Fouts

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Fouts Associates
Gates High School Initiatives A Review of Four
Studies Presented May 12, 2004
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Expectations and Rigor

• Purpose of the presentation
• To explore research findings around high school
  conversion projects and rigor
• High Expectations
• Student Work
• Transcript Study
• College Acceptance

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Levels of Change
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What Are Your Expectations?

• We have seen a significant shift in many
  educators expectations around student aptitude
  and achievement.
• This appears to be due to unexpected success of
  traditionally underachieving students.

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What Are Your Expectations?

• It is not a question of talent. All kids can go
  to college, and we need to reach them.
• Kids will rise to the expectations.
• or
• To accommodate the apathy and lack of skills,
  you lower your expectations.
• We have high expectations, but thats relative
  to the kids.
• They wont all be ready for college.

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Student Work Study

• Baseline data indicate the more rigorous the
  teacher assignments, the higher quality the
  student work
• Most typical student assignments are not very
  rigorous

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Student Work Study

• Participants
• 8 Large Comprehensive High Schools
• 48 Teachers (24 English/LA and 24 math)
• Methods
• Teachers submitted 8 assignments (4 typical and 4
  challenging) over 380 teacher assignments
• Teachers submitted Student work with 3 of the
  assignments over 1700 samples of student work

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Transcript Study

• Many students who meet graduation requirements do
  not meet minimum college entrance course
  requirements.
• There are large discrepancies around course
  taking patterns among ethnic groups and by
  gender.
• Students most often do not meet minimum college
  entrance course requirements in the areas of
  mathematics and foreign language.

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Transcript Study

• Reviewed transcripts 2002 graduates from 16
  schools during the baseline year of their
  reinvention
• 2621 transcripts scored for college readiness

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Washington Education Foundation

• Students who would not have traditionally gone to
  college are attending and staying in college at
  high rates.
• Success of students in college is challenging the
  belief systems of educators.
• Some schools are changing course offerings to
  ensure students have the option of attending
  college.

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Washington Education Foundation

• College enrollment and retention rates from
  three cohorts of students.

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Washington Education Foundation

• Enrollment
• Cohort 1 74.6 of the students awarded the
  scholarship were enrolled in classes in winter
  2004.
• Cohort 2 83.0 of the students awarded the
  scholarship were enrolled in classes in winter
  2004.
• Cohort 3 94.8 of the students awarded the
  scholarship were enrolled in classes in winter
  2004.

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Washington Education Foundation

• Retention
• Cohort 1 74.9 of the students who began in fall
  2001 are still enrolled.
• Cohort 2 85.4 of the students who began in fall
  2002 are still enrolled.
• Cohort 3 95.7 of the students who began in fall
  2003 are still enrolled.

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Reflecting on Issues of Rigor

• Expectations how we talk
• Student Work rigor of assignments
• Transcripts course offering/taking patterns
• College strategies for preparing students

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Big Assumptions
From your point of view, looking at data and
descriptives, what Big Assumptions from three
years ago appear NOT to have been true?
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Tracking Students in College

• We will begin providing college attendance
  information to select schools. We will be able to
  tell you
• if and where the student is enrolled in college
• dates of attendance
• enrollment/graduation status
• multiple attendance and transfers
• name and date of degree(s) awarded and
• name of major.

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Fouts Associates
Gates High School Initiatives A Review of Four
Studies Presented May 12, 2004