World of Learning Blog
Judge Jones: Why Youngstown City Schools Must Act Boldly
Judge Nathaniel R. Jones, retired United States Circuit judge for the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, currently Of Counsel with Blank Rome LLP and member of the Board of Directors of KnowledgeWorks in Cincinnati.
A Youngstown native, Judge Jones wrote in a Youngstown Vindicator Op-Ed about the Youngstown City Schools recently updated annual plan and why it falls short of needed reforms in City School Must Act Boldly:
That plan does not take up the bold reform we proposed and thus falls short of the systemic reform for which we were advocating. However, we do think their plan may achieve academic gains over the next few years, depending on success in implementation, and possibly even allow the schools to return to the community from state control over the next several years.
But our opinion is that following a course of incremental change for modest gains, building on an outdated model of schooling that heretofore has produced mostly poor outcomes, will not likely produce the kind of dramatic gains toward excellence we are advocating for and Youngstown students deserve.
With this situation, I am reminded of a report I co-authored with the Youngstown Leadership Conference 45 years ago. In that report, entitled “Past Neglects, Future Demands,” we concluded that significant and systemic changes were needed in the community to bring equality to all residents, which at that time was still very unequal.
Essentially, what we are stating to the community is that Youngstown is in a crisis and that there is urgency. The crisis and urgency result from the harsh truth that a rendezvous is occurring between past neglects and future demands. If citizens of Youngstown rise to the occasion, the rendezvous will be glorious. However, their failure to do so could be catastrophic.
Visit Vindy.com to read the full editorial.
First Public Draft of the Next Generation of Science Standards
This is an exciting time for all interested in science education. The first public draft of the Next Generation of Science Standards (NGSS) document is scheduled to be be available for review later today.
At EDWorks, we’re encouraging all to take the time to review this important document. The public will have approximately three weeks to submit comments.
The NGSS is based upon A National Framework for K-12 Science Education. To prepare for the review of the NGSS draft document, it is essential to become familiar with the Framework document so that the draft NGSS review comments will align and to learn what the limits are for what can be included in the NGSS.
- For our schools in Michigan, the Michigan Mathematics and Science Centers have scheduled workshops for public review of the NGSS.
- For our partner schools in Ohio, the Ohio Department of Education has developed a webcast to help prepare potential reviewers with the necessary background information.
- For EDWorks schools in New York, the New York State Education Department has developed a website that contains archived webinars from the National Academies. The New York State Department of Education website provides a detailed historical progression with documentation of the overall process of the development of the National Science Framework and the Next Generation Science Standards.
If you don’t see information pertaining to your state here, reach out to your state’s Department of Education to learn about education opportunities available to you.
Guest Post by Esther Hopkins, a Technical Assistance Coach for EDWorks.
EDWorks Fast Track Schools Among Best in Nation
Athletes from around the world are training for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games so they can prove that they are the best. At the end of their games / matches / races, the winners will stand on platforms and be given awards. Rewarded for years of hard work.
Although the required skill sets might be different, working in schools to help students succeed can take the same perseverance and determination we see from the world’s best athletes. There is no end of the race nor a three-tiered platform, but U.S. News and World Report is helping recognize success.
Five of our Fast Track early college high schools were just named among the Best High Schools in the United States and three received Bronze Medals:
- Dayton Early College Academy (DECA), Bronze Medal Award Winner
- Toledo Early College High School, Bronze Medal Award Winner
- Youngstown Early College High School, Bronze Medal Award Winner
- Akron Early College High School
- Columbus Africentric Early College
Learn more about how EDWorks Fast Track can help your schools achieve success.
Gaining STEM Skills Via Video Games
Growing up, I wasn’t allowed to play video games. My parents subscribed to the “They’ll rot your brain!” theory. So I would sneak up the street and play on the neighbor’s Atari. The Rot You Brain theory, although still endorsed by my mother, is flawed, primarily because video games can be used as learning tools. There has been a rising awareness of, and interest in, gaming and how it can be combined with education.
The Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) has recognized that there are too few America graduates in the STEM fields. Someday, qualified people will be needed to fill government positions and what will the results be if those people don’t exist? One solution DARPA came up with was to partner with TopCoder, an online development community. TopCoder was tasked by DARPA to create a series of educational games that would be fun but also teach STEM skills. All of the games are hosted on NoNameSite.com, which is open for all 13-18 year olds in US and has an ongoing stream of contests and giveaways featured around their eight fun games.
