2005—Shaking Up the Status Quo: the Movement to Transform High School
May 2005
EdSource 2005 Forum focused on reforming high schools
Selected quotations from Forum speakers
Speakers' powerpoint presentations for download
Speaker/panel biographies
Related web sites
Related readings
Related EdSource publications
With only 1 in 14 California public high schools meeting state academic performance goals, education experts convened at EdSource's 2005 Forum, Shaking Up the Status Quo: The Movement to Transform High School to debate potential reforms.
Tom Vander Ark, Executive Director of Education for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and one of the nation’s leading experts on high school reform delivered the forum’s keynote address to an audience of education leaders, reform advocates and parents.
California Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell made a special appearance in Manhattan Beach.
An afternoon panel challenged the widely-held view that four-year college readiness should be the only goal of a high school education. Robert Schwartz of Harvard University and others discussed the merits of a college-prep curriculum versus “multiple pathways,” including more rigorous career education.
You can download a free copy of the forum report here:
Gerald Hayward—a partner of Management, Analysis & Planning, Inc. and former co-director of Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE)—moderated the Forum. He set the stage by talking about some disappointing high school performance results and the gap between what high school graduates know and the skills the workforce and higher education expect.
“I believe there is a new and growing consensus that high school ought to focus on preparing all students for college work,” he said. “It used to be, in my day, it was preparation for college or work….That's the old model; the new is much broader. But it is especially challenging, and we ought not ignore how difficult it is to prepare all students for this ambitious goal.”
High school reform needs to focus on tracking, dropouts, and culture
Keynote speaker Tom Vander Ark, executive director for education for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and a former public school superintendent in one of Washington's larger districts, talked about the “pervasive tracking system” in this country’s schools: “It’s subtle. If you don’t do well enough in sixth-grade math and don’t get honors in seventh grade and algebra in eighth, you quickly find out you get to high school in ninth or 10th grade and you’re not on the right track. And it’s really heartbreaking when juniors in high school find out that they don’t have the credits or competencies necessary. So you have this collision of expectation that happens for so many kids when they find out they don’t have what it takes because we didn’t give them what they need.”
Paul Warren, a principal analyst in the K–12 Division of the state Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO), spoke in Northern California and emphasized the issue of high school dropouts: “Dropping out has been a problem that we’ve been trying to conquer since the ‘70s, and after 30-plus years, what do we know that works? Not much. …If we let them get to high school and [they’re scoring below basic on STAR tests], it may be too late.”
California Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell, who was formerly a high school teacher, spoke in Southern California: “We need to do a better job at preparing students for the real world, and we do need to change the culture. We need to maintain, in my opinion, our high standards and our accountability system and our high expectations. We know that there's no quick fix—there's no easy solution, there's no silver bullet.”
The college track or multiple pathways?
The morning panel at the Forum discussed with great passion the pros and cons of requiring all California public high school students to take the 15 college-prep courses (known as the “a–g” sequence) that would qualify them to attend four-year state universities.
Robert Schwartz, director, Education Policy & Management Program, Harvard Graduate School of Education and former president of Achieve: “We need to build into the high school years many more sustained opportunities for young people to engage in meaningful work—in service learning, internships, and other kinds of experiences outside the walls of the school….I think that in some ways the early school-to-work movement began to provide those kinds of opportunities for young people. But unfortunately the school-to-work movement and the academic standards movement came into a kind of collision course….”
Linda Murray, superintendent in residence with The Education Trust–West and former superintendent of San Jose Unified School District: “This notion of pathways is a wonderful idea. But it doesn’t start with a differentiated diploma at the end of high school. Every student ought to walk across that stage with a key to the future. And I believe it is a common-core “a–g” curriculum.
Richard Owen, an independent consultant focusing on high school reform and former associate superintendent of Sacramento City Unified School District: “Some of us come from school systems that automatically told us that we would never go to college. We weren’t smart enough. We didn’t have parents who had given us all the skills that we needed. And we defied that. And it continues to be defied every day. But I don’t trust a school system and their current guidance systems to decide which kids are smart, which kids are not smart, and which ones ought to go on which one of those pathways.”
Michael Kirst, professor of education at Stanford University and co-director of Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE): “I have some concerns with the University of California’s Board of Admissions prescribing the standards for all pupils, including those going on to vocational community college programs….If we’re going to go for a mechanism like “a–g,” we need to have a new policymaking organization that would sit down with all three sectors [community college, California State University, and UC] and with the high schools and say, ‘What should be a college-for-all standard?’ rather than just adapt ‘a–g’ as the sole standard.”
