramento, and Kelly Young, Professional Development Consultant, all from Sacramento, CA. (Forum Brief)
1/8/2004: California's Public Schools: From First to Worst, A Documentary Premiere with Jounalist John Merrow, Today’s forum screened the national premiere of John Merrow’s and John Tulenko’s dramatic one-hour film documentary, FROM FIRST TO WORST, scheduled to begin airing around the U.S. in February on the Public Broadcasting System. (Forum Brief)
12/12/2003: Creating Equitable High Schools: Strategies to Eliminate Tracking and Ability Grouping, with Kevin G. Welner, Assistant Professor, University of Colorado, Boulder School of Education, Carol Burris and Delia Garrity, Rockville Free Union School District, Long Island, Ny, and Tom Ledue,Prinicpal, Noble High School, North Berwick, ME (Forum Brief)
7/21/2003: Leading Policy and Practice for Online Teaching and Learning, with John Bailey, Director of Instructional Technology, U S Department of Education; Suellen Reed, State Superintendent, Indiana Department of Education, David Driscoll, Commissioner of Education, Massachusetts Department of Education; Andrew Zucker, Researcher, SRI, and Liz Pape, CEO, Virtual High School. Panelists will identify and discuss policy issues around online standards and quality, economy and sustainability of online education, and online learning models. (Forum Brief)
6/27/2003: Community Schools (Forum Brief)
5/30/2003: Beyond the Pipeline: Getting Principals We Need, Where They Are Needed Most, with Christine DeVita and Richard Laine, Wallace-Reader’s Digest Fund, Marguerite Roza, Center on Reinventing Public Education, University of Washington, Susan Gates, Rand Corporation, Michael Casserly, Council of Great City Schools, and Daniel Domenech, Superintendent of Fairfax County, VA Public Schools. (Forum Brief)
3/14/2003: Why Rural Matters 2003: The Continuing Need for Every State to Take Action on Rural Education, with Rachel B. Tompkins, President, and Marty Strange, Policy Director, The Rural Trust; and William J. Mathis, Superintendent of Schools for the Rutland Northeast Supervisory Union in Brandon, Vermont. (Forum Brief)
1/17/2003: Educational Reform: Progress and Prospects with Robert Schwartz, Harvard Graduate School of Education, Warren Simmons, Annenberg Institute for School Reform, Brown University, Gene Bottoms, Southern Regional Education Board. (Forum Brief)
11/8/2002: GE Fund College Bound Program Leads to Increased College Access and Retention, with Alan Melchior, Brandeis University, Nicholas Kostan, Superintendent, Lynn Public Schools (MA), and Frank Butts, Principal, John F. Kennedy High School, Richmond, VA. (Forum Brief)
10/18/2002: Florida Virtual School: The Future of Learning?, Virtual instruction is an increasingly common phenomenon: twelve states have established on-line high schools and five others are developing them; 25 states have cyber charter schools, and 32 states have e-learning initiatives underway. (Forum Brief)
10/7/2002: Raising Student Achievement: A Role for Municipal Leaders, National League of Cities, with Audrey M. Hutchinson, Program Director, Education and Afterschool Initiatives, Institute for Youth, Education, and Families at the National League of Cities; Mayor John De Stefano, Jr. of New Haven, Connecticut; and Dr. Anne L. Bryant, Executive Director of the National School Boards Association. (Forum Brief)
7/18/2002: Connecting Kids to Technology: Challenges and Opportunities, cosponsored with the Benton Foundation, the Anne E. Casey Foundation, and the Education Technology Think Tank, with Rep. Major Owens, Tony Wilhelm, Benton Foundation, Felipe M. Floresca, Anne E. Casey Foundation, Ron Skinner, Education Week, and Dr. Ronnie Lowenstein, Education Technology Think Tank. (Forum Brief)
6/28/2002: Services and Programs for Migrant Youth, with Richard Gomez, Jr., Director of Migrant/Bilingual Education, Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, State of Washington; Ann M. Cranston-Gingras, Professor of Special Education and Director of the Center for Migrant Education, University of South Florida. (Forum Brief)
5/13/2002: Comprehensive School Reform and Service Learning: A Potential Partnership? With Shelley H. Billig, Vice President, RMC Corporation, Hudi Podolsky, Executive Director, Coalition of Essential Schools; Greg Farrell, President, Expeditionary Learning Outward Bound; and Susan Kovalik, President, Integrated Thematic Instruction. (Forum Brief)
4/9/2002: Baldrige Education Award Winners, Harry Hertz, Director, Baldrige National Quality Program, NIST; Richard DeLorenzo, Superintendent, Chugach School District, Anchorage, Alaska; Frank Auriemma, Assistant Superintendent, Pearl River School District, Pearl River, NY; Charles Sorensen, Chancellor, University of Wisconsin-Stout, Menomonie, Wisconsin. (Forum Brief)
