Southern Regional Education Board HSTW Raising Achievement and Improving Graduation Rates: How Nine HSTW Sites Are Doing It Gene Bottoms Southern Regional Education Board

Southern Regional Education Board HSTW Raising Achievement and Improving Graduation Rates 2 The goal is to both raise achievement and graduation rates How nine schools are doing it.

Southern Regional Education Board HSTW Raising Achievement and Improving Graduation Rates 3 Selected the Nine Schools Garden City High School, Kansas Corbin High School, Kentucky Hancock County High School, Kentucky Brookside High School, Ohio Paint Valley High School, Ohio Shawnee High School, Oklahoma Southeast Guilford High School, North Carolina Mt. Pleasant High School, Texas Oak Glen High School, West Virginia

Southern Regional Education Board HSTW Raising Achievement and Improving Graduation Rates 4 How did the practices at these nine schools differ from other HSTW schools?

Southern Regional Education Board HSTW Raising Achievement and Improving Graduation Rates 5 How these nine schools are different. Raise standards and provide an opportunity for students to learn a rigorous curriculum. Eliminated low-level courses. Aligned courses to standards. Raised graduation requirements.

Southern Regional Education Board HSTW Raising Achievement and Improving Graduation Rates 6 Percentages of Students Completing HSTW- recommended Curriculum at Nine Schools Compared with All Other Schools % of Students Completing No Areas or 1 Area % of Students Completing 2 or 3 Areas Nine HSTW Schools 38% 62% All other HSTW Network Schools 5545 Source: Special analyses of 2004 HSTW Assessment data Note: Differences in the percentages between the two groups are significant at p ≤.01 based on the chi-square test.

Southern Regional Education Board HSTW Raising Achievement and Improving Graduation Rates HSTW Assessment Mean Scores of Nine Schools and All Other Schools Mean Reading Score Mean Math Score Mean Science Score Nine HSTW Schools All Other HSTW Network Schools Source: Special analyses of 2004 HSTW Assessment data Note: Differences in the means between the two groups are significant at the p ≤.01 based on the t test.

Southern Regional Education Board HSTW Raising Achievement and Improving Graduation Rates 8 Improvement in Mean HSTW Assessment Scores between 2002 and 2004 at Nine Schools Mean Reading Score Mean Math Score Mean Science Score Source: Special analyses of 2004 HSTW Assessment data Note: Differences in the means between the two groups are significant at the p ≤.01 based on the t test.

Southern Regional Education Board HSTW Raising Achievement and Improving Graduation Rates 9 Aligned Courses to State Standards Mapped curriculum state standards by department and agreed on course content. Revised English curriculum to reflect expository selections.

Southern Regional Education Board HSTW Raising Achievement and Improving Graduation Rates 10 Raised Graduation Requirements Raised mathematics requirements. Raised English requirements. Required senior project. Had higher classroom expectations.

Southern Regional Education Board HSTW Raising Achievement and Improving Graduation Rates 11 How these nine schools are different. Set challenging goals, give feedback on student status in achieving goals and provide support needed to achieve goals. Middle grades to ninth-grade transition Extensive extra-help system Adviser/advisee program Formal high school to college and careers transition

Southern Regional Education Board HSTW Raising Achievement and Improving Graduation Rates 12 Smoothing the transition from middle grades to high school Identify unprepared students in grade nine. Use a double-dosing strategy. Organize freshmen academies. Work with middle grades to align curriculum to high school readiness standards.

Southern Regional Education Board HSTW Raising Achievement and Improving Graduation Rates 13 Developing an Extensive Extra- help System and Recovering Grades or Credits Use extra help and credit recovery to get students to standards. Provide an array of extra help. Require participation in extra help. Provide extra help to pass state exams. Allow students to buy back days.

Southern Regional Education Board HSTW Raising Achievement and Improving Graduation Rates 14 Pairing Students with Adult Mentors Students assigned an adult mentor/adviser Significantly more students reported better guidance assistance Small school or family atmosphere Mentors/advisers monitor students’ progress Make parents part of the system Total faculty takes responsibility for student learning and success Do not allow at-risk students to fall behind

Southern Regional Education Board HSTW Raising Achievement and Improving Graduation Rates 15 Formalizing a High School to College and Careers Transition Initiative Students see a connection to jobs and postsecondary studies. Seniors earn college credit. Access to a middle college program.

Southern Regional Education Board HSTW Raising Achievement and Improving Graduation Rates 16 Engaging Students in Learning Challenging, Relevant Assignments Providing quality career/technical experiences; Training teachers on using content literacy skills to help students become independent learners; and Using technology to improve opportunities to advance student achievement.

Southern Regional Education Board HSTW Raising Achievement and Improving Graduation Rates 17 Providing Quality Career/Technical Experiences Students see a connection to a good job. Provide career/technical programs with high demand and student interest. Access to programs that offer industry certification.