At EDWorks, we’ve been partnering with TopCoder to bring these games to three of our schools. Over the course of a four week period, students at three EDWorks’ partner schools are competing in a series of online games with a STEM focus:
- Alice in Booleanland
- Brando the Egg Hunter Extraordinaire
- Billiards
- Into the Claw
An online leaderboard is updated daily so that students can see how they are ranking. Participating schools in this event are: Central Collegiate Academy in Detroit, Michigan; Encore: Arts, Communication and Design Academy at Reynoldsburg High School in Reynoldsburg, Ohio; and the Health Science and Human Service Academy at Reynoldsburg High School in Reynoldsburg, Ohio.
For the last week, students have been using boolean logic to help Alice and for the first several other weeks of May they’ll be playing video games. And throughout, everyone is learning STEM skills.
Where’s an Atari when you need one?
Learn More
- Learn more about NoNameSite.com and TopCoder.
- Find out more about DARPA initiatives to strengthen STEM education.
- Read about EDWorks and its innovative high school work.
Two EDWorks New Start Schools Illustrate Michigan’s Renaissance
Willie E. Thompson Middle School and Arthur Hill High School in Saginaw, Michigan, were among the 28 schools in the state to receive School Improvement Grant (SIG) money from the Recovery Act of 2009.
In Brenda Álvarez’ article published by the National Education Association (NEA), Leann Bauer, president of the Saginaw Education Association, is quoted as saying, “We’re committed to providing quality education for every student. The resources we’ve received so far have allowed us to strengthen our practice and lead us in a direction that is more student-centered.”
EDWorks has been partnering with Willie E. Thompson Middle School and Arthur Hill High School, both New Start schools, to help meet that goal of quality education. Norman Siebenhar and Larry Mumford, EDWorks Technical Assistance Coaches, have been working with the team at Willie E. Thompson Middle School. “We’ve been focusing on professional development with an emphasis on the teaching and learning process,” Siebenhar said.
Siebenhar has seen success from increased use of high-payoff instructional strategies, especially literacy, and administrators assuming an active role as educational leaders.
At Arthur Hill High School, students are attending interest-based academies based on EDWorks models. “There are two academies,” explained Judythe Hummel, an EDWorks Technical Assistance coach. “One has a STEM focus while the other fosters innovation. Our goal is to support the students and helps them pursue their interests.”
Middle school students have been visiting the academies, setting them on a pathway for high school success.
“Saginaw’s economic realities are harsh, but those realities are not housed within Thompson or Arthur Hill,” said Álvarez in her NEA article. “The days of teachers versus school administrators are gone, and everyone is working collaboratively to create a learning environment that will not just help students, but will pull Saginaw out of further decline through a strong and educated workforce.”
Read the complete article, “Michigan’s Renaissance Starts with Reinvesting in Public Education.”
A Town’s Technical Transformation
An early college high school with a technical focus is getting some of the credit for helping make a town more high-tech. As part of their Made in America series, ABC news highlighted the transformation occurring in Malta, New York.
After seeing too much industry leaving their town, Malta city leaders convinced Global Foundries to build a factory based there, creating 1,300 new jobs. Part of what they were able to offer was a great education system that would help ensure an ongoing skilled workforce for the company.
Students at Technologies and Sustainable Industries Early College High School, an EDWorks partner school in the Smart Scholars program with the State University of New York, are getting a jump start on career readiness.
The school provides students with knowledge and skills necessary to make informed college and career decisions as they relate to the clean technology field. Students are dually enrolled in high school and college coursework with the potential of earning more than 20 college credits through Hudson Valley Community College.
See more about the transformation of Malta, New York, into a high-tech town.
video platform video management video solutions video player
TEDS-M Report Looks at Math Education Around the World
The Teacher Education Study in Mathematics (TEDS-M) 2008, published this month, is the first international study that provides empirical data describing the content and pedagogical knowledge that future K-12 mathematics teachers receive from college mathematics teacher education.
According to the International Association for the Evaluation of Education Achievement (IEA), the study has two underlying purposes. “The first was to identify how the countries participating in TEDS-M prepare teachers to teach mathematics in primary and lower-secondary schools. The second was to study variation in the nature and impact of teacher education programs on mathematics teaching and learning within and across the participating countries.”
A list of the 17 participating countries can be found on the TEDS-M website.
The report highlights the importance of teacher preparation to the level of student performance of mathematical tasks. The report links content and pedagogical knowledge combined as necessary for highly qualified teachers.