4/5/2002: Can Policy Keep Pace with Changing Practice on Our High Schools? with Mike Cohen, Senior Fellow , The Aspen Institute Program on Education in a Changing Society; Adria Steinberg, Program Director, Jobs for the Future; and Tim Knowles, Deputy Superintendent for Teaching and Learning, Boston Public Schools (Forum BrieF)
3/22/2002: Equal Access to Postsecondary Education? The Case of Undocumented Alien Students, with Josh Bernstein, National Immigration Law Center; Alejandra Rincon, Emergency Immigrant Education Program, Houston, Texas; and Dan Stein, American Immigration Reform. (Forum Brief)
3/1/2002: Addressing the Causes and Consequences of High Student Mobility: The Role of School Systems and Communities, with Barbara Buell, educator and parent advocate, Chicago Panel for School Policy's Parent Connection; Carlos Azcoitia, Deputy Chief Education Officer, Chicago Public School System; and David Kerbow, Research Associate, Center for School Improvement, University of Chicago. (Forum Brief)
11/16/2001: Community-Based Organization Schools, with Richard Murphy and Jean Thomases, Academy for Educational Development; Daniel Grego, TransCenter for Youth, Milwaukee; Perry Price, Minneapolis Urban League Street Academy, Minneapolis; and Arnaldo Rivas, Former Student, Shalom High School, Milwaukee. (Forum Brief)
11/16/2001: Great Expectations, The E-Rate at Five: New Models and Policies to Maximize the Impact of America's Investments in Educational Technology with Norris Dickard, Senior Associate,Communications Policy Program, Benton Foundation, Margaret Honey, Director, Center for Children and Technology, Andy Gersick, a Researcher at CCT, and Chris Dede, Timothy E. Wirth Professor of Learning Technologies, Graduate School of Education, Harvard University. (Forum Brief)

11/9/2001: First Things First a district wide school reform model, with Jim Connell, President, Institute for Research and Reform in Education, Philadelphia, PA, and Steve Gering, Executive Director for Instruction, Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools. (Forum Brief)
7/12/2001: Financing and Resource Issues in High School Reform. (Discussion Group)
6/1/2001: Wakefield High School's Technology Program: Educating for the Future, with Dr. Marie Shiels-Djouadi, Principal; Ms. Monica Olivette, Computer Information Systems and Business Education Teacher; and students from Wakefield High School. (Forum Brief)
5/18/2001: Improving Programs for Language Minority Youth in Secondary Schools, with Donna Christian, President, Center for Applied Linguistics; Jorge Ruiz-de-Velasco, author; Michael Fix, author; and Delia Pmpa, Executive Director, National Association for Bilingual Education. (Forum Brief)
5/11/2001: High Schools That Work: State Policies That Support Student Achievement, with Gene Bottoms, Senior Vice President, Southern Regional Education Board. (Forum Brief)
1/30/2001: DeWitt Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund Release of New Rules, New Roles: Preparing All Young People for a Changing World, with Gene Bottoms, Senior Vice President, Southern Regional Education Board, Atlanta, GA; Hilary Pennington, President, Jobs for the Future, Boston, MA; David Stern, University of California, Berkeley; Jim Kemple, Senior Research Associate, Manpower Research Demonstration Corporation, New York, NY; Ephraim Weisstein, Vice President, Center for Youth Development and Education, Corporation for Business, Work and Learning, Boston, MA; Dorothy Stoneman, President, YouthBuild, Somerville, MA; and Kathleen Selz, President, National Association of Service and Conservation Corps, Washington, DC. (Report Release)
1/24/2001: The Supports Students Need to Meet High Academic Standards, co-sponsored with DCVoice, with Dr. Asa Hilliard, Georgia State University on the occasion of the release of a new report by DC VOICE entitled, "Half the Solution: A Community Based Research Project on the Supports Students Need to Meet High Academic Standards." (Forum Brief)
11/14/2000: A Dinner Discussion with David Hornbeck. (Dinner Meeting)
4/28/2000: Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award for Education, with Peggy Siegel, the Director of Business/Education Initiatives for the National Alliance of Business (NAB), Brenda Clark, Principal of Azalea Elementary School, Doug Smith, Principal of Osceola High School, Star Glock, Staffing Specialist at GTE, and Lisa Deprez, Six Sigma Expert Raytheon. (Forum Brief)
