Framing the High School Achievement Issue

1
(No Transcript)
2
Framing the High School Achievement Issue
Presented by Susan Frost, President
Alliance for Excellent Education
3
To put it bluntly, our high school system is not
serving some kids wellWe are facing an
unrecognized educational crisis in this country.
Our wide and sometimes growing achievement gap
confirms that we live with a two-tiered
educational systemThe vast majority of students
left behind are disadvantaged or low-incomeWe
can no longer close our eyes and ignore the
children who are being left behind.
U.S. Education Secretary Rod Paige, October 2003
4
National Graduation Rates

• Only 70 of all high school students
  graduate with a diploma

• Only 54 of Native Americans, 52 of
  Hispanics, and 51 of Blacks graduate

• Graduation rates dip to 50 or lower
  in many urban areas

Greene and Forster, Public High School Graduation
and College Readiness Rates in the United States,
2003
5
Huge numbers of students fail to graduate from
high school on time. The problem is especially
severe in some urban districts.
GRADUATION RATE BY DISTRICT AND RACE District Grad Rate African-American Grad Rate Latino Grad Rate White Grad Rate Ranking of District by 1993 Population
Boston 82 85 68 87 50
Cleveland City 28 29 26 23 38
Dade County (Miami) 57 55 55 70 4
Denver County 53 55 36 79 53
Houston 52 55 42 84 6
Indianapolis 39 44 INS NA 85
Los Angeles Unified 56 56 48 81 2
New York City 55 42 45 80 1
INSInsufficient student count for calculating graduation rate NAData not available INSInsufficient student count for calculating graduation rate NAData not available INSInsufficient student count for calculating graduation rate NAData not available INSInsufficient student count for calculating graduation rate NAData not available INSInsufficient student count for calculating graduation rate NAData not available INSInsufficient student count for calculating graduation rate NAData not available
Jay Greene, High School Graduation Rates in the
United States, November 2001
6
Of those who fail to graduate with their peers,
what is the ultimate result?

• About a quarter ultimately graduate from high
  school

• About a quarter receive a GED

• Almost half neither complete high school nor
  receive a GED

7
What Are The Options for a Drop Out?
Personal communication with Army, Navy, and Air
Force offices, Alliance for Excellent Education,
2003
8
What Happens When StudentsDrop Out Today?

• Approximately 75 of state prison inmates neither
  graduated from high school nor earned a GED
  (Harlow, 2003)
• High school dropouts are 3.5 times more likely
  than high school graduates to be arrested in
  their lifetimes (Catterall, 2001)

9
The Cost of Dropping Out

• Businesses want college-level literacy and math
  skills from all their employees
• Michigan employers spend 222 million each year
  to catch their employees up
• Community colleges remediate students instead of
  preparing them for careers
• 53 of college students need remedial courses

American Diploma Project 2004, American
Association of Colleges and Universities, Greater
Expectations, 2002
10
A Million Dollar Mistake
Annual Earnings 2000
Average for Women
Average for Men
17,919
25,095
High School Dropout
24,970
34,303
High School Graduate
28,697
40,337
Some College
31,071
41,952
College Associate Degree
40,415
56,334
College Graduate with BA
58,957
99,411
Professional
Source Digest of Education Statistics, 2003,
Table 381
11

• Todays traditional high school will not work in
  todays economy.

Greene and Forster, Public High School Graduation
and College Readiness Rates in the United States,
2003
12
The Transformed High School

• Todays goal is to transform the American high
  school so that every child graduates prepared for
  college, success in life, and to be a
  contributing member of society.

13
What are the causes of the failure?

• Low literacy levels among adolescents

• Under-prepared teachers for poor and minority
  students

• Inadequate planning and support for students

• Impersonal learning environments that fail to
  emphasize high standards

14
Students reading at the lowest literacy levels
are more likely to drop out

• 25 of 8th and 12th graders read at below basic
  levels. 1 in 4 high school seniors cannot
  identify the main idea in a sentence.