The report highlighted the weaknesses within the American teacher educational system, especially in mathematics.
The report does not address how to overcome this weakness, but other research shows positive results for using embedded teacher professional development. Embedded teacher professional development, such as offered by EDWorks in its school models, improves teacher content and pedagogical knowledge in the classroom setting.
Guest Post by Esther Hopkins, a Technical Assistance Coach for EDWorks.
Maximizing College and Minimizing Debt
In an April 24 Fox Business column, writer Christina Couch pondered the question Is Education Still Worth the Debt?. Ms. Couch noted that college tuition costs are rising at three times the rate of inflation, federal Pell Grant funding is diminishing, student loan default rates are up and many employment opportunities are down. So is a college degree really worth what we always thought was? According to the article’s expert Lauren Asher, president of Institute for College Access & Success, yes, it really is still worth the expense. While college is expensive, the unemployment rate for those without a Bachelor’s Degree is about twice as high. Students who earn a Bachelor’s Degree also enjoy a significantly higher lifetime earning capacity. Asher also makes some strong suggestions for ways students can keep a “lid” on college debt.
While Asher’s suggestions are great, I challenge educators, parents and business leaders to think outside the box and consider starting an Early College High School in your community. For thousands of American high school students, Early College High School is a great way to maximize college credit hours earned and minimize debt. Since 2002, the partner organizations of the Early College High School Initiative have started or redesigned 240+ schools serving more than 75,000 students in 28 states and the District of Columbia. The schools are designed so that low-income youth, first-generation college goers, English language learners, students of color, and other young people underrepresented in higher education can simultaneously earn a high school diploma and an Associate’s degree or up to two years of credit toward a Bachelor’s degree—tuition free.
EDWorks, a subsidiary of KnowledgeWorks Foundation, is one of only thirteen partners in the United States offering supports to schools and communities interested in starting early college high schools. EDWorks’ Fast Track early college high schools are changing what it means to be a college student. Through Fast Track students receive a four-year academic roadmap that accelerates them through a rigorous high school course of study and as many as 60 hours of college credit before graduation in an atmosphere with high levels of support and expectation. Over 79% of the graduates of an EDWorks’ Fast Track early college high school complete at least one year of college before graduation, saving an average of $7,605 (per College Board 2010). Many students complete 60 hours or an associate’s degree before graduation which is an even greater savings.
To learn more visit EDWorks at www.edworkspartners.org.
Re-Inventing the Senior Experience: What could it “look” like?
In yesterday’s Cleveland Plain Dealer article entitled “Ohio’s education leaders want to overhaul 12th grade so students are ready for college, training”, Ohio’s Superintendent of Public Instruction and Board of Regents Chancellor challenged school leaders to reinvent the senior year in high school. Superintendent Heffner states “A high school senior year is in many ways a wasteland” and in 20 years of experience working with high schools that is very often the case. Students who are on-track to graduate have typically completed all or most of their required courses by the end of junior year and with the huge budget cuts most schools have implemented, there really aren’t many electives available.
So what can be done differently senior year to better prepare them for life after high school? EDWorks, a non-profit subsidiary of the KnowledgeWorks Foundation, collaborates with school leaders to completely re-think the high school experience. Our New Start interest-based academies offer smaller, more personalized academic experiences that culminate with Senior Capstone experiences, which are conducted in partnership with local businesses and non-profits. Next year, graduating seniors attending Reynoldsburg High School’s eSTEM Academy will have a three hour block every day focused on preparing students to succeed in one of four capstone areas. The remainder of the day will be available for internships, mentoring/service learning, college courses, blended learning and other electives.
EDWorks also works with high need communities to implement Fast Track early college high schools where underserved students are able to earn 45-60 college credits before the end of senior year. In fact, this year over 55% of the students graduating from Akron Early College High School will also earn an associate’s degree upon graduation.
What kinds of innovations are your schools doing which also help re-invent the senior experience?
To learn more about our models visit: www.edworkspartners.org.
Read the complete Cleveland Plain Dealer article.
The evolution of good principals
KnowledgeWorks Founder Chad Wick and his cohorts writing for the National Journal Education Experts Blog this week addressed the ever-expanding role of principals.
Blog editor Fawn Johnson referenced a new report from the Center for Public Education that says a principal’s responsibilities have grown beyond administrative duties to include core curriculum and student achievement goals, and many in the profession now feel the job is “undoable.”