4/14/2000: Small Schools and Learning Communities: The Wave of the Future? with Trish McNeil, Assistant Secretary of the Office of Vocational and Adult Education, U.S. Department of Education; Kathleen Cotton, Research Associate, Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory; Mike Klonsky, Director, Small Schools Workshop, University of Illinois at Chicago; Marty Strange, Policy Director, Rural School and Community Trust; and Iris Metts, Superintendent, Prince George's County Public Schools, Maryland. (Forum Brief)
2/25/2000: Raising the Bar: The Promise of Standards-Based Education Reform, with Marc Tucker, President, National Center on Education and the Economy, and Patricia Harvey, Superintendent of St. Paul, MN speaking on using the New Standards Curriculum to boost student achievement. (Forum Brief)
11/19/1999: ESEA Reauthorization: Where Are We on the Process? (Forum Brief)
11/12/1999: A Close Up View of School Reform: Chicago, Seattle and Philadelphia, with John Merrow. (Forum Brief)
10/22/1999: The Schools Our Children Deserve: Moving Beyond Traditional Classrooms and "Tougher Standards" Alfie Kohn, author. (Forum Brief)
9/17/1999: New American Schools: Getting Better By Design. A Preview of the Annenberg and Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) Comprehensive School Reform Video Series. (Forum Brief)
7/30/1999: Standards-Based Reform and Accountability: Analysis of Two States — North Carolina and Texas, with John Barth, National Education Goals Panel and David Grissmer, RAND. (Forum Brief)
7/9/1999: Contextual Learning: What is it? with representatives of CORD. (Forum Brief)
6/25/1999: Immigrant Adolescents with Limited Schooling and Literacy: Developing Responsive Programs, with Donna Christian, Center for Applied Linguistics, JoAnn Crandall and Ann Jaramillo, Project WE TEACH, and Holly Stein, Prince Georges County Public Schools. (Forum Brief)
6/15/1999: Dinner discussion with Superindendent of Fairfax County Schools, Dr. Daniel Domenech. (Dinner Discussion)
4/12/1999: The Reauthorization of ESEA Title I: Key Findings From The Civil Rights Project, with James McPartland of Johns Hopkins University, David Grissmer of RAND, and Gary Orfield of the Harvard Graduate School of Education. (Forum Brief)
3/26/1999: Order in the Classroom — Violence, Discipline and Student Achievement, with Paul Barton, Director of the ETS Policy Information Center. (Forum Brief)
1/8/1999: The El Paso Collaborative for Academic Excellence: Is It Possible to Turn Big City School Systems Around? with Anne T. Henderson, Institute for Education and Social Policy. (Forum Brief)
12/11/1998: A Revolution in School District Governance: The Chicago Experience, with Dorothy Shipps, Director, Consortium on Chicago School Research, University of Chicago. (Forum Brief)
10/16/1998: Is the American High School Obsolete?: A University President's Vision of a New Future for High Schools, with Leon Botstein, President, Bard College. (Forum Brief)
3/12/1998: A Discussion with Dr. Thomas W. Payzant, Superintendent, Boston Public Schools: System-Wide School Reform: A National and Local Perspective. (Dinner Meeting)
1/16/1998: High Schools That Work: Critical Insights on School Reform, with Gene Bottoms, Director, Southern Regional Educational Board, State Vocational Education Consortium. (Forum Brief)
2/28/1997: Teaching the New Basic Skills: Linking Schools, the Economy and Education Reform, with Richard Murnane, Harvard Graduate School of Education, and Frank Levy, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. (Forum Brief)
2/7/1997: Redesigning Schools for Success: An Overview of New American Schools, with John Anderson, President, New American Schools. (Forum Brief)
12/6/1996: Educational Technology as a Mechanism for School Reform, with Linda Quinn, Principal-in-Residence, Office of Educational Technology, U.S. Department of Education, and Richard Schwab, Dean, School of Education, Drake University. (Forum Brief)

Trip Reports

03/24/10- 03/26/10: State Strategies to Ensure All Students Graduate This study mission, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, will enable participants from Alabama, Delaware, Kansas, and South Carolina to learn from Massachusetts' comprehensive efforts to improve support systems for high school students at risk of dropping out. Panel discussions, presentations, and site visits will showcase the state's use of early warning systems, alternative education, community partnerships, and longitudinal data systems in their prevention and recovery strategies. In conjunction with this learning experience, participants will also attend a conference in April focused on policy implementation and technical assistance provided by America's Promise Alliance and the Everyone Graduates Center at Johns Hopkins University. (Field Trip)
