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Story posted January 27, 2011

Results:
• More than 95% of the graduating class of 2010 earned college hours, with two-thirds of students earning at least a semester of college credit
• 82% graduation rate for the class of 2008 (the most recent for which data is available), compared to 79% for the state as a whole and 75% for the district's region

In the late 1980s, the Hidalgo Independent School District ranked in the bottom 10 percent of Texas districts in student achievement. But during the next two decades, Hidalgo’s leaders took a series of steps that improved student performance and gained support throughout the community. Chief among these transformations were efforts to focus everyone—from bus drivers to principals and from teachers to school board members—on doing what it takes to raise student achievement. This included shifting the board to be more open to innovation and change. It also featured efforts to get principals, assistant principals, and teachers working together in teams to improve instruction and curriculum.

When Dr. Daniel P. King became superintendent in 1999, one of his most visible early actions was to require students to wear uniforms. The decision was made in order to end discipline problems associated with gang colors, put all students on an equal footing, and develop a positive and inclusive school identity.

According to former Hidalgo students, there were changes in attitudes immediately. Former student Susana Phillips, who now has a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas-Austin, said, “The gangs died down. It was a joke to mention their names.” …

Dr. King also instituted a variety of programs to improve curriculum and instruction. During his tenure, a dual-language program was developed to build on the linguistic strength of Hidalgo’s students; more Advanced Placement (AP) and other rigorous courses were offered, and more students were encouraged to take them; and dual enrollment offerings were expanded with local colleges. In addition, the district created stronger career pathways for students and a teacher internship program with local businesses. …

Board President Martin Cepeda credited leadership and teamwork—among staff, teachers, principals, and superintendents— for trying new approaches to improve student achievement. “You can’t be afraid of change,” he said. “It starts from the superintendent all the way to the custodians…. It’s a team effort. Everybody counts. Everybody.”

Early College for All

In 2005, Superintendent King was approached by the president of UT-Pan American, and later by the University of Texas System and the Communities Foundation of Texas/Texas High School Project, to consider creating an early college high school in the district. He and his team were attracted by the early college concept because they realized it could bring a unifying vision and structure to efforts underway at the district. “We were already committed to innovation and reform and to college for every student,” he said.

The goal of early college high schools, which grew from an initiative inaugurated in 2002 by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is to provide traditionally underserved students with an opportunity to earn a high school diploma and a substantial number of college credits, up to an Associate’s degree, by the time they graduate from high school. …

Whereas dual enrollment programs have traditionally targeted high-achieving students, early college high schools focus on broad student populations underrepresented in postsecondary education, such as low-income youth, first-generation college-goers, English language learners, and students of color. Although the goals and student profile for the early college initiative fit Hidalgo’s needs, there was one major obstacle. Early college schools include stand-alone high schools, schools within larger high schools, and schools located on college campuses. All of these models use a small-schools approach, with about 100 students per grade and about 400 students total in each school. The Hidalgo school district includes four elementary schools that feed into one middle school and Hidalgo High School, with about 800 students. The early college model meant that half the school would be left out. “My concept has always been to focus on all the kids,” Dr. King said.

Although Dr. King was committed to district-wide change, he was concerned that if he held his ground, he might lose this opportunity to fund college-going aspirations for a large portion of Hidalgo’s students. The funding guidelines clearly called for a small-schools approach; no one had proposed the creation of an early college high school for all students in a comprehensive district. According to Dr. King, “At the end of it all, I said, ‘We’re on board, but…I can’t see taking half of the kids and leaving the other half out. So…why not do it for all the kids?”

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation eventually approved the proposal. “If we want to really transform schools, this is an opportunity to do that,” Dr. King said. “Basically that got the green light.”

When the district organized an event to announce its new approach, the community immediately embraced the concept. Everybody was there, from the mayor and city manager to business leaders and parents. Every school board member attended. The freshmen class that enrolled in fall 2006 was the first group of Hidalgo students to participate in the initiative. According to Dr. King:

I’ll never forget that class, and their parents, when we first told them about going to college while in high school. Their enthusiasm was tremendous… That sense that they are college-bound—I think it changed the culture of the community.

As the district and its postsecondary partner, UT-Pan American, began implementing an early college approach, they borrowed from strategies adopted at other early college schools—for example, in working to align application and registration processes, scheduling, course requirements, textbooks, and assessments. But many challenges were unique to Hidalgo due to its emphasis on early college for all students. In facing these challenges, Hidalgo’s history of teamwork and innovation became a real asset. F or example, the district and UT-Pan American quickly realized that they needed to expand postsecondary options for those students who were not interested in pursuing four-year degrees. As a result, the district strengthened career and technical pathways: they reached out to South Texas College and Texas State Technical College and worked with them to provide students with articulated courses that lead to certificates at these institutions. The district also benefited from the ongoing guidance of Communities Foundation of Texas/Texas High School Project, which played an important role in building the partnerships and ensuring good communication between the stakeholders.

Current district Superintendent Edward Blaha, who was principal at Hidalgo High School when the early college program started, said that strengthening the career pathways was crucial to meeting the needs of Hidalgo’s students. “You have to know your community and your kids,” he said. “One size does not fit all…. What we originally thought we would do is not exactly what we did, because we learned along the path. We learned together.”

