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I N N O V A T O R
News about high school innovation
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Nov. 23, 2009
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
ECHS students earn better grades than college-age peers
NC gets good grade for readiness efforts on report card
Governors' guide outlines steps to help stem dropout tide
Durham superintendent Harris named to Washington job
Student praises high school innovation in local newspaper
NCNSP adds Facebook presence; join the conversation
Early college students outperform college-age classmates

The prospect of high school students sitting in community college classes was worrisome to faculty and college leaders when North Carolina's first early colleges opened in 2005. Questions were raised about the maturity of high school students, their ability to do the work and their capacity for the kind of independence that college demands.

Now, data from the North Carolina Community College system about student performance suggests those kinds of worries were unfounded. In fact, early college high school students tend to outperform the college-age students they're in class with. With few exceptions, the grades achieved by the early college students last year were, on average, better than students who had enrolled after graduating  from high school.

Including all college courses taken by early college students on community college campuses, 75 percent received a passing grade of C or better. For all other students in community college courses, 70 percent earned a C or better.

In all, the 6,900 students who were enrolled in the 55 early college high schools last year that were partners with the state's community colleges took a total of 23,771 classes -- or an average of about 3.5 college classes per student.  The average number of courses taken per student was even greater when looking only at core academic classes, which in early college high schools are generally taken by seniors, juniors and to a lesser extent, sophomores. Yet even including 10th graders, early college students in 10th, 11th and 12th grades last year took an average of four college courses each in subject areas that included English, foreign language, math, science and social science.

In terms of performance, early college high school students received better grades, on average, than college-age students in all the core academic areas.

college-course chart C or better
Early college students also outperformed other students in English, foreign language and math, when looking at B-or-better performance:

college-course chart B or better
Looking at individual early colleges that were among the first to open, in 2005 and 2006, 13 of 20 with data that's limited to their schools -- nearly two thirds -- had average grade performance that exceeded that of college-age students. Seven of the eight early colleges that were the first to open, in 2005, and that also have grade performance data limited to their schools outperformed grade averages for college-age students.

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Innovation report gives NC good grade for readiness efforts

North Carolina is one of a dozen states to earn a strong grade in the area of college readiness in a 50-state report card on educational innovation released earlier this month.

The report, Leaders and Laggards, considered eight areas it cites as crucial to deep, systematic change necessary for ensuring that more students graduate well prepared for college and careers: school management, finance, hiring and evaluating staff, removing ineffective teachers, data, technology, pipeline to postsecondary and state reform environment.

A follow up to a 2007 report with the same title, the state-by-state evaluation was released jointly by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Center for American Progress and Frederick M. Hess of the American Enterprise Institute.

In the area of "pipeline to postsecondary," North Carolina and 11 other states received a grade of B, the highest given in the category. No state received an A. In particular, the report points to North Carolina's dual-enrollment policies, which encourage students to earn college credit while in high school. Dual enrollment is also an essential feature of the state's 69 innovative early college high schools.

"North Carolina receives a good mark for its effort to improve college and career readiness," the report explains. "Eighty-two percent of its schools report offering dual-enrollment programs .... That is 17 percentage points above the national average of 65 percent." But the report also points to what it cites as a weakness in the area of readiness with the state's reliance on high school assessments that don't gauge college and career preparation.

Still, the report highlights North Carolina as a leader in the development of early college high schools, a model the report says can be beneficial for students who may be under-served in traditional high schools, including those who might not have considered college. The report quotes Jessica Diaz, a student at Cross Creek Early College High School at Fayetteville State University, as saying this about her school: "It has given me so many opportunities, like being able to go to college and be the first in my family to graduate. It is like another family at schools that supports me whenever I need it."

In the other areas on which states were graded, North Carolina received a B in hiring and evaluation, removing ineffective teachers, data and technology. The state received a C for school management, tied to what the report describes as "mediocre academic standards" and a high percentage of teachers who say that routine duties and paperwork interfere with teaching.

The report gave the state a D in the area of finance because of what it called the simplicity of its funding mechanism. One of the bottom five states in the finance category, North Carolina scored higher than only New Jersey, West Virginia, Alabama and Rhode Island.

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Governors' guide outlines steps to help stem dropout tide

The North Carolina New Schools Project is cited in a new dropout-prevention guide from the National Governors Association as among a handful of efforts nationally aimed at creating effective new schools.

Achieving Graduation for All: A Governor's  Guide to Dropout Prevention and Recovery outlines four key actions governors nationwide should be taking to keep more students in school and on track to graduate from high school.

One of those four steps focuses on providing rigorous, relevant options for earning a high school diploma, including the creation of new effective schools that set high expectations and stress real-world training. "Creating new effective schools will lead to a stronger education system," the report says, "that will keep students engaged and prepare them for success in college and careers."

Among efforts nationally, including those in Texas and Indiana, the report highlights North Carolina's efforts to launch more than 100 innovative high schools supported by the North Carolina New Schools Project. Specifically, the report points to the state's early college high schools and STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) schools as noteworthy examples.

In addition to the development of new schools, the report recommends a number of other strategies for providing rigorous, relevant options for earning a high school diploma, including turning around low-performing schools and awarding credit for performance, not seat time.

The other three critical steps outlined in the report are these:
  • Promote high school graduation for all: Governors can influence policies to raise the legal dropout age, hold schools more accountable for graduation rates and champion efforts to raise those rates.
  • Target youth at risk of dropping out: Governors can support the development of early warning data systems that identify students likely to dropout while also supporting efforts that target those students with interventions.
  • Reengage youth who have dropped out: Governors can create policies and programs aimed at recovering high school dropouts through the development of incentives, outreach strategies and re-entry programs for juvenile offenders.
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Durham school leader Harris appointed to federal position

Durham schools Superintendent Carl E. Harris, who helped launch several innovative high schools in his district, is taking a high-level post in the U.S. Department of Education as deputy assistant secretary for policy and strategic initiatives.

During Harris' three-and-a-half year tenure as superintendent, the Durham school system opened three new break-the-mold high schools: Hillside New Tech High School, Southern School of Engineering and City of Medicine Academy. Along with Josephine Dobbs Clement Early College High School, one of the first schools of its kind in North Carolina, the district has four innovative high schools. The Durham district has one of the highest numbers of pioneering small high schools in the state.

"Dr. Harris has been a transformational leader," Durham school board chairwoman Minnie Forte-Brown told The News & Observer. "He has been transparent in his leadership, forward thinking and he knew exactly what our district needed to do to improve academic achievement and leadership potential."
Student: Relationships are essential to successful education

Halen Wooten, a 16-year-old junior at Davidson Early College High School, writes that his school is making a big difference for the students who go there. He shared his perspective on his school's innovative approach to education in a recent column published in the online edition of The Dispatch, of Lexington. Read it here.

Become a fan of NCNSP on Facebook; join the discussion 

North Carolina New Schools Project now has its own Facebook page.

If you are a Facebook user already, become a fan today and contribute to the conversation. If not, you can follow the page without joining Facebook, but you won't be able to post your comments or content.

Either way, please take a look here.

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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.