02/15/10- 02/17/10: Preparing Rural Students for Success Beyond High School AYPF led a study mission for federal policy leaders to North Carolina to examine how rural education systems are providing high quality instruction and improving the readiness of young people for life beyond high school. Trip participants included Congressional staff, Department of Education officials, and representatives of national education organizations. Discussions and site visits provided examples of how resources are being utilized to address the challenges facing rural areas. Participants learned how federal and state policies and funding streams affect rural school districts; the unique challenges of providing high quality instruction in rural settings; and innovative approaches to providing comprehensive education in rural communities. In addition to discussions with school leadership, educators, and students during our site visits, we also met with high-level state and local policy leaders and other stakeholders committed to improving college access and preparedness for life for all of North Carolina’s youth. (Field Trip)
06/23/09- 06/24/09: The American Youth Policy Forum (AYPF) and the Data Quality Campaign (DQC) are hosted a learning exchange entitled, “Building and Using Longitudinal Data Systems for Effective Reporting and to Improve Student Achievement.” This learning exchange provided state teams an opportunity to learn and share best practices needed to build a high-quality longitudinal data system such as data governance, data quality, and considerations of end user needs. The trip was designed to provide participants an opportunity to hear perspectives from two showcase states, Massachusetts and Kansas, who have excelled at one of the critical elements involved in the building and use of longitudinal data systems. The trip is part of a series of field trips for state policy leaders to learn more about high school redesign, supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. AYPF is a nonprofit, nonpartisan professional development organization that bridges youth policy, practice and research for professionals at the national, state, and local levels. The DQC is a national, collaborative effort to encourage and support state policymakers to improve the availability and use of high-quality education data to improve student achievement. (Trip Report)
11/12/08- 11/14/08: Infusing Career and Technical Education into High School Reform Sacramento, California, The focus of this trip to Sacramento was to learn about California’s efforts at improving career and technical education, to witness the interaction between state initiatives and district implementation, and to examine the impact of the reform at the school level by visiting schools and hearing from principals, teachers and students.(Field Trip)
10/05/08- 10/07/08: Sustaining Systemic Approaches to Regaging Disconnected Youth Portland, OR: In collaboration with National League of Cities' Institute for Youth, Education and Families The American Youth Policy Forum (AYPF), working with the National League of Cities’ Institute for Youth, Education, and Families (YEF Institute), is planning a series of workshops and field trips to help local leaders learn more about reaching struggling students and out-of-school youth and expanding options and alternatives for high school-aged young people. This project, funded by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, supports the YEF Institute’s work engaging municipal leaders in building cross-system collaborations by providing hands-on professional development activities to mayors and superintendents, their staffs, and other local leaders engaged in efforts to reach young people who have dropped out of school, are out of work, or have been involved in the juvenile justice or foster care systems. This project offers local leaders an opportunity to participate in strategically designed and intensive workshops and field trips during which participants engage in substantive policy discussions with their counterparts in other cities and visit exemplary programs. The third trip in this series was to Portland, OR reconvened city teams who joined us for the AYPF field trip to Newark and New York City in December 2007. Participants will learn about Portland’s varied efforts to serve disconnected youth through education and employment training as well as reflect upon their own growth since our first gathering. (Field Trip)
09/29/08- 09/30/08: High School Redesign in Long Beach, California: Investing in Human Capital and Professional Development: The Long Beach Unified School District (LBUSD) is able to boast high-performing schools in every section of the district. Its stellar accomplishments have earned it a number of national honors. LBUSD is the 2003 national winner of the Broad Prize for Urban Education and is a finalist for the 2008 Broad Prize, to be awarded in October 2008. Earlier this year, Newsweek magazine named six of Long Beach’s high schools to its list of top U.S. high schools. (Trip report)
