Louisiana High School Redesign Summit

1

• Louisiana High School Redesign Summit
• Lonnie Luce, PhD, Deputy Superintendent of
  Schools
• May 2, 2007

2
Agenda

• Who are Greenville County Schools?
• High School Reform in South Carolina the Three
  Rs
• Why 9th Grade Redesign in GCS?
• District Leadership
• What is Next?
• Wade Hampton High Schools Freshman Academy
• Questions

3
(No Transcript)
4
High School Reform in South Carolina the Three
Rs2006 SC High School Redesign Commission
Report

• I. Building Rigor
• High Expectations
• High Academic Standards
• Rigorous Course Work
• Personalized Support
• Varied Learning Styles

5
High School Reform in South Carolina the Three
Rs2006 SC High School Redesign Commission
Report

• II. Building Relevance
• Create a high school curriculum meaningful to
  students and tied to a real-world knowledge and
  skills
• Ability for students to choose a curriculum that
  fits their interests, everyday lives, and future
  plans

6
High School Reform in South Carolina the Three
Rs2006 SC High School Redesign Commission
Report

• III. Building Relationships
• Students academically perform better when they
  are known, valued, and contributing members of a
  learning community.

7
Rigor in GCS

• Increased number of AP, IB, and Honor course
  offerings
• High academic standards
• Professional Development support
• Curriculum Resource Teachers at all high schools
• New Uniform Grading Scale (2007-2008)

8
Relevance in GCS

• Education and Economic Development Act (EEDA)
  Implementation
• Dual Credit Offerings
• Virtual High School
• Twilight Schools
• Distance Learning
• Credit Recovery
• Technology Integration

9
Relationships in GCS

• Smaller Learning Communities (6 sites)
• High Schools That Work (8 sites)
• Vertical Teams
• Graduate Greenville
• Alternative pathways to graduation

10
Why 9th Grade Redesign in GCS?

• Only 5 of retained 9th graders will go on to
  graduate.
• More students fail ninth grade than any other
  grade of school.
• Students who repeat at least one year are three
  times more likely to drop out of school than
  students who have not failed a grade.
• 60 of students with multiple risk factors in
  eighth grade graduate from high school on time,
  compared to 90 of other students.

11
Why 9th Grade Redesign in GCS?

• The performance of students in Algebra I is the
  single most reliable indicator of their earnings
  at age 25.
• A study of 56 Georgia and Florida high schools
  found that schools with extensive transition
  programs had significantly lower failure and
  dropout rates than those schools that did not
  offer comprehensive programs.

12
Freshman Academy Results
Hillcrest High 2004-05 2005-06 9th Graders
Retained 208 83 Attendance Rate 93.38 93.41 Re
ferrals 2,398 1,810
13
Freshman Academy Results
Travelers Rest High 2004-05 2005-06 9th Graders
Retained 144 78 Attendance Rate - - Referrals 8
48 806
14
District Approach

• Applied for Small Learning Communities Grant
  (Awarded 2.1M for SY04-05 to SY06-07)
• Decentralized implementation (see goals)
• District level meetings to discuss best practices
  with other SLC schools

15
High School Schedules 07-08

• 8 Opportunity Block
• Berea
• Blue Ridge
• Greer
• Hillcrest
• Wade Hampton
• Woodmont

• 7 Period Day
• Carolina
• Eastside
• Greenville
• J. L. Mann
• Mauldin
• Riverside
• Southside
• Travelers Rest

16
What is Next?

• Implement HSTW district-wide
• Transition 9th grade Small Learning Communities
  into Clusters and Majors
• Offer dual credit courses for more Carnegie
  Credit
• Continue implementation of standards-based
  curriculum
• Increase number of Distance Learning
  opportunities
• Increase the percentage of students taking
  honors, IB, and AP courses
• Expand the possibilities of the Twilight
  Schools
• Educate middle-grades students, parents, and
  teachers about rigorous high school studies
• Establish a Parental Involvement training for
  schools

