Meeting Five Critical Challenges of High School Reform
From MDRC:
High school reform has moved to the top of the education policy agenda, commanding the attention of the federal government, governors, urban school superintendents, philanthropists, and the general public.
All are alarmed by stubbornly high dropout rates and by the low academic achievement of many high school students.
These problems disproportionately affect disadvantaged young people, especially those who are African-American and Hispanic and who attend urban schools and certain rural schools in the South and Southwest.
This is the first in a series of reports for policymakers, practitioners, and others who must make hard choices about how to change high schools.
It discusses three comprehensive initiatives evaluated by MDRC --- Career Academies, First Things First, and Talent Development --- that have grappled with the challenges of improving low-performing urban and rural schools.
MDRC's evaluations of these programs provide unusually strong evidence about each intervention's effects.
For districts and schools interested in replicating a comprehensive school reform and benefiting from the potential synergies of components that program developers designed as an integrated package, turning to one of MDRC's reports on these models would be a good first step.
Small learning communities and faculty advisory systems can increase students' feelings of connectedness to their teachers.
Especially in interaction with one another, extended class periods, special catch-up courses, high-quality curricula, training on these curricula, and efforts to create professional learning communities can improve student achievement.
School-employer partnerships that involve career awareness activities and work internships can help students attain higher earnings after high school.
Furthermore, students who enter ninth grade facing substantial academic deficits can make good progress if initiatives single them out for special support.
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