05/28/08- 05/30/08

Local Leader Trip to Baltimore, MD: Sustaining Investment in Disconnected Youth Conducted in partnership with the National League of Cities, Institute for Youth, Education, and Families' Municipal Network for Disconnected Youth. Highlights from this trip included remarks by Dr. Andres Alonso, CEO, Baltimore City Schools and Karen Sitnick, Director, Mayor's Office of Employment Development. Site visits were made to: the YO! Center, Baltimore, MD, and the Career Academy at Harbor City High School, Baltimore, MD. (Field Trip)
05/14/2008- 05/15/2008: State Policy Trip to Louisville, Kentucky: Helping Policymakers Understand High School Redesign Dropout Prevention and Persistence to Graduation This trip showcased promising programs and practices, as well as other innovative methods that Kentucky is employing to ensure a comprehensive approach to high school improvement, with a specific emphasis on dropout prevention. Participants heard from key speakers such as Michael Miller, Division Director of Curriculum, KY Department of Education; Nijel Clayton, Branch Manager of Dropout Prevention, KY Department of Education; Marty Bell, Deputy to the Superintendent, Jefferson County Public Schools, KY; Joe Burks, Assistant Superintendent of High Schools, JCPS, KY; and Maurice Risner, Executive Director, Student Relations and Safety, JCPS, KY. Site visits included visits to Breckinridge High School; Liberty High School; Jefferson County High School; a Family Youth and Service Center; and South Central Neighborhood Place. (Trip Report)

03/12/2008- 03/13/2008: State Policy Trip to Providence, Rhode Island: Proficiency-based High School Diploma System. Highlights from this trip include meetings with Robert Flanders, Chair of the Board of Regents; Peter McWalters, Commissioner of Education; Jack Warner, Commissioner of Higher Education; and Janet Durfee-Hidalgo, Education Policy Advisor of Governor Donald Carcieri, as well as other state and district education leaders. In addition, the group visited high schools around the state to see how the diploma system has been implemented at the school level. (Trip Report)
11/7/2007- 11/9/2007

: State Policy Trip to Little Rock, AR, November 7-9, 2007: Expanding Advanced Placement Participation and Building Public Will. Highlights from this trip include meetings with T. Kenneth James, AR Commissioner of Education; Senator Jim Argue, Chair of the AR Senate Education Committee; Kathryn Hazelett, Governor Mike Beebe's Education Policy Advisor; Steve Floyd, Director of the AR Department of Higher Education; as well as other policy and education experts at the state level. In addition, we visited the historic Little Rock Central High School and the Wilbur Mills University Study School. (Trip Report)

10/18/2007- 10/19/2007: State Policy Trip to Miami, Florida, October 18-19, 2007: Career Pathways and K-12 Education. Highlights from this trip include meeting with Rudy Crew, Superintendent of Miami-Dade Country Public Schools, as well as other policy and education experts at the state and local levels. In addition, we visited Miami Edison Senior High School, MacArthur South Senior High School, and Robert Morgan Educational Center. (Trip Report)

1/24/2007- 1/26/2007: State Policy Trip to Georgia, January 24-26, 2007: College and Work-ready Standards. Highlights from this trip include meetings with Governor Sonny Perdue and State Superintendent of Schools Kathy Cox, representatives from the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement, Georgia Department of Education, the University System of Georgia, and the business community, as well as visits to the Central Educational Center, Gateway to College at Georgia Perimeter College, Morgan Country High School, and the Early College High School. (trip report)
11/15/2006- 11/16/2006: State Policy Trip to Indiana, November 15-16, 2006: Supporting Students At Risk of Dropping Out and Increasing Course Rigor. Highlights from this trip include meetings with State Superintendent of Public Instruction Suellen Reed, state legislators, representatives from the Governor’s Office, Department of Public Instruction, higher education, and the business community, as well as visits to the Lawrence Early College High School for Science and Technologies and Shelbyville High School. (trip report)

