High Point High SchoolLocal School in a National Context

Location

• Physically situated inBeltsville

• Students attend from:

BeltsvilleAdelphi Calverton

College Park Landover Hyattsville

High Point History

• Founded in 1954 (same years Brown v. Board of Education)

• 1973 - PGCPS begins country’s largest integration program using busing

• Magnet programs introduced in the mid-1980’s

• 2006-2007 - Academic Center closes

High Point Today

• Incredibly diverse: 66 countries and 42 languages

• Demographics: 46.29% African-American, 42.09% Hispanic or Latino, 5.39% Caucasian, and 5.85% Asian

• Twenty-nine percent of classes are not taught by Highly Qualified Teachers

• Forty-seven percent of students are eligible for free and reduced meals, 19.2% are enrolled in the ESOL program, and 9.9% receive Special Education services

Racial Tensions

• NBC: Racial Tension Reported At High Point High School

• “Tension between black and Hispanic students is a growing problem at one Prince George's County high school.”

• “A parent who fears for her child's safety said, "We have the feeling they don't want Hispanic students in this school."

Student Thoughts

• 71.9% disagree that safety rules are generally obeyed by students

• 70.6% disagree that students and teachers trust and respect each other

• 46.5% disagree that their parents are aware of what happens at school

Uniforms?

School Improvement Plan

• Separate ESOL classes for other courses such as Algebra, LSN Government, Biology, etc.

• “Exit conferences” for dropouts and Career Exploration classes to discourage dropping out

• Implementation of a variety of programs to increase safety and decrease tardiness

• Encouraging increased parent and community involvement

A National Problem?

Money

Lack of

Byzantine system

Program andskilled teacherscurriculum failures

The Problems

Their Origin

A Byzantine System

• No comprehensive way to track student progress

• Research and development suffering

• Huge inequities in finances

Federalized system leads to:

Prince George’s County Public Schools

$8,612=

$7,998~

National Education Spending

Portion of Federal Budget

Graduation Rate from HPHS

Per Capita IncomeLangley Park

Taxes

Dilemma

or

Solutions?

Solutions

• Nationalize education

• Increase funds for education

• Encourage economically disadvantaged students to remain in school with economic incentive programs

- scale up research in curricula and development- make financial distribution more equitable