Stronger, Smaller High Schools to Help Thousands of Oregon Students

PORTLAND, Or. -- The Meyer Memorial Trust and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation today announced a $25 million investment to start new small high schools and transform large ones across Oregon.  The Oregon Small Schools Initiative is intended to address the state’s growing achievement gap and better prepare students in selected communities throughout the state for the demands of today’s economy. The focus of the effort will be on communities and schools with significant populations of low-income and minority students.

“In our economy, education equals opportunity,” said Tom Vander Ark, executive director of education at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. "Young people who attend smaller schools that provide a rigorous, personalized education and enable close relationships with adults are more likely to graduate and continue their education."

The initiative will create 10 to 12 new small high schools and transform 18 to 20 existing large ones into smaller schools. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will invest $15 million in the effort, and the Meyer Memorial Trust will commit $10 million. A nonprofit organization, E3: Employers for Education Excellence will lead the five-year initiative. The program will provide the funding, training and in-depth technical support to school communities committed to creating smaller, more effective high schools.

“Smaller is smarter,” said Doug Stamm, Executive Director for the Meyer Memorial Trust. “It is important for us to provide the means for students to do their best and to make learning a priority in their lives. This program helps those students that are discouraged or unmotivated in traditional classroom settings to make learning their passion and stay in school.”

In recent years, Oregon students have made significant improvements at the lower grades, but improving high school achievement has proven to be particularly challenging. Across the state, nearly one-third of Oregon students drop out before graduation. More troubling, nearly one out of every two of Oregon’s African-American and Hispanic students do not graduate from high school.

Many experts say large, impersonal high schools, with their anonymity and lack of rigor, are the biggest obstacle to personalizing education so all students can succeed. This grant will transform some of Oregon’s ineffective schools into smaller results-oriented learning communities.

Dozens of studies have shown that students in smaller high schools graduate and go on to college at a higher rate than their counterparts in large high schools. In small schools, they get rigorous, engaging courses and the opportunity to develop close relationships with their teachers and other adults.

This initiative builds on the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s nationwide effort to improve the graduation and college-going rates, particularly among African Americans and Hispanics, by strengthening high schools. The foundation has partnered with outstanding community based organizations and school districts throughout the country.

Many Oregon education leaders and organizations have endorsed the Oregon Small Schools Initiative, including the Oregon Department of Education, the Confederation of Oregon Schools Administrators, the Oregon Schools Boards Association and the Oregon Education Association (OEA).

Oregon's Superintendent of Public Instruction Susan Castillo is enthusiastic about the program's potential to lower the dropout rate among African-American and Hispanic Students.  "I have created an advisory group to help me focus on improving achievement for underrepresented and minority students," said Castillo.  "This Gates and Meyer Memorial Trust program will help Oregon reach the goals we will set for our schools and our students."

“Educators in the classroom understand, all too well, that underserved students can benefit from smaller and innovative learning and teaching,” said OEA President Kris Kain. “We know much about learning is about building relationships with our students and this program supports that.”

In the summer, communities throughout Oregon will receive detailed information about how to apply for participation in the Initiative according to E3 executive director René Léger. Selected school communities will be invited to apply for multi-year implementation grants that will be awarded in spring 2004.

The grant builds in measurements of success, including student achievement, college readiness, attendance and graduation rates and the number of students who go on to higher education.

The Meyer Memorial Trust was created by the late Fred G. Meyer, who built the chain of retail stores bearing his name throughout the Pacific Northwest. When Mr. Meyer died in 1978 at the age of 92, his will established the Trust, which began operating in 1982. In April 1990 the Fred Meyer Charitable Trust changed its name to Meyer Memorial Trust in order to emphasize that it is a private, independent foundation representing Mr. Meyer's personal philanthropy. The Meyer Memorial Trust has invested over $75 million in education over the last 21 years.

E3: Employers for Education Excellence was founded in 1996 by the Oregon Business Council.  E3 works in partnership with business, education and civic leaders statewide to advance student learning and achievement in Oregon’s public schools.  E3 is a 503 (c) 3 nonprofit organization.

On the Internet:
www.gatesfoundation.org/education/default.htm
www.mmt.org 
www.e3oregon.org (Information for school communities wanting to participate in the initiative.)