(Name-mce) ListServ "New Study Says NYC Small High School Reforms Boost Student Performance

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NYC High School Reforms Boost Student Performance, Study Finds  (2/01/07)
Created just four years ago, the first group of new small high schools in  
New York City is graduating students at rates that are 20 percent higher than  
the citywide average, a new report from San Francisco-based WestEd ( 
_http://wested.org/cs/we/print/docs/we/home.htm_ 
(http://wested.org/cs/we/print/docs/we/home.htm)   ) finds.
Funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the report, Rethinking  High 
School: Inaugural Graduations at New York City's New High Schools (28  pages, 
PDF), presents preliminary data on graduation rates from fourteen small  high 
schools that opened in 2002 as part of the Children First reform agenda  
introduced by Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the New Century High Schools  Initiative.
According to the report, 81 percent of the seniors at the new schools  
applied to college, while 85 percent of the same stu-
dents were accepted to  either two- or four-year institutions.  When those 
graduates had entered  ninth grade, more than 80 per-
cent of them did not meet New York state  standards in English or math.  The 
schools surveyed also reported higher  attendance and ninth-grade promotion 
rates than other schools in the  system.
Based on their findings, WestEd researchers recommend that the city's board  
of education take steps to scale up the small-school initiative beyond the 197 
 small schools currently operating.  They also recommend that the city align  
K-8 reforms with high school improvement strategies, expand rigorous course  
offerings through partnerships or online learning, do more to address 
enrollment  and space challenges, track students after graduation, and apply the 
lessons of  small schools to broader secondary reform.
"Our research shows that these new schools are doing exactly what they set  
out to do," said Tracy Huebner, a WestEd senior research associate and 
principal  author of the report.  "These schools show that a culture of high  
expectations, rigorous academics, and individualized attention accompanied by  the 
appropriate supports help students to succeed in their secondary  education."
 
 
Another resource
"New Study Says NYC Small High School Reforms Boost Student Performance."  
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Press Release
1/30/07.
 
_http://fconline.foundationcenter.org/pnd/10006170/story_ 
(http://fconline.foundationcenter.org/pnd/10006170/story)