Grosse Pointe High Schools 2.0

Restyling Grosse Pointe’s High Schools for Rigor and Global

RelevancePresented Dec. 17, 2007 to GP Board of Ed.

The Vision Grosse Pointe High Schools 2.0

At a time when bricks and mortar matter less than digital communication, connectivity and rapidly evolving

technology, Grosse Pointe can provide the best possible educational experience for today’s students by creating a new 21st century school concept that raises floors

without establishing ceilings, and prepares students for a world without traditional

walls.

Framing Statement

“We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when

we created them.”-Albert Einstein

Context

Achievement Gaps – North and South H.S.

Global “flattening” “Millenials” IB

Achievement Gap Urgency

AYP at North AYP at South Special Education Population MME / State Content Standards African-American students at grade

level – 2006 math 16% = 16%!

The Gap in G.P. Asynchronous changes in state testing and curricular

implementation have negatively impacted students in lower level tracks.

Effects of tracking, grade level implications in math. Teachers are being segregated, and our youngest, most

inexperienced teachers are often teaching our least capable and most demanding students.

Because there are multiple options, students in the middle often choose not to fully challenge themselves, and opt for courses below their ability levels.

Students who enter with less are leaving with even less.

Achievement Gap Initiatives F.A.T. Freshman Only First Day Freshman Assist Math Support MME Prep Writing Initiatives Best Practices Newsletter ACT Practice Test ….will never be enough for students who

are not in the right courses

The Research on the Gap

Model Schools make state standards the minimum

Model Schools set the bar high by eliminating below grade level tracks

Model Schools ensure that all students are prepared with a college prep curriculum

Special Education Students and the Gap

Inclusion Collaboratives Alternate Assessments Years of research – raising the bar

works! New York Regents Exam, Burris study

African American and Latino 17 Year-Olds Read at Same Levels As White 13 Year-Olds

Source: National Center for Education Statistics, NAEP 2004 Long Term Trends

0%

100%

150 200 250 300 350

Average Scale Score

Per

cent

of

Stud

ents

White 13 Year-Olds African American 17 Year-Olds Latino 17 Year-Olds

Source: USDOE, NCES, Vocational Education in the United States: Toward the Year 2000, in Issue Brief: Students Who Prepare for College and Vocation

*Grade 8-grade 12 test score gains based on 8th grade achievement of studentsIn the lowest quartile of achievement on 8th grade assessment.

Low Scoring 8th Grade Students Gain More From College Prep Courses in High School*

1916

28

20

0

30

Math Reading

NE

LS

Sco

re G

ain

Vocational College Prep

Challenging Curriculum Results in Lower Failure Rates, Even for Lowest Achievers

16

23

47

31

0

50

Quartile I (Lowest) Quartile 2

Pe

rce

nt

Ea

rnin

g "

D"

or

"F"

College Prep Low Level

Source: Southern Regional Education Board, “Middle Grades to High School: Mending a Weak Link” by Sondra Cooney and Gene Bottoms, 2002.

Ninth-grade English performance, by high/low level course, and eighth-grade reading achievement quartiles

91

69

84

52

86

56

97

82

95

80 76

36

86

55

30405060708090

100

Initial PassRates 10thgrade Class

of '06

by 11thgrade Class

of '06

As ofJ anuary

2006 Classof '06

As ofFebruary

2006 Classof '06

As of J uly2006 Class

of '06

perc

ent

pass

ed

All Black Latino White Asian English Learners Low-Income

Source: Wise, L., et al., Independent Evaluation of the CAHSEE, 2006 HumRRO

CAHSEE Passage Rates California Class of 2006as of July 2006

The “Millenials”

We are not adapting nearly as quickly to our students as they adapt to the world………

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kv52oVIcUKk&feature=related

“Education is the only business still debating the usefulness of technology. Schools remain unchanged for the most part, despite numerous reforms and increased investments in computers and networks.”

-- Former U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige

Shift Happens...

70 million blogs and counting – 60 times more than three years ago

China – 17 million blogs

You Tube – 100 million videos per day

Top Ten in demand jobs for 2010 did not exist in 2004

We’re preparing students for jobs that don’t yet exist

Online Teens

71% of online teens say they relied mostly on Internet sources for the last big project they did for school.

94% of online teens report using the Internet for school-related research.

Average teen outside of school on an average day – 6.5 hours with media: 33% on the internet 26% on television 21% on the telephone 15% listening to the radioToday’s teens spend more time per day online than they do watching

television....

The Digital Age... ½ of all teens and 57% of teens on

the internet are “Content Creators”: Blogs Wikis Web Pages Original Artwork Photography Stories Video

12th Graders Perceptions About School

39%

21%28%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

School work is often or alwaysmeaningful

Courses are quite or very interesting School learning will be quite or veryimportant in later life

1983 1990 1995 2000

Conclusions – Millenials and the Gap We must eliminate any track below state

content standards. This need demands new models of education

facilitated by educational technology. Some of the most promising new educational

approaches are being developed outside the traditional educational system, through e-learning and virtual schools.

This is an exciting, creative and transforming era for students, teachers, administrators, policymakers and parents.

The next 10 years could see a spectacular rise in achievement – and may well usher in a new golden age for American education. Grosse Pointe should be “lighting the way”.

Foundation Beliefs Model High Schools Have Fewer Tracks,

Not More

Model High Schools Incorporate Project Based Learning

In Many Ways, IB Is a Better Program than AP

IB and AP Are Fundamentally Different!

Teachers Make the Difference

Foundation Beliefs (cont.) Model High Schools Incorporate Project

Based Learning

Model High Schools Provide Support

Model Schools Begin Bridging the Gap before High School Begins

The Core Curriculum Must Be Connected External Review

Features of the Plan – G.P. H.S. 2.0

2 curricular paths: IB,AP or Honors Project (HP)

External review in each Integrated elements Digital portfolios and digital

presentations are elements in each Digital Connectivity Culminating project in each

Features of the Plan (cont.) Service component in each Raise the bottom and middle without

lowering the top Support classes or double-blocking Re-visit school day to look at alternating

block Foreign language requirement in each Mandatory summer Step Up Vertical alignment with teacher rotation

Grosse Pointe High Schools 2.0

“The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity; the optimist sees opportunity in every difficulty.”

-Winston Churchill