FOR YOUR INFORMATION: High School Redesign

In recent years, concern about the quality of secondary education has resulted in efforts to restructure and re-culture high schools to enable them to better meet the needs of all students. This restructuring can include focusing entire schools or tracks of students within schools on specific career paths or courses of study; creating multiple small high schools within large schools; or expanding the high school experience through partnerships with community colleges, allowing students to earn both high school and associate degrees in five years.

North Carolina has been a leading state in these efforts. With Governor Easley’s Learn and Earn program, the creation of the New Schools Project to lead the Gates Foundation’s work in our state, and local initiatives like Wake County’s Small Learning Communities efforts, North Carolina is a hub of high school improvement.

Because high school quality is so critical to the success of our students and our economic future, this edition of Wake FYI takes a closer look at high school redesign.

The Basics on High Schools in Wake County and North Carolina

• In the 2005-06 school year, there were 385 public high schools (grades 9-12) in North Carolina, serving 403,590 students.

• Wake County has 22 high schools in the 2006-07 school year, including two new campuses in western Wake County, a second Gates Foundation-funded redesigned high school at East Wake High School, and the new Wake Early College of Health and Science.

• In 2006 Wake County Public School System graduated more than 6,700 students.

• Graduation requirements for North Carolina students have changed significantly over the past decade and were phased in over several years. This year’s freshman class marks the first class of students who will be subject to all parts of the new requirements.

• Students have three courses of study from which they can choose to pursue a high school diploma – Career Preparation, College Technical Preparation, and College/University Preparation. A fourth course of study, the Occupational Course of Study, is available for students with disabilities who have an Individualized Education Plan (IEP).

• In addition, first time 9th-graders in 2006-07 who are in the career prep, college tech prep, or college/university prep must complete a graduation project and be at or above grade level (Level III) on five End-of-Course tests.

North Carolina Graduation Requirements

• In 2006 Wake County was honored as having the second highest graduation rate out of the top 50 school districts in the United States. Wake County’s four-year graduation rate is approximately 80%, while its five-year rate is 83%.

• WCPSS’ dropout rate of 3.7% is below the state average of 4.7%.

• According to the New Schools Project, for every 100 ninth-graders in North Carolina:

• 60 graduate in four years
• 41 enter college
• 29 enroll for their second year of college
• 19 graduate with an associate or bachelor degree within six years

Innovations in the High School Model

The New Schools Project (NSP)

• The North Carolina New Schools Project is an organization founded in 2003 with a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The purpose of the NSP is to focus resources and attention to high schools. It is involved in two main efforts, collectively called High School Innovation Projects (HSIP): the development of small or redesigned high schools based on the Gates’ Foundation model, and the support of Governor Easley’s Learn and Earn initiative.

• What are small or redesigned high schools?

• Traditional schools converted into smaller, autonomous, academically rigorous new schools serving no more than 400 students.

• The schools are created on existing high school campuses.

• The new schools are to be academically rigorous and expose all students to connections between their classes and the “world of work.”

• Schools typically adopt some type of curricular focus – such as technology or engineering – however this focus is not required.

• Wake County opened its first redesigned high school on the campus of East Wake High School. It now has two redesigned high schools – one focusing on health and life sciences and the other emphasizing integrating technology. Two more redesigned schools will open on the East Wake campus.

• Follow this link to see a complete list of the redesigned or new schools.

• What are Learn and Earn schools?

• Learn and Earn schools have five-year programs which allow students to earn a high school diploma and either an associate’s degree or two years’ credit towards a bachelor’s degree.

• Schools are created in partnership between a local school district and a higher education institution, such as a community college.

• Wake County has its first Learn and Earn site in 2006 with the opening of the Wake Early College of Health and Sciences, a collaboration between WCPSS, Wake Tech Community College and WakeMed.

• Follow these links to view a PowerPoint about Learn and Earn schools or to view a list of all Learn and Earn sites.

• Partners and supporters of the New Schools Project include the North Carolina Education Cabinet, the University of North Carolina system, the North Carolina Community College System, the North Carolina Business Committee for Education, the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, and the North Carolina Public School Forum.

Wake County’s Smaller Learning Communities

• WCPSS has received three federal Smaller Learning Communities (SLC) grants to support the development of small, safe and successful environments in large high schools.

• The grants provided funds for approximately half of the county’s high schools, but WCPSS’ commitment to this effort provided additional funds for SLC coordinators at every high school. SLC coordinators have met monthly to share best practices with each other.

• Flexibility in the SLC model allows individual schools to adapt strategies to best meet the needs of their students, their teachers and their schools.

• Personalization is a primary goal of the SLC grant in Wake County. Personalization, or creating schools where all students are known well by at least one adult, is the focus of district efforts for structural and instructional redesign.

• Strategies utilized as part of the Smaller Learning Communities grant include:

• Purposeful scheduling, including transition to the block schedule

• Establishing “houses,” academies or other “schools within a school” models -- especially focused on freshmen transition needs or in support of career or themed learning communities

• Developing mentoring or adult advocate programs.

• Creating structures to support increased enrollment in rigorous courses.

• Follow these links to read about the results of WCPSS redesign efforts or to read a 2001 federal report on Smaller Learning Communities.

For More Information on High School Redesign

• The Dec. 5 Wake Education Roundtable, sponsored by Wake Education Partnership and the Knightdale, Zebulon, and Wendell Chambers of Commerce, will focus on high school redesign.

• Read the North Carolina Action Plan for High School Innovation, available from the New Schools Project.

• Learn more about Smaller Learning Communities through the Northwest Regional Education Lab’s website.

• The Gates Foundation’s website contains information on its investments in redesigned high schools and other education initiatives.

• The Council of Chief State School Officers has resources on its website to guide state efforts to redesign high schools, including data, research, and policy briefs.

• Review a high school redesign study kit created by the School Redesign Network at Stanford University.

• Look at the May 2005 edition of WCPSS’ The School Connection, which focused on high school redesign.

• Learn more about North Carolina’s Virtual Public School, which many high school students use to take additional Advanced Placement courses or other courses not offered through their schools.