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I N N O V A T O R |
News about high school innovation
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Feb. 1, 2010
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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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Innovate 2010 event to highlight state's pioneering high schools
In the fall of 2005, a few thousand students and teachers across North Carolina took a significant risk and opted for a different kind of high school -- those built on the high promise that every student would graduate ready for college, career and life in the 21st century.
The students who helped launch the state's first 24 innovative high schools that year have since been followed by thousands more, helping to put North Carolina on the map as a national leader in high school innovation. In all, the state now claims 106 break-the-mold high schools that all share the same emphasis on high expectations for all students matched with the kind of engagement and support that helps students reach them.
More than 21,000 students are enrolled in those schools this year -- a five-fold increase from 2005.
Those last five years of dramatic change on the state's high school landscape will be highlighted April 22 during Innovate 2010, an event that will celebrate the pioneering efforts of educators, students and leaders in business and government who are making that change a reality for increasing numbers of students.
Among those joining the celebration will be UNC President Erskine Bowles, former state Supreme Court Chief Justice Burley Mitchell, state schools Superintendent June Atkinson, Community College President Scott Ralls and State Board of Education Chairman Bill Harrison. Gov. Beverly Perdue also has been invited to speak.
The impact of the state's efforts to redefine high school is being felt by students such as Jacob Pooler, 19, who will graduate this spring from Sampson Early College High School as a member of the school's inaugural class that started 9th grade in 2005. His high school diploma is a given; he'll also receive an associate's of arts degree as well as an associate's of science degree. Neither one of Jacob's parents earned a college degree themselves.
Attending the early college high school, he said, is one of the best decisions he's made. "It's given me a leg up on my peers who went to traditional high school," he said. Jacob hopes to attend N.C. State University or Regent University in Virginia.
Linda Jewell-Carr, principal of Sampson Early College, has led the school since it first opened its doors. She's convinced the school is generating success for students who in a traditional high school might never have considered college or may have simply dropped out.
"I'm seeing the average student blossom and have opportunity who in a traditional setting might be overlooked," Jewell-Carr said. Through 2007-08, the most recent year for which state dropout data is available, Sampson Early College hasn't lost a single student who left without continuing their schooling elsewhere.
She also points to the students' success in their college courses as evidence that the school is making a difference. Last year, 78 percent of 1,025 total grades students received in their college courses were C or better. For their college-age peers, 73 percent of grades were C or better.
"College teachers have been surprised," she said, "by the participation of the high school students and their willingness to contribute to class discussion."
Buncombe Early College High School was also among the state's first innovative schools to open in 2005 and will graduate its first full class this spring. In a letter to the editor published last month in the Asheville Citizen-Times, principal Meg Turner stressed the challenge and risks inherent in trying a different approach to achieve greater success for more students.
"We know that those who dedicate their careers to the field of education have an
obligation to work for continual improvement," Turner wrote. "An even nobler course of action is one of innovation, without which we are sure to be surpassed by other nations.
"Some of our older students refer to themselves occasionally as 'guinea pigs' as if they
have been participating in a controlled experiment against their will. Instead, we
understand that they courageously sought out opportunity much like pioneers -- the
affectionate term for the Class of 2010 at BCEC. As young, developing eighth graders,
they made an incredibly courageous decision to leave the traditional path. While
rejecting the familiarity of their neighborhood high schools for many different reasons,
what they sought brought them together: something different, something new, and
something with promise."
For more information about Innovate 2010, or to reserve a seat, click here.
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Students tell state leaders that early college changed their lives
Members of the JOBS Commission led by Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton have convened meetings around the state since last fall to help ensure that high school innovation is linked to regional economic development needs.
Meeting last week at Nash Community College, they heard from students who said the early college high school they attend has helped put them on track, both to a solid education and to ambitious career goals. The following excerpts are from testimony given to the JOBS Commission by three students who attend Nash-Rocky Mount Early College High School.
Drucilla Cofield, 16, sophomore
So, yes, what has ECHS taught me?
.... Walking in the cottage every morning seeing bright smiles on everybody made me smile to face the pain and laugh to cover the tears, and not walking through the double doors of a traditional high school make me tell myself, "what doesn't kill me only make me stronger" cause over there they living on dreams. At Nash-Rocky Mount Early College High School they make me put my dreams to work because trying to get rich off dreams is a no-no because life is no fairy tale.
So I don't live by dreams. I am making my dreams come true."
Hasan Hasan, 18, senior
Today, my friends who had parted company with me when they went to the traditional high school still struggle to find their place and fulfill their potential. I am thankful that the early college faculty and my [community college science] professor saw the possibilities for me even when I could not see them for myself. ...
If I had attended a regular high school I would have walked across that stage with a smile on my face, but this May, I will walk across that stage with a wider, more confident smile ... As I cross that stage, one other student and myself will be receiving an associate's in arts and an associate's in science. ...
I have been encouraged and supported by my family, teachers and professors to a point where I am a confident college student. I never could have achieved all of this by myself or by attending a traditional high school.
William Heath, 18, senior
... The early college is not a school, or a learning institution, or even a place of higher education. To me, the early college is a place where I have been given the tools to develop myself into an individual of talent, skill and determination.