10/5/2006- 10/6/2006: State Policy Trip to North Carolina, October 5-6, 2006: STEM and Early College. Highlights from this trip include visits to the School of Health and Life Sciences, Information Technology High School, and Robeson Early College High School, as well as meetings with state legislators and representatives from the Governor’s Office, Department of Public Instruction, Community College System, and the business community (trip report)

5/25/2006- 5/26/2006: State Policy Trip to New York City, May 25-26, 2006: Dual Enrollment and Multiple Pathways to Graduation. Highlights from this trip include visits to South Brooklyn Community High School, The Bronx Academy of Letters, and Middle College High School at LaGuardia Community College, as well as meetings with Joel Klein, NYC Chancellor of Education, and Sheila Evans-Tranumn, Associate Commissioner of Education. (TRIP REPORT)

3/12/2006- 3/14/2006: State Policy Trip to Boston, MA, March 12-14, 2006: Extended-day Policies and Turning Around Low-
Performing Schools. Highlights include visits to the Boston Day and Evening Academy, Boston Community Leadership Academy, Another Course to College, and three small schools at the South Boston Education Complex, and meetings with Superintendent Thomas Payzant, and Massachusetts Commissioner of Education David Driscoll (trip report)
2/15/2006- 2/17/2006: State Policy Trip to San Diego, CA, February 15-17, 2006: College-ready Curriculum and High Tech High. Highlights include visits to High Tech High, Madison Senior High School, School of International Business, the San Diego MET, and meetings with Superintendent Carl Cohn and Deputy Superintendent Geno Flores, and California State Deputy Superintendent Sue Stickel (trip report)
5/31/2005- 6/1/2005: Site Visit to Boston, MA , with visits to Another Course to College, Boston Community Leadership Academy, Hyde Square Task Force, Boston Collegiate Charter School, and Boston Day and Evening Academy and meetings with Superintendent Payzant and the partners in the high school reform efforts. (Trip Report)

12/2/2003 - 12/3/2003: High School Reform in Cleveland, Ohio, This visit was organized to allow participants to learn about the efforts of a large urban school district that is engaged in converting its comprehensive high schools into small learning communities, creating new small schools, and to learn about other programs that support student achievement and entry into postsecondary education or work. (Trip Report)
5/21/2003 - 5/24/2003: High School Reform in San Diego, CA, with visits to High Tech High School, Mission Bay High School, Garfield Alternative High School, and Southwest High School, and meetings with officials from the San Diego City Schools, Patrick Ainsworth, Director, High School Leadership Division, CA State Department of Education, and Doris Alvarez, Principal, Preuss Charter School. (Trip Report)
4/29/2003: Civics in Action: DC Students Changing the Course of Public Policy at the Cesar Chavez Public Charter High School, with Charles Haynes of First Amendment Schools Project and Irasema Salcido, Principal, Cesar Chavez Public Policy High School. (Trip Report)
3/17/2003 - 3/19/2003: Education, Community and Workforce Development in Rural Mississippi, Field Trip to the Delta Region of Mississippi (Trip Report)
12/3/2002 - 12/5/2002: Building and Strengthening Linkages between Traditional and Nontraditional Education Systems in Austin, TX. The study mission was jointly sponsored by the American Youth Policy Forum and the National Youth Employment Coalition. Members of the Austin Group, a volunteer group of organizations, agencies and individuals dedicated to providing quality educational options and resources for vulnerable youth, also participated. (Trip Report)
11/18/2002 - 11/19/2002: Comprehensive High School Reform and Extended Learning in New York City. Visits to several comprehensive high schools implementing educational reform programs and to high school-level after-school programs. (Field Trip)
5/13/2002 - 5/14/2002: High School Redesign and Innovation, Providence, Rhode Island, with visits to The Big Picture Company regarding The Met, the Rhode Island Children's Crusade for Higher Education, Providence School District, Central High School, Mt. Pleasant High School, and the Arts/Literacy Project at Brown University. (Trip Report)
4/24/2002 - 4/26/2002: Interventions for Youth in the School- and Out-of-School Hours in Denver, Colorado, focusing on Colorado's Small Schools Initiative and high school reform, including a visit to Manual High School; and community schools and extended learning opportunities, with a visit to Cole Middle School, the site of a Beacon Neighborhood Center; adolescent youth programming, and visits to The Spot, downtown Denver's award-winning, nonprofit, drop-in youth center, and YouthBiz, a Youth Opportunity Grant site. (Trip Report)