In “The evolution of good principals,” Wick writes that today’s successful principal must become more collaborative, evolving with the needs of students, faculty and the varying demands heaped upon him or her. To read the entire blog post along with other entries, click here.
Waiting for Godot
Fixing education is a frequent topic at panel events like the New York Ideas forum on public education. And who doesn’t love a little sparring between ideological adversaries? So I allowed myself a wry smile at the excellent Atlantic Wire post: In “Fixing Education: The Problems Are Clear But the Solutions Aren’t Simple.”
The one thing all the panelist(s) could agree on is that the we can’t “wait for Godot” as Klein puts it. You also cannot try fixing the issues one at a time, as Anderson passionately insisted, like plugging holes on a sinking ship. You can’t work on parent engagement one year, and teacher training the next and look for a new principal the year after that and then expect a four-year high school student to see any benefit. Change must comprehensive and aggressive, because it takes 12 years to graduate, but only one to drop out.
The toughest thing about advocating on behalf of children in our public schools is the slow pace of change while the people who have the power to enact change talk about solutions. When you have a child who is on the verge of “unplugging” for any reason, hearing that we know the system isn’t ideal and that change is coming does not address the elephant sitting across the table from you at dinner – “what about those forced to make do while they wait for change to come?”
“Waiting for Superman” was all about parents and students waiting to be rescued. “Waiting for Godot” implies no change at all – just a constant conversation about the waiting that keeps the “panel participants” engaged in an ongoing discussion. Having different sides of the aisle engaged in a constant state of symbiosis only benefits the existence of that state. It’s the Cold War all over again.
Digital Learning: The Future of Schooling?
Join national and state education experts, educators and policymakers on May 17th in Columbus for a non-partisan conversation about the role of teachers, accountability, governance and school spending in the digital era.
Sponsored by the Nord Family Foundation, the Thomas B. Fordham Institute and KnowledgeWorks
Confirmed speakers for the event include Steve Dackin, Reynoldsburg City Schools; Bryan Hassel, Public Impact; Paul Hill, Center on Reinventing Public Education; State Senator Peggy Lehner; Susan Patrick, iNACOL; Susan Stagner, Connections Education and Tom Vander Ark, GettingSmart.
For more information and to register please visit EdExcellence.net
In Detroit, there is reason to expect success
Glenn Bar, the producer of WXYZ’s Detroit 2020, passed along an ocean-blue, Lance Armstrong-style bracelet that reflects the show’s intent: “Unify, Inspire, Act.” During its 5 p.m. newscast on Wednesday, Detroit 2020 featured my organization’s work in the state’s first high school, historic Detroit Central Collegiate Academy. Watch it online.
The summary is that EDWorks’ New Start high school approach is showing great promise at Central, but we know there is much work to be done – not just at Central, but in high schools just like it all over the United States. Meanwhile, we hope our work at Central continues to heed D2020’s call to “help inspire change and make Detroit a better place to live, work and raise families.” We are trying to do just that nationwide by applying lessons we’ve learned from a history of successful transformation work.
Former West Virginia Governor Bob Wise, now a passionate education reformer, likes to talk about how the current education system is offering an 8-track education in an iPod world. And in many ways, that’s true.
In schools all over the United States, we usher our kids into classrooms that closely resemble those common 50 years ago. We ask kids to memorize and regurgitate. And then we wonder why they don’t retain knowledge or why we don’t get the outcomes we expect. Success in today’s work place demands advanced skills in critical thinking and problem solving, as well as a kind of intellectual agility that enables learners to shift readily from one task to another. Those who have strong language and math skills, technological capabilities, and a capacity to work well in teams, are most likely to succeed.
Yes, today, only about seven out of 10 of students earn their high school diploma, which sets them up to do worse than their peers in today’s increasingly competitive global environment. By some estimates, high school dropouts cost between $320 billion and $350 billion annually in lost wages, taxable income, health, and welfare and incarceration costs. The National Center for Education Statistics said that a person who did not complete high school will earn about $630,000 less over their lifetime than someone who has earned at least a GED.
Clearly, those numbers are not acceptable, nor sustainable for the long-term success of our country. In fact, a recent Georgetown University study estimates that by 2018, 63 percent of available jobs will require some college education.
It’s no secret that in Detroit, education and economic woes are much worse that in most other areas of the country, and the root causes of those woes are well-documented.
However, I share a boundless optimism about the future of the region because I’m beginning to see positive changes in DPS. Test scores are on the rise, attendance is up, and a culture of excellence is taking root.