Preliminary Outcomes

While the district has been flexible in adapting the early college approach to meet the needs of its students, the district’s vision and commitment have remained steady: provide all students with a high school diploma and substantial college credits, thereby raising their college expectations and preparing them for postsecondary success. The results, though preliminary, are inspiring.

Student Attitudes and Expectations
Teachers, parents, and students were overwhelmingly positive in describing the changes in student attitudes and expectations. Statistics teacher Lyn Onato said that before the high school adopted an early college approach, “There were discipline problems. Many students were not focused. They were not serious about learning.” …

Leonor DeLeon, a mother with two teenage girls in the district, said that the district’s approach has taught her children that “school doesn’t finish with high school. It begins with the college.”

The first group of freshmen inducted into the early college program graduated on June 4, 2010. By their high school graduation, these students had achieved a remarkable 3,743 college credit hours. At the ceremony, Dr. Ana Maria Rodriguez, Interim Provost of UT-Pan American, handed out certificates of college hours to more than 95 percent of the class—to the thunderous applause, proud grins, and many tears of parents, family, friends, teachers, administrators, the school board, and plenty of business and other community members.* Individual college credit hours ranged from 1 to 75, and two-thirds of the students earned at least a semester of credit. Robert Ruiz, the salutatorian, brought down the house when he declared in his speech, “What better school to be recognized as a graduate in than Hidalgo Early College High School, a high school like no other in the country? Who would have guessed that a modest high school in a small town a few blocks away from the Mexican border would be home to a unique variety of opportunities that it offers to all its students?”

Robert, who graduated with 59 college credits, said that before graduation his proudest accomplishment was passing his first college class, which was chemistry. “If I could do that,” he said, “I knew I could pass any college class… Like I figured college out.” He said that “many people fear college. They think it’s going to be a completely different level and that you’re not going to be able to do it. We learned that we can do it.”

Student Achievement
It’s too early to know how many of Hidalgo’s first early college graduates will now enroll in postsecondary education and how many will complete their educational goals. However, early indicators—including the number of college credits earned by the 2010 graduates—suggest that a district-wide early college strategy can succeed in providing students with substantial numbers of college credits and thereby help them achieve college success.

In examining other early outcomes, Hidalgo appears to be outperforming the state in several areas of academic rigor associated with college readiness, even though it has much higher percentages of students who are Hispanic, economically disadvantaged, identified as being at risk, and limited English proficient. On measures of college readiness, the students of Hidalgo also appear to be outperforming their peers in Region 1, which includes schools throughout the Rio Grande Valley.

High graduation and completion rates. The four-year graduation rate for Hidalgo’s class of 2008 was 82 percent, compared to 79 percent for the state as a whole and 75 percent for Region 1. Even more impressive is the Class of 2008’s near 100 percent completion rate, which indicates a dropout rate, by any number of reports that the state issues, of less than 2 percent. The Class of 2008 completion rate is 89.5 percent for the state and 88.6 percent for Region 1. (The class of 2008 is the most recent data available from the Texas Education Agency’s Academic Excellence Indicator System.)

A high percentage of students complete courses that prepare them for college. Hidalgo has increased the percentages of students graduating under the state’s Recommended High School Program and Distinguished Achievement Program—and even reached 100 percent in 2006-07. The RHSP and DAP are the graduation plans that are recommended for students pursuing postsecondary education.

A high percentage of students complete advanced and dual enrollment courses. Over the past several years, Hidalgo has increased the percentages of students that complete advanced and dual enrollment courses. The achievements of Hidalgo students far exceed state averages in this area. Once data are included for 2008-09 and 2009-10 (when Hidalgo’s first group of early college students graduates), Hidalgo’s performance promises to be even higher.

These accomplishments have led to several awards for Hidalgo, including the H-E-B Excellence in Education award in 2007 for being the best small school district in Texas. The same year, U.S. News and World Report ranked Hidalgo’s high school as #11 overall among America’s best high schools. In 2009, the magazine ranked the high school #3 among America’s top “economically disadvantaged” schools.

Hidalgo’s administrators and teachers, however, emphasized that in graduating their first early college class, their work has only begun. For example, Mr. Blaha noted that the district has expanded the number of students taking SAT and ACT tests; for the class of 2008, 94 percent of Hidalgo’s students took the SAT or the ACT, compared to 65 percent statewide. Now the district is working to improve the test scores, which still lag behind the state, partly because almost everyone is tested rather than just the highest-performing students. “The starting line is right behind our heels,” he said. “That’s as far as we’ve gone right now. There’s miles to go, but we know we’ve stepped onto the right track, because this is good for kids.”

*Some special education students, because of severe disabilities, are not able to earn college credits. However, many special education students can and do earn college credits. Of the 52 high school students in special education in 2009-10, 24 earned college credits

This story is an excerpt of the October 2010 Jobs for the Future report College Success for All: How the Hidalgo Independent School District is Adopting Early College as a District-wide Strategy. View the complete PDF for additional information on the district’s impressive – and ongoing – journey.

Photographs by Michael Stravato.

Story posted with permission of Jobs for the Future.

Copyright (2010) Jobs for the Future.