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I N N O V A T O R
News about high school innovation
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Oct. 11, 2010
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
NC's early college students outperform college-age peers
State Board raises expectations for high schools, graduates
Early college boosts readiness; narrows gaps, study finds
ACT reports that gaps shrink when graduates well prepared
"Gathering Storm" report 5 years later: Warnings continue
NC's innovative high schools and students in the news
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Early college students make the grade in college courses

Students in North Carolina's early college high schools continue to show success in college classes that outpaces the performance of their college-age peers. Data from the North Carolina Community College System shows that 75 percent of all college courses taken by early college students in 2009-10 received a grade of C or better, compared to 70 percent of courses taken by other students.

Among the 43 community colleges across the state that host early college high schools, the C-or-better proportions topped 75 percent at 20 of the colleges.

The new data is the latest evidence that innovative high schools located on community college campuses, or linked to them through distance learning, are helping students gain college credit and reach college-ready standards. In all, last year's approximately 9,400 students in early college high schools associated with community colleges took a total of 35,600 college courses -- or nearly four courses 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, 12th and 13th grades last year took an average of more than four college courses each in subject areas that included English, foreign language, math, science and social science.

Among the five core subject areas, early college students outpaced their college-age peers most significantly in math, with 69 percent earning a C or better, compared to 59 percent for college students.

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NC State Board puts focus on college and career readiness

North Carolina schools and students will be held accountable for indicators of college and career readiness under a conceptual plan endorsed last week by the State Board of Education.

The new approach, expected to be in place for the 2013-14 school year, will focus more directly on ensuring that students are well prepared by the time they graduate and keeping them on track to reach that goal. The accountability overhaul is in synch with Gov. Beverly Perdue's education agenda -- Career and College: Ready, Set, Go!

The new model -- under development for more than two years -- has two primary purposes: diagnosing student learning to ensure students are on track academically and holding schools accountable for student progress. Five indicators were approved for school accountability purposes: student performance (end-of-grade and end-of-course assessments), measures of college readiness, student academic growth, the five-year cohort graduation rate and the rigor of students' high school mathematics course selections.

To ensure students are on track academically, new types of ongoing, informal assessments will be added to help teachers better spot student learning problems early and to adjust instruction accordingly.

"We are very excited about the new accountability model because it will further our aim of Career & College: Ready, Set, Go! for every student in North Carolina," said Bill Harrison, chairman of the state board. "This new model brings a high level of relevance to students and their families. That is where our focus should be."

Tony Habit, president of the North Carolina New Schools Project, welcomed the board's support of a revised accountability system as a major step forward for North Carolina.

"We already have evidence that with greater focus, schools and students can perform at much higher levels," Habit said. "The State Board of Education now has set a clear marker that being ready for college and work should become a reality for every student. Innovative schools across our state already meet these benchmarks in much greater numbers, and they provide a useful example for all schools."

As part of the learning diagnostic tools, the new model will use some measure of college readiness, such as a college admissions test, at the 11th grade. This means that every student in North Carolina will take a college admissions exam at no cost to their families. Eighth and 10th graders will take a preliminary college readiness test of some kind to ensure that they are on track for college and career readiness and for diagnostic information about their needs. Students who are not college ready at 11th grade will have an opportunity to participate in an academic camp during the summer before their senior year to boost their skills.

Students in 12th grade also will take the Compass assessment, a placement test widely used by community colleges to evaluate the skill levels of entering students.

"Our goal is to be sure that we prepare every student for success without remediation at the community college or at the four-year college and university level," said State Superintendent June Atkinson. "That is our commitment to students and to communities in our state."

"This new model is more relevant for students and schools," said Jack Hoke, Alexander County Schools' superintendent and advisor to the State Board of Education. "This model will serve students better and will give us more useful information than the current ABCs model."

Approving the elements of the new accountability model is the first step toward implementation in 2013-14. Decisions yet to be made include how each element of the accountability model -- student performance, post-secondary readiness, student growth, graduation rate and course rigor -- will be weighted and how schools will be recognized for high performance levels. These decisions will be made in the coming months.

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UNC-Greensboro releases first results of SERVE ECHS study

Recently released results from an experimental study show North Carolina's Early College High Schools are significantly increasing students' readiness for college while reducing absences and suspensions.

As part of an ongoing study by the SERVE Center at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, student achievement and performance of ninth graders in early colleges was compared to similar ninth grade students enrolled in traditional, public high schools. The early results of the SERVE study reflect the positive impact of early college high schools in preparing students for the demands of college and the workforce. Key findings include:
  • More ECHS students were on-track for college, based on successful completion of Algebra I;
  • The ECHS model appears to be closing the performance gap among sub-groups in two 9th grade courses;
  • Students in the ECHS were less likely to be suspended and were absent fewer days;
  • ECHS students reported higher levels of academic engagement; and
  • ECHS students were more likely to report positive school experiences than students in the control group.
"This study underscores and verifies that the model of early college high schools works. We now have additional evidence that this market-driven approach to education is having a revolutionary impact in addressing a number of long-standing challenges in education," said Lt. Governor Walter Dalton, who supports early college as an economic development strategy.

"We're in the business of equipping students with the skills and knowledge they need to be competitive and succeed," said Tony Habit, president of the North Carolina New Schools Project. "We work on the front lines of college and career prep to ensure our students are on-track for college and are real-world ready. With our partners, we're working to ensure our future workforce is the best educated and most prepared to take on the challenges of the global economy."

