New Report: Improving Low-Performing High Schools

Posted by on November 10, 2006

[posted from Public Education Network newsblast]

IMPROVING LOW-PERFORMING HIGH SCHOOLS

Recent research on three high school reform models from MDRC offers hope that programs can improve low-performing high schools. Together, these three interventions are being implemented in more than 2,500 high schools across the country, and various components of these models are being used in thousands more schools. Each model has been the subject of rigorous evaluation by MDRC, and each has been shown to improve some measures of student success. The new report offers lessons from across these three studies on: (1) Creating personalized and orderly learning environments; (2) Assisting students who enter high school with poor academic skills; (3) Improving instructional content and practice; (4) Preparing students for the world beyond high school; and (5) Stimulating change in overstressed high schools. The report asserts that structural changes and instructional improvement are the twin pillars of high school reform. MDRC?s research suggests that transforming schools into small learning communities and assigning students to faculty advisors can increase students? feelings of connectedness to their teachers. Extended class periods, special catch-up courses, high-quality curricula, and training on these curricula for teachers can improve student achievement. Furthermore, school-employer partnerships that involve career awareness activities and work internships can help students attain higher earnings after high school.

http://www.mdrc.org/press_releases/17/press_release_17.html