17
Lance Radford, Principal
18
What Are We?

• Grades 9-12 (389 Freshmen)
• 1300 students
• Gender
• Male 642 Female 658
• Ethnicity
• A 2
• B 25
• H 7
• O 1
• W 65
• Poverty Index (FARMS) approx. 35
• Zoning
• School of choice (21)

INITIAL GOAL OF THE FRESHMEN ACADEMY Reduce the
9th grade retention rate
19
WHHS Freshman Stats
2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 9th Graders
Retained 111 75 51 Attendance Rate 92.92 92.05 9
3.58 GPA 1.975 2.274 2.793 Referrals N/A 4,298 2,
095 Enrollment 407 433 412 HSAP Pass
Rate N/A 68.9 75.6
20
District Support

• One size does not fit all
• Flexibility
• Things are not done in isolation
• District level meetings with other schools that
  have 9th grade academies
• Take chances
• OK to throw out what didnt work (even though you
  may have spent a lot of money on the effort)

21
SREB HSTW Freshman Academy Philosophy

• Isolate the first year freshmen in major academic
  classes
• Dedicated Freshman Academy Coordinator
• Dedicated Guidance Counselor Administrator
• Dedicated Freshman Academy Faculty with time for
  collaboration built into the day
• Incentive Programs for Teachers and Students

22
SREB HSTW Freshman Academy Philosophy

• Tutoring programs
• Double blocking classes
• Small class sizes
• Teaming Collaboration of teachers
• Professional Development for teachers
• Summer Bridge Program

23
Wade Hampton High Schools Formula for Success

• Hire and retain quality teachers
• It must be the Teachers choice to be a part of
  the Freshmen Academy
• Teacher Incentive program

24
What Worked?

• Personnel
• Dedicated AP, Coordinator Guidance Counselor
• The School Principal must be involved
• Choosing teachers that want to be in the academy
• Professional Development specific to the needs of
  FA Teachers
• 2-day Pre-School Retreat
• United Philosophy
• all 9th graders can be successful
• 9th graders must not fail
• High expectations for all students
• Consistency when enforcing rules
• Keep students in class disruptions to a minimum
• Incentive program

• Curriculum
• Common Teaching Practices (Agenda EQ on the
  board)
• Common Course Syllabi (Horizontal Alignment)
• MAP Testing for placement decisions

• Student Support
• During the school day tutoring
• 9th grade hallway
• Small Class Sizes
• Peer African American Male mentoring program
• Increased Rigor, 25 of freshmen now take AP
  classes
• AP pass rate is 44
• Double blocking lowest achieving students in
  English and math
• 4X4 schedule with only 2 academic classes per
  semester
• PTSA sponsored summer school
• Free credit recovery
• First Friday
• Student of the Month
• Back-to-School Kits

• Communication
• Weekly Freshmen Academy teacher meetings/planning
• Constant contact with parents (grades /
  attendance)
• Spring Fling Information Thing

25
What Didnt Work?

• Curriculum
• Freshmen Success classes
• Common planning for teachers
• Double blocking all freshmen in math classes
• Delayed start (traditional schedule)

• Personnel
• Part Time Coordinator
• Part Time Administrator
• Assigning teachers to teach Freshman
  Academy classes

• Communication
• Transition programs with feeder middle
  schools
• Monthly newsletter mailed home

• Student Support
• Teaming
• Double blocking all freshmen in English and
  math
• Freshmen lunch
• Using ISS as the primary discipline action for
  9th graders
• Rescheduling students who were not successful in
  English or math
• Excessive levels within courses
• After school tutoring (transportation problems)

26
Whats Next?

• Wall to wall Career Academies
• The new focus on 10th grade
• South Carolina The Education and Economic
  Development Act (EEDA)
• 16 Career Clusters (With Majors)
• Personal Pathways to Success
• Transition from Middle School to High School to
  College/Workforce
• Individualized Graduation Plan (IGP)

27

• Questions?
• Comments.

28

• Louisiana High School Redesign Summit
• May 2, 2007