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High School
Success Stories
In Texas, a Second Chance at a Bright Future
Story posted May 8, 2008. Results updated June 18, 2009.
Results:
• In less than two years, the school has graduated 368 students ranging from 18-25 years old
• Contributed to a 75% decrease in district dropout rate over the past two years
The largest school district in Hidalgo County and the second largest in the Rio Grande Valley, Pharr-San Juan-Alamo Independent School District (PSJA ISD) has faced some tough challenges, yet its motto of "Focused on Performance" is the key to ensuring all 30,000 students reach their fullest potential.
83% of our mostly Hispanic student body is economically disadvantaged, 76% are considered at-risk and over 10% have limited proficiency in English due to the district's proximity to Mexico.
Despite these challenges, we have maintained a culture of pride and excellence that puts children first. So in response to a growing dropout problem, we quickly instituted an innovative district/college partnership to put former non-graduates on the path to higher education. ...
Changing a Culture by Building Relationships
Story posted May, 2008
Results:
• Student suspensions down almost two-thirds
• Student drug violations down almost 80%
Tracy Bale didn't even wait for school to start on his first day as principal of Spencer County High School to make some changes. It was 45 minutes until the first bell, and students were gathering in the parking lot, as they had always done, with the intention of hanging out until school began. Bale was in the parking lot, too. He told the students that if they were going to arrive early for school, they had to come into the gym.
"It had become a real circus out there," Bale said, noting that the early-morning hangout scene was just one example of how SCHS had developed into what Bale called "an unhealthy learning environment."
Today, SCHS students no longer hang out in the parking lot, there are clear rules against cursing and other disruptive behaviors, and students know they get three warnings in class before they are given in-school suspension and their parents are called. ...
Using Electives to Get Struggling Students More Math
Story posted April, 2008
Results:
• Participants math benchmark assessment scores improved by 17% from 2004 to 2005 and 9% from 2005-2006
• Math Essentials students on average outperformed grade-level students as a whole on the first two benchmark assessments of 2006-2007
The high schools in the Walled Lake Consolidated School District had a problem. Some students were scoring below proficiency on their 8th grade standardized tests. Fueled by the conviction that all students can learn, and that high school is not too late to turn students' lives around, the district tried many strategies to address this challenge: It pulled students out of their grade level courses, subjected them to a computer-based intervention, and stretched a semester's worth of content into a year of instruction. Yet student performance data from these intervention programs showed no effect or, in some cases, even negative effects on student achievement. ...
Sayre High School and UPenn Join Forces to Improve Community's Health
Story posted March, 2008
Results:
• 50% drop in suspension rate
• 10% increase in attendance rate
• 90% of Family Fitness Night participants are eating healthier and exercising more
What do college students, an Ivy League university, an urban health crisis and teenagers living in poverty all have in common? Too many times, the answer is "not a thing" but at Sayre High School in West Philadelphia connections are being made that could very well save lives.
Responding to the issues that plagued his students - violence, gangs, drugs and a lack of access to basic health and dental care - the principal of Sayre School approached Penn's Center for Community Partnerships (CCP) in 2002 with the idea that having a health center on site would be a boon to the students and the community. Around the same time, a group of Penn undergraduates were focusing their efforts on helping to solve the healthcare crisis in West Philadelphia. The students' research and work with the community led them to propose the establishment of a community health promotion and disease prevention program at Sayre. ...
Communities and School Join Forces to Improve Student Writing
Story posted March, 2008
Results:
• In a professionally developed and scored writing assessment, eighth graders improved on average by one point on a 12-point scale between September 2005 and May 2006.
• Almost three quarters of students and all teachers characterized the writing coaches as either "helpful" or "very helpful."
In Berkeley and Albany, California, the communities and schools are working together to help students develop writing and critical thinking skills
WriterCoach Connection recruits and trains community volunteers to collaborate with teachers and work one-on-one with students, in class, on their English writing assignments to develop the writing and critical thinking skills they'll need in secondary school, higher education, and the workplace. ...
