New Report: Community Partnerships necessary for School Improvement

Posted by on September 8, 2006

[posted from Public Education Network newsblast]

AMERICANS BELIEVE HIGH SCHOOLS CANNOT IMPROVE WITHOUT COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS

During a year of unprecedented attention to and demands for reform of the nation?s urban public high schools, a new poll from Carnegie Corporation of New York suggests a path that commands broad and deep support from Americans. The national survey found that more than two in three adults (68 percent) say that the best way to improve public education is to concentrate on the district as a whole and improve the entire system of high schools in a community. Only 26 percent say the best way is to fix one high school at a time. While high school reform has garnered significant attention in the past several years, most reform efforts follow a one-school-at-a-time model. The findings from Carnegie Corporation of New York?s survey demonstrate that the majority of Americans want their school districts to improve all high schools simultaneously. The poll also points to the urgent need for reform. Nearly three in four Americans (73 percent) say that at least “some” of the urban public high schools in their city are failing to properly educate students. Other key findings include: (1) Nine in 10 Americans (91 percent) agree that every public high school should be as good as the community?s very best; (2) More than nine in 10 Americans (92 percent) agree that successful high school reform must include changes in how the school district manages its high schools; and (3) More than four in five Americans (85 percent) say the larger community outside of the school district should play an important role in improving the quality of education offered by urban high schools.

http://www.carnegie.org/sub/news/onehighschool.html