• Students in the lowest 25 percent of achievement
  are 20 times more likely to drop out than
  students in the top quarter.

NAEP 2002 Anthony Carnevale, Help WantedCollege
Required 2001
15
About 6 million adolescents are left behind
because they cannot read at basic levels

• In high poverty, urban schools, more than half of
  incoming 9th graders read 2-3 grade levels behind
• On average African-American and Hispanic 12th
  graders read at the same level as white 8th
  graders

National Assessment of Educational Progress
(NAEP) 2002 US Dept. of Education, March 2002
16
What are the causes of the failure?

• Low literacy levels among adolescents

• Under-prepared teachers for poor and minority
  students

• Inadequate planning and support for students

• Impersonal learning environments that fail to
  emphasize high standards

17
What Would a New Federal Partnership Look Like?
A Framework for an Excellent Education for
all High School Students
18
Framework for an Excellent Education

• Adolescent Literacy Initiative
• Teacher and Principal Quality Initiative
• College Preparation Initiative
• Small Learning Communities Initiative

19
ADOLESCENT LITERACY INITIATIVE

• Every high-needs middle and high school will
  have a literacy specialist who trains teachers
  across every subject area to improve literacy
  skills of students. Teachers learn to identify
  reading problems and ensure that students receive
  extra help.

20
TEACHER AND PRINCIPAL QUALITY INITIATIVE

• Provide incentives to educators to work in
  high-needs schools, mentoring for new teachers,
  and ongoing professional development for all
  teachers and principals.

21
COLLEGE PREPARATION INITIATIVE

• Every student should graduate ready for
  college. Students must have a clear plan that
  assesses their needs and identifies coursework,
  additional learning opportunities, and necessary
  health and social services.

22
SMALL LEARNING COMMUNITIES INITIATIVE

• Small schools personalize and contextualize
  students educational experience and facilitate
  the implementation of other effective strategies.

23
An investment in the Framework for an Excellent
Education will pay for itself.

• Reducing the numbers of adults in the lowest
  literacy levels by two-thirds would

• Increase the U.S. gross domestic product by 463
  billion

• Add an additional 162 billion to federal,
  state, and local tax receipts

Carnavale and Desrochers The Missing Middle,
U.S. Dept. of Ed. 2002
24
Federal Education Signature Programs
Middle High School Students Are Left Behind
11.40
10.49
12.00
10.00
6.70
8.00
6.00
1.85
4.00
2.00
0.00
Head Start
Title I (K-6)
Title I (7-12)
Pell Grants
25
Federal Legislation

• Pathways for All Students to Succeed Act (S.1554,
  Murray, D-WA)
• The PASS Act would reform the nation's secondary
  schools through a new focus on adolescent
  literacy, academic counselors, and a new grant
  program that will improve student achievement in
  low-performing secondary schools.

26
Federal Legislation

• Graduation For All Act (H.R. 3085, Davis, D-CA
  and Hinojosa, D-TX)
• The Graduation for All Act would authorize 1
  billion in federal funding for schools to
  increase literacy rates and implement individual
  graduation plans for students most at risk of
  dropping out of high school.

27
Presidential Initiatives For High Schools

• Striving Readers Initiative
• The President proposes offering 100 million in
  competitive grants to 50 to 100 school districts.
  Districts will develop, implement, and evaluate
  effective reading interventions for middle or
  high school students reading significantly below
  grade level.

28
Presidential Initiatives for High Schools

• State Scholars Program
• The State Scholars initiative would expand to
  all 50 states through business and education
  partnerships that encourage high school students
  to complete rigorous courses needed to succeed in
  postsecondary education and the workforce. The
  President requested 12 million for FY2005. State
  Scholars who get Pell grants would receive 1000
  more per year at the cost of 33 million for
  FY05.

29

• One public service is associated with
  practically every economic, social, public health
  and civic strength, and its absence or failure is
  associated with nearly every economic, social,
  health and civic problem. That service is
  education.

John Begala, June 2002
30
Alliance forExcellent Education
www.all4ed.org