Detroit Central Collegiate Academy English Teacher Crystal Jackson recently noted the transformation. “Our test scores have increased, we have more teacher participation, we have more hands-on activity,” she said. “We are really becoming a technologically-driven school (with) different innovative and creative ideas and approaches to delivering academic instruction.”
In Ohio a few years back, we worked with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the U.S. Department of Education and others to take on the challenge of turning around the most persistently lowest performing schools. As we began the actual work, we found high-poverty, high-minority schools were disproportionately characterized by low expectations, unqualified, inexperienced, poorly prepared teachers, badly designed curriculum lacking in rigor and relevance. Those factors, when combined with a reliance on narrow definitions of success, played an enormous role in explaining why students in these schools were not achieving at high levels.
After six years of intensive and productive work, overall high school graduation rates in these schools increased by 32 percent from 2002 to 2008. During the same time period, the state graduation rate increased just more than 2 percent. And the graduation gap between our high schools and all Ohio high schools closed dramatically between 2002 and 2008 by more than 73 percent.
Nearly eight out of ten African-American students in these sites are graduating – a 29 percent increase from 2002 to 2008, surpassing the state’s 64 percent graduation rate for African-American students during the same period.
My optimism for DPS and school systems all over America is not blind.
It is rooted in the fact that I know positive results can be achieved if we are willing to do the hard work to get there and remain focused on long-term improvement over the long term.
Harold D. Brown is president of EDWorks, a high school turnaround and development organization that partners with schools, districts and states to provide effective, long-term solutions. EDWorks offers three different approaches to school design: New Start, Fast Track, and STEMLab high schools.
Detroit 2020 Focusing on an EDWorks Partnership in Detroit
When Detroit 2020 wanted to focus on school improvement work happening in Detroit, they turned to the city’s oldest public high school, Central Collegiate Academy. Although the school’s exterior retains most of its old architectural beauty, inside everyone is focused on the future. Students have access to a beautiful mock trial room, a recording studio and a television studio. The school has also created a network of community partnerships to expand services and opportunities for students. One of these partnerships is with St. John Providence Health System, which operates a community clinic within the school, offering healthcare to students as well as teaching them about careers in STEM fields.
At EDWorks, we’ve been working with Central Collegiate Academy to help achieve the success. In an interview with Detroit 2020, EDWorks President Harold Brown talked about our collaborative work with the school. “It’s about helping them understand where students are and what they need to be successful,” he said.
Watch the complete video from Detroit 2020: Learn more about EDWorks and EDWorks New Start.An Educational Silver Bullet?
As Ohio’s economy continues to lag, everyone is looking for ideas to turn things around. Many are looking to education reform, as educational attainment and economic development are closely and necessarily aligned. One successful approach that may just be an educational silver bullet is the Early College High School.
Regrettably, Ohio is an under-producer of intellectual capital. Nationally, about 38 percent of the adult (25-64) population possess some type of post-secondary degree. For Ohio the figure is 35 percent, with a projection of 44 percent by 2025. Massachusetts, by contrast, currently has a 50 percent rate with a 2025 projection of 58 percent.
We have always known that more education translated into more life-time earnings, but the uncertainty has been about how to drive more young people toward the levels of education that they will need to earn a life-time livable wage.
During the past year, Ohio’s State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Stan Heffner, called for every Ohio high school student to be college- and career-ready at the time of graduation. This is not about having every student go to college: it is, instead, about making certain that every student possesses the skills to have the choice of going to college.
At the present time, only Ohio’s more affluent suburbs are producing in adequate numbers students who subsequently secure some type of post-secondary credential. In higher poverty districts, the college completion rates are flat at a rather dismal 10-15% rate: That means 9 out of 10 higher poverty students currently have no post-secondary degree.
Ohio simply cannot afford to continue to graduate so many high school students, especially those from high poverty backgrounds, who lack the skills needed for 21st century jobs. In the emerging economy, two out of three positions will require some type of post-secondary marketable credential.
One proven strategy for increasing the success rates of high poverty students in terms of college access and completion is to increase significantly the number of early colleges. Other states, such as North Carolina and Texas, have done this with remarkable success. Ohio needs to more fully embrace the strategy as well.
The early college movement began in Ohio in 2003 in Dayton, with the Dayton Early College Academy. There are now 10 early colleges in the state, with six new ones on the drawing board. All but one serves high poverty populations.
