I N N O V A T O R
News about high school innovation
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Dec. 19, 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
Hillside New Tech to be one of four new learning labs
Report urges states to make international comparisons
College Board panel urges steps to boost completion rates
High school innovation gets regional focus in New England
U.S. students make gains in math, but lag world leaders
Hillside New Tech to become showcase of teaching, learning

Durham's Hillside New Tech High School will be one of four innovative high schools in North Carolina to receive significant support to allow the school to showcase teaching and learning that ensures all students graduate ready for college, careers and life.

Hillside New Tech was selected by the North Carolina New Schools Project (NCNSP) and the University of North Carolina system to be part of the Learning Laboratory Initiative, a $2.5-million effort funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to accelerate the development of innovative high schools that can demonstrate rigorous, highly effective instruction and deep student engagement to educators, university faculty and policymakers.

The Durham school board on Thursday approved a partnership with NCNSP and UNC to transform Hillside New Tech into a national model of performance and to begin to host visits to the school by practitioners and others beginning in 2011.  Negotiations are being completed with the school districts of the remaining three Learning Lab schools.

"We are excited to partner with the New Schools Project and UNC to create a school from which educators in our school system and across the state can draw knowledge and inspiration," said Durham Superintendent Carl Harris.  "We know that Hillside New Tech is well on its way in delivering on the promise to prepare all students for good jobs and citizenship in this century."

Hillside New Tech and the other three Learning Lab sites were picked from among 21 schools through a process that involved proposals by each, analysis of the schools' student performance and teacher perceptions, and visits to the finalist schools.  The selection process involved a panel of experts in high school innovation from outside North Carolina.

The four schools - which include two sites at which traditional high schools are being redesigned and two Learn and Earn early college high schools - were found to be the most ready to accelerate the innovative work they have begun and to hold great promise to grow into models for the state.  Through the initiative, the four schools will receive enhanced coaching and support from NCNSP, a UNC institution linked to each, and the California-based New Technology Foundation over the next three years.  Hillside is among nine schools in North Carolina using the New Tech model based on one-to-one computer-to-student classrooms; a student-centered, project-based learning approach; and integration of course content and 21st century skills into a cohesive whole.

Since 2003, part of NCNSP's work to establish more than 100 innovative high schools across the state has been to take more than 700 teachers, principals and education policymakers on "study visits" in seven states to well-established innovative high schools that have a track record of graduating all students ready for college, careers and life.

"Through those visits, long-held beliefs about what students can do - and which students can do it - have been reshaped, practical solutions have been conveyed, and the value of teachers watching peers teach has been reaffirmed," said NCNSP President Tony Habit.  "The rapid development of the Learning Lab schools will allow that change to happen more frequently and more regularly for educators in the field or in training, for the university faculty who train them, and for North Carolina's leaders."

Global comparisons needed to improve education, report urges

A group of leading education experts issued a report today urging states to begin benchmarking their K-12 education systems against those of top-performing nations as a critical step to ensure America's competitiveness.

The report, "Benchmarking for Success: Ensuring U.S. Students Receive a World-class Education," was issued by a panel assembled by three of the nation's leading education policy organizations -- the National Governor's Association, the Council of Chief State School Officers and Achieve, Inc. The report provides a framework for states to use in keying their educational standards to those of nations where achievement is especially strong.

Such "benchmarking" is aimed at helping state policymakers to identify the qualities and characteristics of other systems that best prepare students to succeed in the global economy.

The International Benchmarking Advisory Group cited five key changes needed in American education to better prepare students to compete more effectively in the global economy:
  • Upgrade state standards to a common core of internationally benchmarked standards in math and language arts from kindergarten through high school;
  • Collectively, states should ensure that educational materials from textbooks and digital media to curriculum and assessments are internationally benchmarked and draw from best practices of high-performing nations;
  • Revise state policies for recruiting, preparing, developing and supporting teachers and school leaders to reflect the "human capital" practices of high performing nations;
  • Hold schools and systems accountable through monitoring, interventions and support to ensure high performance, again drawing on best practices around the world;
  • Measure state-level performance globally by examining student achievement through international comparisons.
College Board panel calls for efforts to raise completion rates

Add the College Board to the list of influential education organizations calling for aggressive efforts to boost high school graduation rates and improve the college completion picture.