A Second Set of Parents: Advisory Groups and Student Achievement at Granger High
Story posted February, 2008
Results:
• 100% parent attendance at conferences for the past 3 years
• Over 90% of students now graduate, up from 59% in 2004
In 2001, Granger High School's test scores were dismal. Gang-related graffiti marred every surface, and fewer than half of students graduated. Most of the 300-odd students at this Washington State high school come from low-income families working on farms in the surrounding Yakima Valley. Eighty-four percent are Latino, and six percent are Native American. Could these students succeed? Principal Richard Esparza has the answer on his license plate: "Se puede!" (It can be done!) Under Esparza's confident guidance, the school reached out to students and their families, creating supports to keep students on track.
Reading across the curriculum, aligning coursework with state standards, and intensive academic interventions for struggling students all contribute to Granger's steady improvement. But caring connections between students, teachers, and parents bring all these strands together. ...
In West Philly, Career Academies Drive Success
Story posted December, 2007
Results:
• Top honors multiple times at the Tour de Sol (a prestigious national green car competition)
• Increased numbers of college-bound students
West Philadelphia High School doesn't look like a place on the cutting edge of automotive technology "It's a true inner city high school," says teacher Simon Hauger. "Many of my students come from extraordinarily challenging social circumstances." But a groundbreaking career and technical education program has given students reasons to stay focused, including the opportunity to be part of a car-building competition that's trumped college students and automakers alike.
More than 80 percent of West Philadelphia's overwhelmingly African American student population comes from disadvantaged backgrounds. Four in ten don't graduate, prompting school officials to find hands-on, relevant ways to reach at-risk students. ...
School in Harlem Proves College is Attainable for Everyone
Story posted January, 2008
Story updated January, 2011
Results:
• Graduation rate averages over 95% for the past 11 years.
• 100% graduation rate in 2010.
For too many young women growing up in the neighborhoods of East Harlem, college is at best a remote prospect. But The Young Women's Leadership School has dramatically changed the odds for some of East Harlem's most vulnerable students. The Young Women's Leadership School (TYWLS) is an all-girls public school serving grades 7 through 12 in East Harlem, New York City. It enrolls young women who too often face extreme disadvantages: 98% are students or color and a full 84% are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. Girls in these circumstances often struggle during adolescence to fulfill their academic potential. ...
Collaborative Effort Empowers Teachers, Raises Test Scores in South Lane
Story posted December, 2007. Results updated February 28, 2012.
Results:
• The school outperformed the state on reading, math and science standardized tests in 2011, despite serving a more disadvantaged student population
• Students tested in 2010 in Grade 10 showed gains across subjects in 2011 in Grade 11
Ten years ago, Cottage Grove High School, named for the Oregon lumber town in which it's located, was little more than a pit stop for many teenages who'd eventually drop out and work in the mills. Today, most of those mills are shuttered, and the 900-student school--brimming with AP and professional-technical courses and equipped with robotics, plastics and computer labs--graduates more than 95 percent of its students. ...
A Revolutionary Course in Boston
Story posted January, 2008
Results:
• Students produce a 40-plus-page research paper they present to the class and to the community
• Urban youth are civically engaged, voice their opinions and act on their convictions
Seniors at the Boston Community Leadership Academy have taken the notion of "action learning" to a new level. One of 20 public "pilot schools" in the city, BCLA launched the senior Capstone Project in 2006-2007 to engage graduating students in a rigorous program of historical study, participatory research, community internships and writing.
As a pilot school, the 367-student Boston Community Leadership Academy is free to create its own curriculum and a unique school mission. BCLA's mission - to develop students as community leaders - became the basis for the 2007 Capstone course: "Lead, Act and Change: Youth Empowerment and Possibility in a Democratic Society."
BCLA history teacher James Liou designed the course. He said the goal was to create "the academic capstone for our BCLA seniors, as well as to serve as the core evidence that they've met the mission of the school." ...
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