The facts speak to the power of the early college model.
Almost all early college graduates earn some type of college credit before they graduate from high school. Approximately 69 percent of all high school graduates enroll in college. By contrast, in 2009-10, almost 86 percent of all early college graduates enrolled in college after their high school graduation.
Nearly one–quarter of the early college graduates in 2009 also earned an associate’s degree (or two years of college) at the time of their high school graduation.
Ohio’s early colleges are remarkably successful by any measure, yet they serve the populations often “untouched” by current traditional educational structures.
Ohio needs to both celebrate the success of the early college educational innovation and find ways to rapidly expand the initiative so the state has the intellectual capital it needs for economic success and to ensure more young people have the skills and credentials for personal prosperity.
This post is part of a series celebrating Early College High School Week 2012. Read other posts from this series:
- Early College High Schools: Creating Systemic Change
- Early College High School: Changing Lives
- Early Colleges Demystify College Experience for First-Generation College Goers
Guest post by Thomas J. Lasley II, a current professor and former dean (1998-2010) of the University of Dayton School of Education and Allied Professions. He is also executive director of Learn to Earn Dayton.
Early colleges demystify college experience for first-generation college goers
This is Early College High School Week, when communities all over America celebrate educational achievements that defy conventional wisdom: high school students, many of them economically disadvantaged or the first in their family to go to college, earning significant college credits – some even obtaining associate degrees.
No doubt, those cheering the loudest are the parents.
No matter what level of income or career success parents achieve, they send their children to school each day with the hopes that they will do better. Parents who have attained college degrees tend to understand the path and skills required for 21st-century success. But parents who never walked into lecture halls, weeded through long lists of course options, or pulled all-nighters to finish a scholarly paper may have a harder time envisioning what college success looks like and passing such wisdom to their kids.
Early college high schools (ECHS) bridge that gap. They demystify higher education for students who may not otherwise be college-bound, and give them a head start on their post-secondary education career.
EDWorks Fast Track early college high schools first got their start in 2003 in Ohio, and have defied the notion that only kids in suburban enclaves can engage in a rigorous course of study while being challenged and supported both academically and socially. ECHS students learn to persevere, meet and exceed high expectations, receiving up to 60 hours of college credit with their high school diploma. Young people who are the first in their families to go to college are traversing a blended, seamless secondary and post-secondary experience with aplenty and, most importantly, success.
A year and a half ago at Monroe Community College, the community of Rochester came together to usher in the arrival of 11 Smart Scholars Early College High School partnerships with the State University of New York and EDWorks. The track record of our early college high schools suggests that communities throughout New York can expect long-term success.
These schools are on the front line of the fight to end America’s drop-out crisis. More than 90 percent of EDWorks’ early college high school students graduate, and more than one in three graduate with two years worth of college credit or an associate degree. Many others shorten their road to a bachelor’s degree by earning a number of college credits.
By blending the experiences of high school and college, students get the guidance and support they need to unveil the mystery of college and develop the independent work ethic that post-secondary education requires. EDWorks’ Fast Track early college high schools have graduated hundreds of students that have long surpassed the hopes their parents held when they entrusted them to these newly minted high schools. We support efforts to find specific long-term funding strategies in New York to ensure that these schools remain an innovative option for first-time college goers.
And, as we have witnessed many times, when a college-going culture is established in families, that culture inspires a legacy of success that will positively impact generations.
Learn more about EDWorks Fast Track early college high schools.
This post is part of a series celebrating Early College High School Week 2012. Read other posts from this series:
- Early College High Schools: Creating Systemic Change
- Early College High School: Changing Lives
- An Educational Silver Bullet?
Guest Post by Andrea Mulkey, National Director of EDWorks Fast Track high schools, early college high schools in which students begin taking college courses during their freshman and sophomore years and often graduate with an associate degree or 60 hours of college credit.
Early College High School: Changing Lives
This week is Early College High School Week, a celebration of schools like EDWorks Fast Track schools that offer students an opportunity to earn college credit while still in high school. Throughout this week we’ll be highlighting EDWorks Fast Track team members to learn more about their experiences with early college high schools.
Today, we’re focusing on Tom Forbes. Tom was the founding principal at Canton Early College High School and Akron Early College High School. During the last year, he has joined EDWorks and provides mentoring and coaching to early college high schools.
Ask Tom why he believes in early college high schools and he’ll quickly reply, “It changes lives!” During his time as a principal and now as a coach, Tom has seen collegiate success become attainable “for a group who normally would be at risk of dropping out of high school.”