In a report issued last week, a panel of education leaders assembled by the College Board issued the latest "wake-up call" about American's precarious stature as a world leader as other nations have made significant gains in educational attainment. The report, Coming to Our Senses: Education and the American Future, by the board's Commission on Access, Admissions and Success in Higher Education cites several sobering facts that lose little of their impact for having been mentioned elsewhere and in other forums:
  • The rate at which American students leave school between 9th and 12th grade has tripled since the late 1970s. The biggest leak in the education "pipeline" occurs between 9th and 10th grades.
  • High school graduation rates nationally have dropped from about 77 percent in the early 1970s to about 67 percent today.
  • In 2005, the United States ranked 21st of 27 advanced economies in terms of high school completion after being the world leader during the 20th century.
  • The nation ranks near the bottom of industrialized countries in completion rates of students who have enrolled in college.
  • While the United States ranks second among developed nations for the proportion of workers over the age of 55 having completed postsecondary education, the nation falls to 11th among workers between the ages of 25 and 34.
To reverse those trends, the panel supports the conclusion of education experts who say the United States must set a goal for 2025 that 55 percent of all students earn at least a two-year college degree. About 40 percent of younger Americans are doing so currently.

The panel's report outlines a 10-point action agenda for reaching that 55-percent goal. Among the steps related to pre-K-12 education are these:
  • Universal preschool
  • Improved college counseling for students in middle and high school
  • Early identification and stronger support for students at risk of dropping out
  • Alignment of k-12 curriculum with international standards and college expectations
  • Improve teacher quality, recruitment and retention
Four New England states join forces to transform high schools

High school innovation will be getting a regional push in New England, where four states this week announced the creation of a multi-state consortium aimed at a common goal of graduating all students ready for college, career and civic responsibility.

The New England Secondary School Consortium will initially include four states -- Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont -- that will share resources and expertise as a way to learn from one another in reinventing high school education. The joint effort is being launched with a $500,000 grant from the New England-based Nellie Mae Education Foundation and also a $500,000 grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

A news release from the Nellie Mae Foundation said that the consortium will support the development of high-performing, internationally competitive schools and new learning approaches that will better reflect the needs of today's students. The schools envisioned by the consortium would stretch conventional notions about schools by being "flexible, borderless, multidimensional community learning centers that blend secondary and postsecondary education." Non-traditional approaches to learning would include research that students would conduct in their own communities, internships and extensive use of new technologies.

As a first step, the consortium will complete a comprehensive review of education policies and rules in the four states to develop a foundation for innovation and effective practice.
U.S. students make gains in math, but still lag world leaders

Results of a key international assessment show that 4th and 8th graders in American schools continue to perform above average in math and science, but their peers in a number of Asian countries still outscore them by significant margins. And little progress was seen in science achievement by students in the United States.

Still, the 2007 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, or TIMSS, measured gains by American students in mathematics -- particularly among 4th graders -- since the assessment was last given in 2003. While 8th graders in the United States have gained 16 points since the 1995 assessment, the few additional points they added since 2003 were not considered to be significant. American 4th graders gained 11 points.

The results also showed a narrowing gap since 1995 between white students and both black and Hispanics, evidence that higher expectations make a difference.

But science scores for American 4th and 8th graders were essentially unchanged from 2003, a reminder that science education needs more attention.

Francis Q. Eberle, executive director of the National Science Teachers Association told Education Week that the results shouldn't be a surprise.  "For the last 10 years, we've seen many reports that say we need to be investing more in science education," Eberle said. "What's important about TIMSS is that we can learn how we're doing as a country relative to other countries and where we need to be focusing."
Happy Holidays! The next edition of Innovator will be published Jan. 9, 2009.

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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 [email protected] or call Todd Silberman at (919) 277-3760.