Martha Kanter, chancellor of the Foothill-DeAnza Community College District, said that students no longer necessarily finish college in a straight four-year trajectory: “Let's not put a cap and say if they didn't get a degree in four or six years, they're out of the loop because, quite frankly, we have a lot of students in the blended programs, the 2 + 2. We have a high school on our campus, we have an automotive technology program where juniors and seniors from high school can be into the ‘a-g’ requirements and can get their basic entry-level auto certificate and come to us and get more advanced training…. And many of those students go back and finish and get a four-year degree at our state university or wherever. But it's not going to be on a four- or a six-year trajectory.”
The new three R’s for high school: Rigor, relevance and relationships
The afternoon panel at the Forum focused on high schools and programs that are making a difference by focusing on rigor, relevance, and relationships—the new three R’s that were also passionately promoted by some of the morning speakers.
Nancy Hoffman, vice president for youth transitions and director of the Early College Initiative at Jobs for the Future, moderated the panel: “Everyone needs a post-secondary credential. I’m not saying a B.A. degree, but some post-high school training. At a number of the [innovative] schools, kids are taking college courses and are on a college campus very early. We’ve just had a social psychologist from Harvard studying what kids say about themselves, and what we can say is that they are developing an academic identity at a very early stage, especially if they come from families where college-going was simply something that was assumed.”
Ref Rodriguez, the co-CEO of the charter management organization Partnerships to Uplift Communities and founder of the California Academy for Liberal Studies (CALS) Middle School and CALS Early College High School: “Let me describe for you very quickly what a ninth grader’s day might look like at one of our schools…A student will take the core courses during the regular school day: history, science, English, algebra or geometry. They will take a fine arts class and they will take physical education. They will also be involved in an advisory twice a week after school. Our advisory actually goes on after the school day because two of those days our students stay with us to take college courses either from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. or from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. So in between—those are the hours where most high schoolers get into trouble—those kids are with us…with one teacher or another adult in the school who gets to know them very well. And that adult is with that student for four years.”
Mattie Adams-Robertson, principal at Harbor Teacher Preparation Academy in the Los Angeles Unified School District, which is located on a community college campus: “My teachers are involved in a very strong collaborative model. I work along with my teachers, parents, fellow college staff, and other people in the community to develop really the most effective model for a kid each and every day….Every semester our students evaluate each of their teachers, and the teachers take these evaluations and create pretty much a reflection paper in which they set goals and they share with everyone on the staff what they are weak in and the areas that they’d like to improve. We have found this to be very effective in terms of just opening up the communication with our staff members and building that capacity.”
Beth Kay, principal of The Met Sacramento, a Big Picture design charter school in Sacramento City Unified School District: “We believe that real-world learning is absolutely essential. It creates context and relevance for our students….We create something called Learning Through Internship. Every single one of our students has a one-to-one mentorship for two full days of the week with somebody in the city of Sacramento who shares their area of interest….The second thing we do is highly personalize the environment…Parents are deeply involved in the decision-making processes around what their children should know and be able to do all the way through their time with us. They do the planning with the teachers, and they evaluate or assess how their students are doing through exhibition.”
Granger Ward, state director of AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination), an academic program that is an elective course in middle and high schools: “The profile of the AVID student is those kids in the academic middle who have been underserved. They may not have been told what an ‘a–g’ [college-prep] course is, but we make sure that within the AVID elective they know. We study their schedules so that they, in fact, are on target to complete the ‘a–g.” That’s the relationship piece of a teacher saying, ‘I’m with you. You will succeed.’”
Gerald Hayward (moderator) is senior partner at Management Analysis and Planning, Inc. and former co-director of Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE). Previously Hayward served as deputy director of the National Center for Research in Vocational Education at the University of California–Berkeley; chancellor of the California Community Colleges; and principal consultant to the California State Senate committees on education and finance. He is a former teacher and administrator in California’s public schools and has served on the EdSource Board of Directors since 1993.
Tom Vander Ark is the executive director for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s education initiatives. The foundation focuses its education funding on helping high schools better prepare all students for college, work, and citizenship, and reducing financial barriers to higher education. Vander Ark is responsible for the development and administration of the foundation’s K–12 education grant and scholarship programs. For the five years before he joined the foundation, Vander Ark served as a public school superintendent in one of Washington state’s larger districts. He was one of the first superintendents recruited from the private sector to lead a public school district. Prior to leading Federal Way Public Schools, Vander Ark ran a consulting practice for Cap Gemini. He serves on the boards of the Foundation for Early Learning, Partnership for Learning, James B. Hunt Jr. Institute for Educational Leadership and Policy, and Western Governors University.
Jack O’Connell is the California superintendent of public instruction. Prior to taking the helm of the California Department of Education, O’Connell served 12 years in the California State Assembly followed by eight years in the State Senate where, in both houses, he was the author of numerous landmark education bills. As superintendent, he has worked to fortify California's academic standards, strengthen the assessment system, and bolster support for classrooms. Educated in California public schools, O’Connell started his career as a teacher and later served on the Santa Barbara County School Board. His daughter is a community college student and his wife recently earned a California teaching credential. This past summer O’Connell held a statewide high school summit on “High Expectations for all Students.”