12/3/2001: Eleanor Roosevelt High School, Greenbelt, MD, New American High School Academy Leadership. (Trip Report)
10/18/2001 - 10/19/2001: A View of Exemplary Practices in Two Virginia Cities — A Nationally Recognized High School in Newport News and Youth Development and Comprehensive Youth Programming in Hampton featuring insights into Hampton’s commitment to comprehensive programming for youth with a focus on youth as assets, and visits to Jones Middle School, the Newtown Learning Center, youth-serving agencies, Menchville High School (a 1999-2000 U.S. Department of Education New American High School, Newport News), and a meeting with Hampton City government leaders. (Trip Report)
6/4/2001 - 6/5/2001: School and Community Reforms for Student Achievement in Boston, Massachusetts, with visits to Fenway High School (pilot school), Brighton High School (small career clusters), the Diploma Plus program at Boston Adult Technical Academy, and a Boston Excels full-service community school at Ellis Elementary School. (Trip Report)
12/4/2000 - 12/5/2000: A Look at Service-Learning in South Carolina, with visits to Spring Valley High School and Wren High School. (Trip Report)
12/6/1999 - 12/7/1999: High School Reform Efforts in Chicago, with visits to a New American High Schools and an Education-to-Careers school. (Trip Report)
5/17/1999: Visit to the District of Columbia Charter Schools. (Trip Report)
5/6/1999 - 5/7/1999: Secondary School Reform in New York City. (Trip Report)
4/16/1998 - 4/17/1998: Urban Education Reform: The Boston Experience, with visits to Jeremiah Burke High School, Woodrow Wilson Middle School, Carney Hospital, Bunker Hill Community College and University School at Action for Boston Community Development, Inc. (Trip Report)
6/8/1995 - 6/9/1995: Field Trip : New Visions for School and Community, in The Bronx and Brooklyn, New York, programs that bring together elementary, middle and high schools with employers, offer career awareness, community service and work-site learning tied to academic credits for young people and jobs and training for young adults. (Trip Report)
3/23/1995 - 3/24/1995: Field Trip: Reforms in Urban Education, Youth Development, Community Service and School-to-Career Transition, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, including visits to the Fitness and Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Academies; Health Tech 2000; the YouthBuild Program; a West Philadelphia Partnership Improvement Corporation community service site, Shaw Middle School; and meeting with Superintendent of Schools David Hornbeck. (Trip Report)

Publications

View PDF	The College Ladder: Linking Secondary and Postsecondary Education for Success for All Students This compendium identifies and describes schools, programs, and policies that link secondary and postsecondary education to help students earn college credit or take college-level courses while in high school. It raises issues for practitioners and policymakers to consider as these program grow and target a wider range of students.
View PDF	Federal, State, and Local Roles Supporting Alternative Education This white paper examines the roles that various levels of government play through legislation, policy, and other initiatives that support quality alternative education programs to reconnect youth to education and the workplace. It raises issues for policymakers at all levels to consider in facilitating the development of expanded alternative education pathways, which reduce the number of students dropping out of school and provide well-lit reentry points for those who leave school before obtaining a diploma.
View PDF	Whatever It Takes: How Twelve Communities Are Reconnecting Out-of-School Youth This report documents what committed educators, policymakers, and community leaders across the country are doing to reconnect out-of-school youth to the social and economic mainstream. It provides background on the serious high school dropout problem and describes in-depth what twelve communities are doing to reconnect dropouts to education and employment training. It also includes descriptions of major national program models serving out-of-school youth.
View PDF	The Link between High School Reform and College Success for Low-Income and Minority Youth The report provides an in-depth review of school reform research that presents evidence of college preparation for all students. It examines the predictors of college-going behavior and how they have been addressed within the high school reform movement. The report then draws out the promising practices from existing reform initiatives and makes recommendations.