Many people think that early college high schools are nothing more than a dual credit pathway. EDWorks Fast Track schools are much more than dual enrollment. Through Fast Track, students have a four-year academic roadmap that accelerates them through a rigorous high school course of study and up to 60 hours of college credit before graduation. Fast Track high schools use the “power of the place” (full integration with a two- or four-year institution) to motivate students to model successful college behavior and grasp higher expectations.
For Tom, a standout feature of early college high schools is “the culture of support and a laser focus on academic achievement that makes college success possible for students who may struggle in a traditional school environment.”
When Tom’s working with schools as a coach, he is able to draw from his own experience as an early college high school principal as he guides schools through the EDWorks Fast Track model. “I am reminded daily about how K-12 speaks such a different language from higher education. As a coach, my job is to bring the two sides together to create a seamless and supportive transition for the students.”
Tom’s goal is to help schools provide the same great early college high school experience EDWorks was able to help him and his teachers provide for their students.
Learn more about EDWorks Fast Track early college high schools.
This post is part of a series celebrating Early College High School Week 2012. Read other posts from this series:
An Educational Silver Bullet?
By Thomas J. Lasley II is a current professor and former dean (1998-2010) of the University of Dayton School of Education and Allied Professions. He is also executive director of Learn to Earn Dayton.
As Ohio’s economy continues to lag, everyone is looking for ideas to turn things around. Many are looking to education reform, as educational attainment and economic development are closely and necessarily aligned. One successful approach that may just be an educational silver bullet is the Early College High School.
Regrettably, Ohio is an under-producer of intellectual capital. Nationally, about 38 percent of the adult (25-64) population possess some type of post-secondary degree. For Ohio the figure is 35 percent, with a projection of 44 percent by 2025. Massachusetts, by contrast, currently has a 50 percent rate with a 2025 projection of 58 percent.
We have always known that more education translated into more life-time earnings, but the uncertainty has been about how to drive more young people toward the levels of education that they will need to earn a life-time livable wage.
During the past year, Ohio’s State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Stan Heffner, called for every Ohio high school student to be college- and career-ready at the time of graduation. This is not about having every student go to college: it is, instead, about making certain that every student possesses the skills to have the choice of going to college.
At the present time, only Ohio’s more affluent suburbs are producing in adequate numbers students who subsequently secure some type of post-secondary credential. In higher poverty districts, the college completion rates are flat at a rather dismal 10-15% rate: That means 9 out of 10 higher poverty students currently have no post-secondary degree.
Ohio simply cannot afford to continue to graduate so many high school students, especially those from high poverty backgrounds, who lack the skills needed for 21st century jobs. In the emerging economy, two out of three positions will require some type of post-secondary marketable credential.
One proven strategy for increasing the success rates of high poverty students in terms of college access and completion is to increase significantly the number of early colleges. Other states, such as North Carolina and Texas, have done this with remarkable success. Ohio needs to more fully embrace the strategy as well.
The early college movement began in Ohio in 2003 in Dayton, with the Dayton Early College Academy. There are now 10 early colleges in the state, with six new ones on the drawing board. All but one serves high poverty populations.
The facts speak to the power of the early college model.
Almost all early college graduates earn some type of college credit before they graduate from high school. Approximately 69 percent of all high school graduates enroll in college. By contrast, in 2009-10, almost 86 percent of all early college graduates enrolled in college after their high school graduation.
Nearly one–quarter of the early college graduates in 2009 also earned an associate’s degree (or two years of college) at the time of their high school graduation.
Ohio’s early colleges are remarkably successful by any measure, yet they serve the populations often “untouched” by current traditional educational structures.
Ohio needs to both celebrate the success of the early college educational innovation and find ways to rapidly expand the initiative so the state has the intellectual capital it needs for economic success and to ensure more young people have the skills and credentials for personal prosperity.
This post is part of a series celebrating Early College High School Week 2012. Read the first post from this series: Early College High Schools: Creating Systemic Change.
Early College High Schools: Creating Systemic Change
This week is Early College High School Week, a celebration of schools like EDWorks Fast Track schools that offer high school students an opportunity to earn college credit while still in high school. Throughout this week we’ll be highlighting EDWorks Fast Track team members to learn more about their experiences with early college high schools.