Paul Warren is principal fiscal and policy analyst, K–12 Division, at the California Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO). His program areas include High School Reform, Standards and Assessments, and Adult and Vocational Education. Previously he served at the California Department of Education as deputy superintendent for accountability, where he managed policy development and implementation of state assessment and accountability programs including the California High School Exit Exam. Some of his publications for the LAO include A First Look at the Progress of English Learner Students, February 2004; The Distribution of K–12 Education General Purpose Funds, December 2003; and School-to-Work Transition: Improving High School Career Programs, February 1994.
Nancy Hoffman is vice president for youth transitions and director of the early college initiative at Jobs for the Future, a national nonprofit policy organization, and an adjunct lecturer in education at Brown University. Jobs For the Future is a nonprofit research, consulting, and advocacy organization that creates educational and economic opportunities for youth and adults who are most in need. Hoffman has held posts as academic services dean at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and program officer at the Fund for Post Secondary Education. Hoffman has also held teaching positions at a number of universities, including the University of California–Santa Barbara.
Mattie Adams-Robertson is the principal of Harbor Teacher Preparation Academy in
the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). Students who graduate from this high school, which opened its doors in 9/02 and is located on the campus of Los Angeles Harbor College in Wilmington, will do so with a two-year associate degree from Harbor College as well as a high school diploma. The hope is that many, if not most, of the students who complete the program will become teachers in LAUSD schools. Adams-Robertson has worked for several secondary schools in the LAUSD having served as mathematics teacher, counselor, and assistant principal within those schools.
Beth Kay is the principal of the Met Sacramento, a Big Picture Design charter school in the Sacramento USD. Big Picture Design schools are small and personalized, dedicated to educating one student at a time and promoting one student at a time accountability. Kay started her teaching career in West Africa as a Peace Corps Volunteer. Upon returning to the U.S. she began teaching in urban high schools in Boston, ending up at Fenway High, a nationally recognized small urban school. While at Fenway, Kay began training to become a small school principal through Northeastern University’s joint program with The Big Picture Company. Upon completion of the program she moved to Sacramento and started the Met Sacramento, the third of now four Big Picture Design Schools in California, with many more coming on-line in 2006.
Ref Rodriguez is the founder and executive director of the California Academy for Liberal Studies (CALS) Early College High School and CALS Charter Middle School, serving predominantly Latino students from the working class communities of Northeast Los Angeles. Currently, CALS Early College High School enrolls 160 students in grades 9 and 10 and, as of December 2004, 100% of the sophomore class had completed a college course.
Granger B. Ward is the California statewide director for Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID), an international educational program that focuses on providing access to four-year colleges for educationally disadvantaged, underachieving secondary school students. As AVID’s California director, Ward oversees 11 regional AVID Centers operating and supporting AVID programs in 1,115 middle and high schools serving over 81,000 students throughout the state. Ward was formerly the superintendent of the Manhattan High Schools in the City of New York, as well as the Grossmont Union High School District in San Diego.
Robert Schwartz is a faculty member at Harvard Graduate School of Education, where he currently directs the master’s program in Education Policy and Management. From 1997–2002 he also served as president of Achieve, Inc., a national nonprofit established by governors and corporate leaders to help states strengthen academic performance. He previously served in a variety of roles in education and government, including education adviser to Boston Mayor Kevin White and Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis; executive director of The Boston Compact; and education program director at The Pew Charitable Trusts. He has worked as a principal in Oregon and began his career as an English teacher in California.
Linda Murray is a former superintendent of the San Jose Unified School District and current superintendent in residence with The Education Trust–West. She was previously a school psychologist, then an educator and administrator in Broward County Schools in Florida. During her 11-year tenure with SJUSD, she raised the bar on school district high school graduation academic standards, making them amongst the highest in the country. She also implemented a requirement for 40 hours of community service and championed elective programs in athletics and the arts.
Richard Owen has recently become an independent consultant focusing on high school reform. For the last six years, as associate superintendent for high schools in the Sacramento City Unified School District, he was responsible for spearheading the district’s high school reform effort, including the transformation of large comprehensive high schools into smaller learning communities, and the creation of small autonomous high schools such as the Met, New Tech High and The Health Professions High School. Owen also led the effort to create charter schools in the district, including the controversial Sac High. He has served as a high school, middle school, and elementary school principal.
Martha Kanter is chancellor of the Foothill-De Anza Community College District, one of the finest community college districts in the nation. After serving as an alternative high school teacher in New York, she moved to California where she set up the first program for students with learning disabilities at San Jose City College. From there, she served as a director, dean and then vice chancellor for policy and research of the California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office. Later, she returned to San Jose City College as vice president of instruction and student services. In 1993 she was selected to be president of De Anza College, where she served until becoming chancellor in 2003.