The initial findings were based on data from the N.C. Department of Public Instruction on 718 9th graders in eight cohorts in six early college high schools and associated schools. In addition, the results also include survey data from 574 9th graders at 10 schools.

The study will follow two cohorts of students through graduation and will also follow one of those cohorts into postsecondary institutions.

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Gaps narrow with greater access to college-ready courses

A new report from ACT  about college readiness suggests that North Carolina's redesign of its accountability approach is on the right track for opening doors for more students to succeed in college. The report reiterates the importance of strong preparation and challenging coursework in high school as critical factors for success in college, particularly for minority and low-income students.

The report, "Mind the Gaps: How College Readiness Narrows Achievement Gaps in College Success," identifies key factors that contribute to students' success during their first year of college and to their chances of returning for a second year. Poor preparation for postsecondary education is a key reason that many students who aspire to college don't do well once they enroll, or don't enroll at all, according to the report.

That is especially the case for students from low-income families and for what ACT defined as "underrepresented minority students" -- black students, Latinos, and Native Americans. But strong preparation in high school helps narrow acheivement gaps in college.

The study found that gaps between white students and under-represented minorities narrow significantly for those students who meet ACT's definition of college readiness in the four core subjects of English, math, science and social studies. Under-represented minorities who meet ACT's college readiness benchmarks in all four subjects show greater success on a number of key indicators, compared to all under-represented minority students who took the ACT. For example:
  • 61 percent of all under-represented minority students who took the ACT enrolled in college, compared to 75 percent of white students.
  • But among under-represented minorities who met ACT's benchmarks of college readiness, 78 percent enrolled in college, compared to 84 percent of white students who met the benchmarks.
  • Students who met the benchmarks were also more likely to return for their second year of college. While 68 percent of all under-represented minority ACT takers re-enrolled for a second year, 83 percent of those meeting the four benchmarks did so. For white students, 74 percent of all test takers returned, compared to 84 percent of those meeting the benchmarks.
  • Gaps also narrowed when looking at first-year college students earning a GPA of at least 3.0.
  • Among all under-represented minorities, 31 percent did so; while 61 percent those meeting the college-ready benchmarks did. Among white students, the difference was 49 percent of all ACT takers making at least a 3.0 and 67 percent of those meeting the benchmarks.
The report makes three key recommendations:
  • Close the gap between student aspirations and high school course plans by ensuring that all students take at least a core curriculum in high school
  • Close the gap in the alignment of high school courses with college and career readiness standards by focusing high school core courses on the essential standards for college and career readiness.
  • Close the gap in the quality of high school courses across schools by offering all students rigorous high school core courses that cover the essential knowledge and skills needed for college and career readiness in sufficient depth and intensity.
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National panel urges innovation to meet global challenge

As North Carolina begins expanding the number of its STEM-focused innovative high schools under the state's Race to the Top initiative, a follow-up to a sobering 2005 report on the nation's competitiveness in science and technology continues to sound the alarm.

"America's competitive position in the world now faces even greater challenges, exacerbated by the economic turmoil of the last few years and by the rapid and persistent worldwide advance of education, knowledge, innovation, investment and industrial infrastructure," begins Rising Above the Gathering Storm, Revisited: Rapidly Approaching Category 5.

The new report by a group organized by the National Academies, which advises the federal government on scientific matters, includes a long list of "factoids," includuing these:
  • The United States ranks 27th among developed nations in the proportion of college students receiving undergraduate degrees in science or engineering.
  • GE has now located the majority of its R&D personnel outside the U.S.
  • The U.S. ranks 20th in high school completion rates among industrialized nations and 16th in college completion rates.
  • The average American K-12 student spends four hours a day in front of a TV.
  • Youths between the ages of eight and 18 average seven-and-a-half hours a day in front of video games, television and computers -- often multi-taking.
  • 68 percent of state prison inmates in the U.S. are high school dropouts or otherwise did not qualify for a diploma.
  • The U.S. has fallen from first to 11th place in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development in the proportion of 25-34 year olds that has graduated high school. The older portion of the U.S. workforce ranks first among OECD populations of the same age.
  • According to the ACT College Readiness report, 78 percent of high school graduates did not meet the readiness benchmark levels for one or more entkry-level college courses in mathematics, science, reading and English.
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NC's innovative high schools and students in the news ...

Good news this week from Randolph Early College and recognition for graduates of Early/Middle College at GTCC at Jamestown, J.F. Webb School of Health and Life Sciences, and Pender Early College.

·    Matthew Frazier, student at Randolph Early College High School, has been named a National Merit Scholarship semifinalist -- he and other semifinalists represent less than 1 percent of U.S. high school seniors and are the highest scoring entrants on the 2009 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT).

·    N.C. State University's list of valedictorians for 2010 included two graduates of NCNSP high schools: Ryan Edward Kabatchnick from the Early/Middle College at GTCC at Jamestown and Jeanne Marie Elliott from J.F. Webb School of Health and Life Sciences.

·    Pender County Early College graduate Diego Camposeco plans to spend a gap year working and studying in Mexico before beginning college as a Morehead-Cain Scholar at UNC-Chapel Hill. Read his blog post about how choosing the road less traveled in high school helped him decide between Harvard and Carolina.

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Look for NCNSP on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube 

The latest updates from the North Carolina New Schools Project and partner schools can now be found on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

Don't wait. Join the converation now. Just click on the links above to follow NCNSP.

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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.