Southern Regional Education Board HSTW Raising Achievement and Improving Graduation Rates 18 Providing Quality Career/Technical Experiences Access to dual credit career/technical courses Have organized career pathways/career majors Plan interdisciplinary lessons Engage students in authentic projects Active business advisory committee

Southern Regional Education Board HSTW Raising Achievement and Improving Graduation Rates 19 Training Teachers to Help Students Become Independent Learners Teachers share and implement ideas acquired through professional development New teacher mentor program Quality professional development Significantly more seniors in 2004 reported having literacy, numeracy and science experiences

Southern Regional Education Board HSTW Raising Achievement and Improving Graduation Rates 20 Training Teachers to Help Students Become Independent Learners Implemented literacy across the curriculum. Created summer reading program. Hold monthly meetings on effective teaching. Students at career centers do weekly writing assignments.

Southern Regional Education Board HSTW Raising Achievement and Improving Graduation Rates 21 Using Technology to Advance Student Achievement Provide training on how to integrate technology into instruction. Use computer for tutorials and retaking courses. Offer Web-based courses. Use technology for communication.

Southern Regional Education Board HSTW Raising Achievement and Improving Graduation Rates 22 Use of Technology at Nine HSTW Sites No. of Schools Provide professional development on how to assist students with technology. All Provide professional development on how to integrate technology into the instructional process. All School maintains a Web site for important communications for school and community use. All School’s Web site is used as a repository for instructional resources. 5 of 9 Students use computer-based extra-help programs.8 of 9 Students use Internet for research.All Students earn credit through online distance learning classes. 6 of 9 Source: Special analyses of 2004 HSTW Annual Site Progress Report

Southern Regional Education Board HSTW Raising Achievement and Improving Graduation Rates 23 Involving Teachers in a Continuous School Improvement Process Use HSTW as an organizing framework. Encourage teachers to seek out new ideas. 8 of 9 schools are active members of HSTW network. Have teams developing curriculum and looking at student work. Have instructional planning and pacing guides.

Southern Regional Education Board HSTW Raising Achievement and Improving Graduation Rates 24 What Can Schools Do to Raise Achievement and High School Completion Rates? Have at least 85 percent of students complete a rigorous academic core. Engage the faculty in aligning the high school curriculum – academic and career/technical – to essential academic standards that prepare students for further study and careers. Provide all students access to the same rigorous academic core. Adopt scheduling that enables students to earn 28 to 32 Carnegie units so they can retake courses and yet stay on course to graduate with their peers. Provide all teachers continuous in-depth training to engage students in reading and writing for learning and to use strategies that develop students as independent learners.

Southern Regional Education Board HSTW Raising Achievement and Improving Graduation Rates 25 What Can Schools Do to Raise Achievement and High School Completion Rates? Provide site-specific training for mathematics and science teachers aligned to their disciplines. Assign school leaders who are skilled in engaging faculty in continuous school improvement to high schools with chronic problems. Have school boards set goals for improving both achievement and high school completion rates and require schools to report annually on their progress.

Southern Regional Education Board HSTW Raising Achievement and Improving Graduation Rates 26 How can a school know it has effective strategies in place to raise achievement and improve graduation rates? Schools will know when they: Are making improvement on key achievement indicators and increase the percentages of students who enter grade nine and graduate four years later. Have an effective middle grades to ninth-grade transition program.

Southern Regional Education Board HSTW Raising Achievement and Improving Graduation Rates 27 How can a school know it has effective strategies in place to raise achievement and improve graduation rates? Schools will know when they: Have an effective extra-help system that assists students in passing courses and high-stakes exams, and in earning credits for failed courses to stay on track to graduate with their peers. Have advisers to help them and their parents plan high school programs of study and to help them get the assistance they need to meet course standards.

Southern Regional Education Board HSTW Raising Achievement and Improving Graduation Rates 28 How can a school know it has effective strategies in place to raise achievement and improve graduation rates? Schools will know when: Students have access to high- quality career/technical studies. Students can earn postsecondary credit toward a degree and pass a national employer certification exam.

Southern Regional Education Board HSTW Raising Achievement and Improving Graduation Rates 29 How can a school know it has effective strategies in place to raise achievement and improve graduation rates? Schools will know when: All students read and write across all subject areas and know how to apply study skills to become independent learners. They have formalized initiatives that facilitate the transition from high school to college and careers.

Southern Regional Education Board HSTW Raising Achievement and Improving Graduation Rates 30 How can a school know it has effective strategies in place to raise achievement and improve graduation rates? Schools will know when: Staff use technology to help students pass courses and retake courses failed, and give students access to needed courses outside of school hours. Schools receive support to be active participants in a school improvement network that places emphasis on achievement and retention.