Today, we’re focusing on Roslyn M. Valentine. Roslyn was the founding principal at Lorain County Early College High School, where she was the administrator for seven years. Since then, she has joined EDWorks and provides mentoring and coaching to early college high schools.
Roslyn believes early college high schools work because they “provide access to college for students or families who thought college was the impossible dream.”
Roslyn recalled one student, Cody, who really illustrated this point. When he started at Lorain County Early College High School, he had been labeled as unruly and unmotivated and few people had faith that he could be successful in school. “The dynamics of an early college high school creates systemic cultural change,” said Roslyn.
Cody attended Lorain County Early College High School against the recommendation of his middle school teachers and counselor. Throughout his freshman year, the school administration and teachers were concerned about how to support Cody’s school experience. His parents and grandparents lacked a strong educational background so his home support was minimal. “But Cody had listened to the recruitment speeches and adopted the early college high school vision,” said Roslyn. “He believed that with hard work, dedication and utilizing every support provided he would be the first in his family to graduate from college.”
Roslyn said one of the biggest misconceptions is that by adding a few college courses to a high school curriculum, an early college high school is created. This doesn’t account for the structural interventions that need to occur, the changes in the schools culture and support structures. EDWorks coaches were able to work with Roslyn and her team to make those changes.
During Cody’s sophomore year, teachers and administration shifted their approach to working with him. They started encouraging him to attend after-school tutoring and peer study groups. His hard work paid off and by his junior year he was able to start taking college-level courses. “His senior year, Cody became the most sought after peer tutor for the chemistry course,” said Roslyn.
Cody completed high school with an Associate’s Degree, becoming the first in his family to earn a college degree, and went on to a four-year college.
“Cody’s story is relevant not only because early college high school changed one student’s life but also because it changed the attitude of my staff,” said Roslyn. “They became true believers in the approach.”
Learn more about EDWorks Fast Track early college high schools.
This post is part of a series celebrating Early College High School Week 2012. Read other posts from this series:
In his budget, Ohio Gov. Kasich continues call for schools and districts to do more with less
Ohio Governor John Kasich’s new FY2013 mid-year budget package continues to encourage school districts to do more with less – a call we made more than a year ago in our Ohio Smart Schools initiative.
The budget proposal released Wednesday moves forward proposals to encourage more digital and blending learning in the classroom and to provide tools for schools and districts to share services in order to improve services and reduce costs.
In our Ohio Smart Schools initiative, we encouraged the state to take action a year ago to help schools and districts continue academic improvements while reducing costs. We are pleased that the governor in this budget continues to provide guidance and tools to districts to help them improve academic achievement but do so at a lower cost.
Last year, Ohio Education Matters called for the state to provide incentives and support for schools and districts to share services in order to maintain services but do so at a lower cost. That recommendation came in the Ohio Smart Schools report, Towards a New Model of Educational Governance for Ohio: Regional Cooperation to Align Education Services. That report said the state should provide more regional support to schools and districts through comprehensive Regional Service Agencies that would provide economies of scale and opportunities to share services at lower costs.
The report also called for the state to expand the existing network of P-16 councils statewide to help communities organize their resources around effective strategies to support children. The governor’s office has indicated that it would pursue the P-16 goal through separate legislation this year.
Ohio Education Matters helped the state shape its proposal that would provide an online clearinghouse of information, sample materials, and tools for shared services. “Through the use of this portal, local officials will have one-stop access to the latest information about how they can increase their savings through collaboration,” stated the governor’s budget proposal. “Ohio will create a new online portal through which schools and local government can engage in joint purchasing in order to lower their costs for many services and products that they current must pay for individually.”
The governor’s budget also calls for Ohio’s school and districts to do more with blending learning – a practice that combines on-line learning for credit and on-line materials to help teachers differentiate instruction with classroom instruction – by defining its use and creating standards for blending learning.
Ohio’s march toward 21st century learning will be defined by how well the state right now can help educators unleash the potential of on-line learning for students. With the rapid advance of technology and quality on-line instruction, it is no longer a question of whether Ohio students will have access to this learning. It is a question of when and how well it is being delivered to all students.
Ohio Education Matters and KnowledgeWorks have encouraged the state to adopt standards for digital learning that mirror the standards set out by national experts through Digital Learning Now!
We are hopeful that the state task force on digital learning will bring even more definition to this effort. The task force, called for in last year’s budget, is working on recommendations for digital learning in the state and is expected to release a report later this month.
More information is available at www.ohioeducationmatters.org and www.ohiosmartschools.org.