Michael Kirst is a professor of education at Stanford University. He brings to his research and teaching broad experience in education policymaking at both the federal and state levels, including as past president of California's State Board of Education. Kirst is co-director of Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE), a research consortium that includes researchers from Stanford, the University of California–Berkeley, and the University of California–Davis. His current research focuses on documenting and addressing barriers to articulation in the K–12 and postsecondary education systems. He recently published From High School to College: Improving Opportunities for Success in Postsecondary Education (Jossey–Bass, 2004).
- The Early College High School Initiative website describes the goals of the initiative and provides fact sheets and news articles related to the topic.
- The Ed-Data partnership website provides online reports of local high school performance data and district financial data.
- A portion of the Foundation for California Community Colleges' website discusses California's implementation of the Early College High School Initiative, including the grant process, resources and news links.
- The Jobs for the Future website offers a Newsroom, a Knowledge Center, and descriptions of the programs and strategies that JFF is using to improve educational opportunities for youth.
- The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation's Transforming High Schools web page lists the high school reform efforts the Foundation supports, and provides links to related information and online resources. The Gates Foundation website also features an Education Articles page, which includes several articles related to high school reform.
- Are California High Schools Ready for the 21st Century? Education Trust - West, June 2004. This executive summary recommends that high schools prepare all students with the A-G curriculum required for entrance to four-year universities. Download PDF.
- Armstrong, Jane, State Strategies for Redesigning High Schools and
Promoting High School to College Transitions. Education Commission of the States, January 2005. This issue brief focuses on the major stumbling blocks students face in high school and in enrolling in postsecondary education. It addresses ways that high schools should be redesigned and how the transition to postsecondary education can be made more seamless for students. Download PDF.
- Callan, Patrick M. and Finney, Joni E., Multiple Pathways and State Policy: Toward Education and Training Beyond High School. The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, commissioned by Jobs for the Future, June 2003. Download PDF.
- Closing the Graduation Gap: Toward High Schools That Prepare All Students for College, Work, and Citizenship. A Gates Foundation Education Policy Paper, April 8, 2003. Download PDF.
- Double the Numbers: Increasing Postsecondary Credentials for Underrepresented Youth, edited by Kazis, Richard, Vargas, Joel and Hoffman, Nancy, Harvard Education Publishing Group, 2004. This collection of articles by "many of the leading figures in education reform ... highlights emerging strategies--at state, district, and school levels--for improving postsecondary outcomes." View table of contents or order online.
- The Educational Pipeline: Big Investment, Big Returns. National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, April 2004. This policy alert compares California's 9th graders' performance with those in other states and highlights the need for alignment throughout the K-16 system. Download PDF.
- Executive summary: Life after High School--Young People Talk about their Hopes and Prospects. Prepared by Public Agenda, commissioned by The College Board, GE Foundation, The George Gund Foundation, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, and KnowledgeWorks Foundation, 2005. This large-scale study of young adults examines their aspirations and experiences, and also analyzes the perspectives of young adults in different ethnic and racial groups. Download PDF.
- High Performance High Schools Initiative: A White Paper on Improving Student Achievement in California's High Schools. California Department of Education, February 2004. This paper provides information on California's high schools and a description of the state's high school initiative. View online.
- Hoffman, Nancy, College Credit in High School: Increasing College Attainment Rates for Underrepresented Students. Change, July/August, 2003. Download PDF.
- How Effective are School-to-Career Programs? Public Policy Institute of California, May 2004. Download PDF.
- McNeil, Patricia W., Rethinking High School: The Next Frontier for State Policymakers. Commissioned by The Aspen Institute, January 2003. This paper describes the work of four states, including California, to improve their high schools. Download PDF.
- Rising to the Challenge: Are High School Graduates Prepared For College and Work? Conducted for Achieve, Inc. by Peter D. Hart Research Associates and Public Opinion Strategies, February 2005. According to this study, recent high school graduates and their college instructors and employers feel there is a need for more rigorous courses and higher expectations in high school to prepare students for college and the work force. Download PDF.
- Schwartz, Robert B., Multiple Pathways -- and How to Get There. Proceedings of Double the Numbers: Postsecondary Attainment and Underrepresented Youth. Jobs for the Future, 2003.
- Tucker, Marc S., Rethinking High School and Beyond: A European-style proposal for strengthening the transition to work or higher education. Harvard Education Letter, July/August, 2004. Available online.
- Vander Ark, Tom, Expanding High School Options. The School Administrator Web Edition, October 2003. This article provides recommendations for transforming existing high schools and creating new ones. Download PDF.
- Vander Ark, Tom, America's High School Crisis: Policy Reforms That Will Make a Difference. EdWeek, April 2, 2003. Download PDF
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