I N N O V A T O R
News about high school innovation
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Oct. 17, 2008
Welcome to INNOVATOR, a bimonthly report on high school change in North Carolina from the North Carolina New Schools Project. INNOVATOR informs practitioners, policy makers, and friends of public education about high school innovation in North Carolina as well as success stories and research from across the nation.
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In This Issue
Educators and leaders see innovative practice in action
NC's STEM high schools win grant from GlaxoSmithKline
Efforts to push 21st century skills gain in NC, other states
School exhibition showcases teaching, learning by design

Every day, students in more than 100 innovative high schools across North Carolina are exposed to teaching and learning intended to help them be better problem-solvers, more creative thinkers and more successful graduates.

Those kinds of engaging lessons were on display under one roof last week in downtown Raleigh, where about 350 educators, policymakers and business leaders were given a front-row seat on high school innovation. The one-day exhibition, dubbed "Graduation by Design" and organized by the North Carolina New School Project in partnership with statewide groups for county commissioners, school board members, teachers, school administrators and business leaders, offered a persuasive case for high school transformation from what might be the most reliable source: students themselves.

Students and their teachers came from six innovative high schools supported by the N.C. New Schools Project, with each representing a different kind of development or approach. The exhibition also included classroom demonstrations from schools in Ohio, South Carolina and elsewhere in North Carolina based on other models, such as those developed by the New Tech Foundation, Asia Society, EdWorks and the Coalition of Essential Schools.

From one room to the next, students showed the kind of confidence in the "how" of learning that comes from teaching that empowers students to think for themselves.

Nicole Dominick, an English teacher at East Wake School of Health Science, demonstrated the way students in her class play an active role in their learning by leading a discussion about "lying," which she uses in teaching Henrik Ibsen's play, A Doll's House.

Dominick placed her "students" - the business-attire wearing conference participants - in groups, each of which was joined by one of her actual students. Working as a team, each group formulated a question about lying, then as a "graffiti" exercise, worked their way around the room answering each group's question on paper posted on the wall. The result was a lively, thoughtful discussion in which the high school students more than held their ground. They stood out.

"I teach 20 percent of the time, and my students work 80 percent of the time," Dominick said about her teaching approach. "Teaching should be stimulating and exciting. The students should be the ones who are exhausted at the end of the day, not us."

Kristin Lampe, a science teacher from Newton-Conover Health Science High School, showed participants how she lures her students into a discussion about photosynthesis: with children's books that lead to larger, more challenging questions.

"If you own this knowledge, no one can ever take that away," Lampe said. Having students who can take their knowledge and be able to apply it, she said, is a key goal at the school.

In another room, Vee Sirleaf, a 10th grader at New Technology High School at Garinger in Charlotte, was one of several students helping social studies teacher Erica Luttschyn introduce the kind of in-depth project the school uses to teach content in tandem with such key skills as writing, analysis and teamwork. The assignment: Create a graphic novel about the causes and consequences of the two World Wars of the 20th century.

Vee said Garinger New Tech's use of project-based learning adds interest in ways that traditional lessons and textbooks typically don't.

Omar Gainey, an 11th grader at Garinger's Math and Science High School, was next door as part of a three-student team leading a hands-on exercise for adult "students" in algebra.  The students measured a burning candle at 30-second intervals, then had to find an equation to predict the candle's height if it continued to burn for an additional interval of time. Omar and his fellow team members outlined the steps involved, providing extra help along the way.

Without the extra support he's gotten himself at school, Omar said, he probably would have dropped out.

"I wouldn't even be in the 11th grade if it wasn't for this school," he said. "School was so hard."

GlaxoSmithKline gives $515,000 to help 10 STEM schools

Ten innovative high schools across North Carolina that are using science, technology and engineering to combat chronic poor academic performance will receive continued support through a half-million dollar grant from GlaxoSmithKline, the major  pharmaceutical and healthcare company.

The new $515,000 grant from GSK will subsidize a quarter of NCNSP's assistance to the 10 schools - which are in their second year enrolling students -- through the 2010-11 school year.  It also provides for a consultant to work with the schools to improve science and math curriculum.  The new grant increases GSK's support for high school innovation in North Carolina and follows an earlier $300,000 gift to NCNSP in 2005, which paid in part for NCNSP's work with science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) focused high schools.

"This news adds to the excitement about these schools," said Burley Mitchell, chairman of NCNSP's board of directors and former chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court. "We can already seek kids in these schools catch fire with a love of learning."