... One of the more recent accomplishments the early college has helped me with is the pursuit of the N.C. Teaching Fellows program. I was recently notified I was a state regional finalist and am looking forward to the final interview. Would I have been able to get his far without the early college? I think not.
Coming into the academic world as a first-generation college student, and coming from a family with mostly little or no post-secondary education, I have become a role model by which some of my younger family members strive to be."
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Wake ECHS students win NC science contest, China trip
Two students at Wake Early College of Health and Sciences are taking their research in biochemistry to a Beijing science competition after landing as two of four finalists in a statewide science contest last month in Chapel Hill. Victoria Jones and Victoria Melbourne, who will both graduate this spring as members of Wake Early College's first class, were among eight students who presented research projects Jan. 16 at the North Carolina International Science Challenge held at the Morehead Planetarium. Finalists in the annual competition, held for the last five years, travel to China in March to present their research at the Beijing Youth Science Creation Competition. The two Wake Early College students will be joined by fellow finalists Chelsea Sumner, who attends Knightdale High School, and Shalini Chudasama, a student at the North Carolina School of Science and Math. Among the eight semifinalists whose research was selected for the Chapel Hill competition were two other students from Wake Early College, Diana Gorgy and Xavier Joyner. All six of the semifinalists from the two Wake schools completed their research projects under internships arranged by Project SEED, which offers talented, disadvantaged high school students research opportunities in chemistry at Duke University, UNC Chapel Hill and N.C. State University. Victoria Jones and Victoria Melbourne, both of whom were research interns at N.C. State's Department of Molecular and Structural Biochemistry, undertook projects involving cell biochemistry. Victoria Jones' study, entitled "Modification of Transfer Ribonucleic Acid (tRNA): The Binding of tRNA by YrdC, a Putative Threonyl-tRNA Transferase," was focused on the role of RNA in the development of mutations and disease. Victoria Melbourne's study, "The Effect of a Residue 61 Mutation on the Structure of Ras GTPase," looked at the role of a particular protein in cellular growth and differentiation and the development of cancer. Project SEED interns work under the direction of the university scientists, who also serve as mentors to the high school students, and are supported others in the labs, including graduate students and other lab personnel. They work in the lab full-time for six to eight weeks in the summer. Outside the lab, during the summer and school year, they participate in enrichment activities including visits to other university campuses, attend professional conferences, and participate in monthly Saturday academies and SAT-prep classes.
The annual North Carolina International Science Challenge is offered to high school students across the state by the Grassroots Science Museums Collaborative and the North Carolina Science, Mathematics and Technology Education Center. Last year, Shara Weaver, a student at Josephine Dobbs Clement Early College High School in Durham and also a Project SEED intern, was one of the four finalists to go to China. Students from North Carolina are the only U.S. representatives at the Beijing event.
The Beijing Youth Science Creation Competition draws students from around the world, including Australia, Canada, Denmark, Italy, Germany, Greece, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Ukraine, and China. The Beijing Association of Science and Technology is host to the North Carolina delegation that consists of students and state science leaders. The North Carolina Science, Mathematics and Technology Center also provides financial support for the students' travel expenses.
In addition to their high school diplomas, Victoria Jones and Victoria Melbourne both will earn associates of science degrees from Wake Technical Community College when they graduate this spring after four years at the early college. Jones has her sights set on becoming a cardiothoracic surgeon; Melbourne wants to continue research in biochemistry and eventually open a biochemical firm.
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Study shows close link between student skills, economic growth
The close connection between educational attainment and economic development now seems only self evident, but a new study from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development makes that argument even stronger. And at a time when the United States and nations around the world continue to struggle with economic stress, the OECD report cautions against cutting investments in education.
The study found that the relationship between cognitive skills and economic development is so close that even small improvements in the skills of a nation's workers can make a significant difference in its future economic growth.
Even a modest goal of having all 30 countries that are members of the OECD boost their average scores on the PISA (Program for International Assessment) by 25 points during the next 20 years, the report says, would yield an combined gain of $115 trillion over the lifetime of the generation born in 2010. For the United States, the report suggests, such gains in student performance -- measured by the PISA -- could increase the nation's gross domestic product by $40 trillion.
"Changing schools and educational institutions is a generally difficult task," the report concludes. "Moreover, countries that have attempted reforms of schools often find that the results in terms of student achievement are relatively modest. ...
"The political-economy issues that are the real impacts on OECD economies come sometime in the future, because it takes time for schools to improve student performance and for students to become a substantial part of a country's labor force. Thus countries must make substantial changes now to reap the future benefits. On the other hand, simply saying that change is 'too difficult' implies foregoing enormous gains to OECD nations."
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Ed Secretary Duncan slated to speak at Emerging Issues Forum
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan is among national and state leaders featured to speak during the year's Emerging Issues Forum at the Raleigh Convention Center, Feb. 8-9.
This year's forum, entitled Creativity, Inc., will focus on innovation, returning to a theme that launched the first of the annual conferences 25 years ago. Duncan, who will speak on the topic, "Reigniting America's Creative Genius," joins a long list of national experts in creativity, education, the arts, finance, and innovation technology. Key North Carolina leaders are also on the agenda. Among them: Gov. Beverly Perdue, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and former Gov. Jim Hunt.
For more information about the Emerging Issues Forum, visit the Institute for Emerging Issues at N.C. State University. Registration ends Wednesday.
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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. Back to top
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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.
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