Over the last decade, New York City has been the site of a system-wide high school reform effort. Since 2002, the school district has closed more than 20 failing high schools, opened more than 200 new secondary schools, and implemented a centralized admission process for their 80,000 high school students.
At the heart of these reforms lie the new "small schools of choice" (SSCs) — small, academically nonselective, public high schools that were opened between 2002 and 2008. Serving approximately 100 students per grade in grades 9 through 12 and open to students at all levels of academic achievement, the SSCs in this study were created to serve the district’s most disadvantaged and historically underserved students.
This report presents encouraging findings from an unusually large and rigorous study, supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, of the effects of SSCs on students’ academic achievement in high school. Key findings include:
- Higher on-track to graduation rates in small schools than non-small-schools after only one year
- Increased graduation rates in small schools over non-small-schools
- Positive effects for all demographic groups, including males of color
About the Report:
Title: Transforming the High School Experience: How New York City’s New Small Schools Are Boosting Student Achievement and Graduation Rates (Executive Summary) (26 pages, 544KB, PDF)
Prepared by: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Date Published: June 2010
Title: Transforming the High School Experience: How New York City’s New Small Schools Are Boosting Student Achievement and Graduation Rates (Full Report) (189 pages, 2.42MB, PDF)
Prepared by: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Date Published: June 2010