High School Expectations

From PEN Newsblast on April 19.

CLOSING THE "EXPECTATIONS GAP"

One-quarter of all states have implemented
significantly tougher graduation requirements,
and virtually every state has taken steps to
ratchet up expectations for high school students,
according to a national survey of high school
reform efforts conducted by Washington, D.C.
-based Achieve, Inc. The survey updates the
efforts of all 50 states to align their high
school standards, graduation requirements,
assessments, and accountability systems with
the demands of college and work, and finds that
at least 48 states are now actively engaged in
reform efforts of some kind. There is more
momentum in the states now than at any time
since education reform became a national priority
with the release of A Nation at Risk in 1983.
Some of the most dramatic progress has been made
in the area of graduation requirements, where 13
states, up from just two in 2004, now require high
school students to complete a college- and work-ready
curriculum in order to earn a diploma.  According
to the survey report, "Closing the Expectations Gap
2007", 16 additional states are taking steps to
implement similar graduation requirements, which
include four years of challenging mathematics at
least through Algebra II and four years of rigorous
English. States also have achieved significant
progress in making academic standards rigorous
enough in English and mathematics so that they
accurately reflect real world expectations, but
have moved more slowly in developing complementary
assessment systems and holding high schools
accountable for the college-readiness of their
students. "While the federal government has been
driving K-8 education policy, states are leading
the way on high school reform," said Michael Cohen,
president of Achieve. "This is a heavy lift for
governors, but their leadership is urgently needed
as states take the steps to prepare young people
to succeed in the global economy where good jobs
increasingly require some postsecondary education.
College-ready skills are a must for every high school
graduate today."
http://www.achieve.org/node/844

ELLs in Small Schools?!

EDweek article

I just entered a submission to the CES Fall Forum, a Principled Stand, which deals with the continuum of services that are or aren't being provided to students with specific learning needs (ELL or students with LDs). I am hoping that addressing the school design aspect will help other students who are lacking a full continuum of services and are stuck with fully including their students into the regular education classroom without appropriate supports because of the lack of budgeting for appropriate staff and/or instructional strategies. I know the issue is big in New York. In fact the article above references the first article that I read about the issue of small schools not allowing ELL students to come to the school for the first 2 years because of budget restraints. I guess the school could build itself up first and then once it was successful and had a core number of student admitted, it could then afford to hire an inclusion teacher.

More Small Scholl Benefits

Five Steps to Reducing the Black-White Achievement Gap

While misguided leaders have been calling for a cultural transformation to address the supposed “acting white” crisis, they have ignored far more important educational reforms:

1. Improving and expanding early childhood education. A large body of research shows that black students begin kindergarten behind white students. If we expand and improve the quality of the pre-kindergarten education received by black children we will significantly reduce the testing gap.

2. Improving teacher quality in black schools. A recent study by the Illinois Education Research Council found that 45 percent of black high school students in Illinois attended schools with the lowest teacher-quality ratings. Only 8 percent of white students attended such low teacher-quality schools. Until we eliminate the teacher-quality gap, we will have a test-score gap.

3. Providing small classes and creating small schools. Black students, who are often behind, benefit from the extra attention available in very small classes. Reductions in class size have been shown to boost black student achievement. Smaller schools have been shown to increase black students’ graduation rates.

4. Increasing school integration. While black leaders have been condemning black students based on flawed “acting white” research, America’s schools have been becoming increasingly segregated. Few black leaders have said a word about this issue. Yet historically, integration has been one means by which blacks have gained access to higher quality schools. Effective school integration can also help break down the racial stereotypes of whites and blacks.

5. Making college more affordable. Research suggests that if college were more affordable there would be higher black college enrollment and graduation rates.

http://www.blacknews.com/pr/actingwhite101.html