View PDF	Restoring the Balance between Academics and Civic Engagement in Public Schools The report, released by the American Youth Policy Forum (AYPF), in partnership with the Association for Supervision and Curriculum (ASCD), questions the current focus on core academic subjects at the expense of an equally important role: preparing students to be engaged and effective citizens. The report is the product of collaborative discussion among policymakers, education practitioners, community groups, parents, and youth across the nation. The report offers a seven-step action plan to help schools refocus on the goal of creating both academically proficient and civically engaged students. The report also highlights several programs, including school-community partnerships that promote both quality academics and civic engagement.
View PDF	Transforming the American High School: Lessons Learned and Struggles Ahead From October 2000 – April 2004, AYPF provided a variety of learning experiences for policymakers to help them learn about strategies to create more effective learning environments for youth, particularly disadvantaged youth that lead to increased academic achievement and better preparation for further learning and careers. AYPF conducted this work, with support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, by organizing speaker forums, field trips, discussion groups, and roundtables and by producing a number of relevant publications for policymakers and practitioners. This report summarizes what we learned from these events.
View PDF Word document	Finance and Resource Issues in High School Reform This report summarizes discussions between education and youth development leaders regarding the need to address financial and resource issues in high school reform. These topics were identified as being serious obstacles to meaningful reform in the 2000 American Youth Policy Forum report, High Schools of the Millennium. Inside, the reader will find participants’ thoughts on how education reformers might address challenges in four distinct areas: 1) allocation and alignment of resources to support standards-based reform and higher expectations for all students, 2) generating resources for the interventions and specialized programs necessary to support the learning of students with special needs, 3) allocating resources to support learning in alternative education settings, and 4) developing funding strategies for dual enrollment programs.
View PDF Word document	Essentials of High School Reform This report speaks to a concern that much attention is being paid to greater academic achievement in core subjects, resulting in little focus on improved academic outcomes that include other valued skills, such as communication, teamwork, analytical, and interpersonal skills, that youth need to be successful. The report contends that high school students also need to learn about potential careers, have a familiarity with the world of work beyond the classroom walls, and develop some occupational competencies. Inside, the reader will find two papers and summaries of roundtables that provide policy recommendations and practical advice on how to structure contextual teaching and learning and alternative assessments activities at the high school level. Included are a multi-faceted approach to educational leadership, professional development, and federal education policy, and descriptions of effective policies, practices, and programs for improving student learning.
View PDF	Shaping the Future of American Youth: Youth Policy in the 21st Century In that spirit, the American Youth Policy Forum (AYPF) decided to celebrate its Tenth Anniversary in January 2003 by inviting 14 of America’s leading experts on youth affairs analysts, activists, advocates, institution-builders to write the essays and commentaries in this volume. These leaders accepted our challenge to step back from the press of their fully committed working days and reconsider the development of their particular field of youth affairs over the past decade, take a leap into the future, and sketch their personal hopes and visions for a positive and creative future for American youth in the decade ahead.
View PDF	Rigor and Relevance: A New Vision for Career and Technical Education With the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act due to be reauthorized in 2003, it is appropriate to ask the question, What should the role of the federal government in Career and Technical Education (CTE) be? To provide one angle on this debate, the American Youth Policy Forum (AYPF) organized a series of discussion groups with a diverse range of individuals to focus on this topic. The discussion groups helped inform this paper, and while not all participants endorse all aspects of this paper, they are hopeful of a serious review of many of its contents during the reauthorization process.
View PDF	RAISING ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT: A Study of 20 Successful Programs 20 youth programs that succeeded in raising test scores, retention rates, graduation rates and other measures of academic performance. The report analyses the strategies used by the programs for their participants. Summaries of the programs are included.
View PDF	DO YOU KNOW THE GOOD NEWS ABOUT AMERICAN EDUCATION has searched through education news, currently overrun with discouraging statistics and stories, to find facts that show improvements in some areas. Do you know that fewer students are dropping out of school, school crime is declining, more girls are taking high-level mathematics and science courses, and more students with disabilities are being educated in regular classrooms? Learn more good news in the report.
View PDF	HIGH SCHOOLS OF THE MILLENNIUM: Report of the Workgroup 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. The 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.