1Transforming the American High School: New Directions for State and Local Policy
At a time when high schools must be pathways to college for all students, they are pathways to nowhere for many. Transforming the American High School,
prepared for JFF's From the Margins to the Mainstream Initiative,
identifies systemic policy issues and change strategies necessary to
respond to this emerging crisis—on a large scale and in the fastest possible time frame.
In
this report, Michael Cohen, Senior Fellow at the Aspen Institute,
sketches a vision of high schools for the 21st century, building upon a
growing knowledge base about the characteristics of effective learning
environments for adolescents. He then presents an action agenda for
state and urban leaders, recommending steps they can take to transform,
not merely reform, our nation's secondary education.
Transforming the American High School
is a joint publication of JFF's From the Margins to the Mainstream
Initiative and the Aspen Institute's Program on Education in a Changing
Society (see: http://www.aspeninstitute.org).
2Showing Results I: Boston; North Clackamas Five high schools exemplifying practices promoted by Jobs for
the Future recently reported great improvement in their performance
on statewide assessments. Over the past decade, JFF has provided
the schools with professional development in project-based learning
through the Connected Learning Communities Initiative and other
projects.
In Boston, Brighton and East Boston high schools outpaced other
schools in the district in terms of year-to-year improvements
on statewide assessments. For example, between 2000 and 2001,
the proportion of East Boston High School students passing the
English exam in the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System
(MCAS) rose from 33 percent to 63; in math, the increase was from
18 percent to 50 percent. Brighton and East Boston have reorganized
into theme-based, small learning communities that provide students
with a strong foundation of academic skills coupled with internships
and project-based learning opportunities.
In North Clackamas, Oregon, Clackamas, Milwaukie, and Rex Putnam
high schools have steadily increased their scores on most statewide
assessments over the last four years. At Rex Putnam, which began
some reforms first, the improvement has been clear and continual.
These schools have reorganized freshman and sophomore students
into small learning communities to focus on building academic
skills while providing opportunities for subject integration through
project-based learning activities.
3Showing Results II: Connecting Schools and Communities School-to-Work Intermediary Project and the Intermediary Network Accomplishments, 1999-2001 documents three years of progress by
50 organizations that link schools, employers, and other community
resources. These diverse organizations are committed to sustaining
and increasing their roles in helping schools, workplace partners,
and other community resources collaborate more effectively for
the long-term learning and career benefits of local youth. The
School-to-Work Intermediary Project is a partnership of Jobs for
the Future and New Ways to Work.
4Opportunities for Young People: News from the Education Alliance Here are three items of interest from
the Education Alliance/Northeast and Islands Regional Educational
Laboratory at Brown University, including collaborative work with Jobs
for the Future:
Education Notes, September 2001 (Vol. 3, No. 1), published
by the Education Alliance, addresses equity and diversity
and the challenge of meeting the needs of English language
learners. In addition to reading this insightful newsletter,
you can also look at two publications JFF has written for
the Lab at Brown related to this important topic: Perspectives on Policy and Practice Involving English Language Learners in Community Connected Learning (2000) by Lili Allen, and A Guide to Involving English Language Learners in School-to-Career Initiatives (1998) by Lili Allen, Natanya DiBona, and Michael
Chavez Reilly.
You can download Education Notes from the Education Alliance
Web site at: http://www.lab.brown.edu/public/pubs/catalog.taf.
You can download the JFF/Lab publications there also or
from the JFF Web site.
For print copies, contact the Education
Alliance, 401.274.9548.
Knowing and Doing: Connecting Learning and Work (1998), by Lili Allen,
Chris Hogan, and Adria Steinberg, has been reprinted. Knowing and Doingreviews high-quality learning strategies that are
rigorous and applied, and it includes a comprehensive overview
of project-based opportunities for students. Methods for incorporating
school-to-career approaches into teaching practices are presented
in six basic steps, along with examples of their successful
application in real-world contexts. Single copies of Knowing and Doing are available for free from the Education Alliance
and available for downloading from the Education Alliance
and the JFF Web sites.
Leadership at the Intersections,
a JFF project with the Education Alliance, seeks to strengthen
linkages among leaders of secondary schools, community colleges,
employers, and the communities in which they operate. The
project has brought together leaders from Connecticut, Massachusetts,
New York, and Rhode Island to strategize about how they
and others can work collaboratively to better serve at-risk
students.
5Strengthen Safety Net of Low-Income Workers: What Americans Want in a Stimulus Package When terrorists attacked on September 11, they yanked the economic
supports out from under America's poorest workers. Industries
hardest hit—travel, hospitality, tourism, and entertainment—disproportionately
employed people on the country's lowest income rungs. The attacks
pushed our already-weakening economy into recession. In September
alone, 415,000 people lost jobs, driving unemployment up to 5.4
percent, the biggest one-month jump in 21 years.
The U.S. economy will recover, yet the economic news mandates
strong action on two fronts: first, to immediately assist those
who have lost their jobs, and, second, to enable low-income individuals
to advance into family-supporting careers while meeting the economy's
demand for knowledgeable and skilled workers. What should government
do? The answer must be to increase, not decrease, supports and
opportunities for those who have been hurt.
Investing to protect our nation's greatest asset—its people—is
the message of "Strengthen the Safety Net of Low-Income Workers," an
op-ed in the Miami Herald by JFF Senior Vice President Richard
Kazis. Knight-Ridder distributed the op-ed to its 32 newspapers,
including the Miami Herald.
6Making Connections: Strengthening Families and Neighborhoods JFF is a technical assistance provider through the Technical Assistance
Resource Center, the learning and information exchange portion
of the Annie E. Casey Foundation's Making Connections project.
TARC pairs people who have a vision for change with others who
have experience making change happen.
Making Connections is the centerpiece of the Casey Foundation's
multi-faceted effort to improve the life chances of vulnerable
children by helping strengthen their families and neighborhoods.
The primary aim is to stimulate and support a local movement that
engages residents, civic groups, political leaders, grassroots
groups, public and private-sector leadership, and faith-based
organizations in helping transform tough neighborhoods into family-supportive
environments.
Transforming the American High School: New Directions for State and Local Policy
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