Mitchell said also that the grant demonstrates a strong commitment by GlaxoSmithKline to support the state's continuing efforts to help high schools better prepare students for college and careers.

"As a company steeped in scientific advances and a global competitor that needs a highly skilled workforce here in North Carolina, GlaxoSmithKline understands that teaching and learning in our high schools must change," Mitchell said. "As a corporate citizen, GSK's support for high school innovation across the state has been unmatched."

Mary Linda Andrews, director of community partnerships for GlaxoSmithKline, said the company wants to make sure it has the "employees of the future."

 "GlaxoSmithKline anticipates amazing results due to the high school innovation being sparked by the North Carolina New Schools Project, as they facilitate graduating students who are ready for the knowledge-based economy," Andrews said.  "GSK has a long history in North Carolina, and we are pleased to be able to partner with cutting-edge schools and school districts pushing forward STEM education. A strong education system is essential for our company and our employees and their families.  The New Schools Project is the right partner. "

The 10 innovative schools were created at campuses identified by the state Department of Public Instruction as needing "turnaround" due to low student performance.  The General Assembly provided initial planning grants to the schools to pursue a STEM focus, while local school districts have had to pay for the schools' ongoing transformation.  GSK's grant amounts to a public-private partnership to allow the schools to continue to progress.

"As a district, we always are striving to do the very best for students, including giving them the math and science skills that are essential for our workplaces in the years ahead," said Carl Harris, superintendent of Durham Public Schools. "Having a partner in that effort like GSK makes success much more likely."

Harris said Durham's two STEM high schools are among other innovative high schools in the district that are charting a new direction from traditional, comprehensive high schools that were designed to meet the needs of an earlier generati0n.

"We are designing high schools around our children," Harris said. "It's not just about teaching, but teaching and learning."

NCNSP is working with these 10 innovative schools and 92 others across the state to transform teaching and learning in smaller, more focused, highly personalized settings.  NCNSP works directly with teachers and principals to build their capacity and in providing extensive on-site coaching through the first five years that innovative high schools are open.

"GSK's support will give schools the time they need to change teaching and learning in deep ways that can permit all students to gain the knowledge and skills to compete economically and to participate as citizens," said NCNSP President Tony Habit.

While the 10 STEM schools are still very new and innovation in them remains a work in progress, they are showing some promising early results:

  • The STEM high schools had an "early leaver" rate of 2 percent in 2007-08, compared to an early leaver rate of 7 percent in the comparison high schools in their districts.  Five of the schools reported no early leavers.  Historically, schools' early leaver rates have correlated closely with schools' eventual annual dropout rates.
  • 77 percent of teachers in the STEM schools "strongly agree" with the statement, "My school is a good place to teach and learn," on the state's teacher working conditions survey, compared to just 36 percent in comparison high schools.
  • In 2007-08, five of the 10 STEM high schools met or exceeded the growth targets set for their school by the state in the ABCs accountability system, compared to only three of the comparison high schools.
NC among states making 21st century skills a graduation goal

North Carolina is cited in the latest issue of  Education Week as one of  several states pushing ahead with efforts to ensure students graduate from high school with "21st century skills"  -- a range of abilities apart from specific content knowledge.

Along with other states -- Iowa, West Virginia and Wisconsin among them -- North Carolina is raising the stakes on a defined set of skills that many business and education leaders now see as all-important for success in college and careers. They range from problem-solving and critical thinking to communication and collaboration.

The Education Week article mentions North Carolina's new graduation project -- a requirement for the class of 2010 -- as an example of a way for students to demonstrate some of those skills, such as in-depth research and oral communication. In Wisconsin, students are collaborating with peers in other countries as a way to learn global competence. Teachers in West Virginia are learning how to develop such skills as teamwork and creativity in teaching core subjects.

Tricia Willoughby, a member of the North Carolina State Board of Education, said that the "future ready" standards that the state has written for teachers and principals will help shape changes in curriculum and professional development. The state is also looking at ways to assess such "21st century skills" as critical thinking, research and media literacy.

Cindi Jolly, a former program director with the NC New Schools Project who is now a consultant with North Carolina's Center for 21st Century Skills, told Education Week that the state has been working with a professor at the University of Washington on a prototype assessment to measure such skills.

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INNOVATOR is produced by the North Carolina New Schools Project, an initiative of the Office of the Governor and the Education Cabinet with the support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and other businesses and foundations. For story suggestions or to opt out of receiving this e-mail report, please send an e-mail to innovator@newschoolsproject.org or call Todd Silberman at (919) 277-3760.