Celebrating the Class of 2007 in New and Redesigned High Schools

SEATTLE -- Faced with an alarming national dropout crisis and widening achievement gap, a growing number of educators, school leaders, and policymakers have focused their attention on high schools, replacing failing campuses with more innovative, high-quality options. This spring, stories about the Class of 2007 reveal that many of these new and transformed schools are on the right track, helping thousands of students who struggled in traditional settings or who might have otherwise dropped out to graduate well-prepared for college, career, and life.

It is part of a growing national movement to reinvent today's high school experience by establishing high expectations for all students and supporting them to meet those academic goals. These new and redesigned schools aim to provide more challenging learning environments for students and teachers, more personalized learning opportunities, and stronger links between what students learn and the world in which they live.

"The key to student success is redefining our approach to the way we educate them, particularly those students who are facing many challenges," said Oscar Santos, Headmaster of Boston International High School, a theme-based school that educates recent immigrants and English Language Learners, supporting students and their families through mentoring, native language support, and English instruction. "These new and redesigned schools share a unified commitment to ensure that all students are succeeding and graduating from high school ready for the future."  This year's senior class is the first to attend Boston International High School for four years of high school—all 35 seniors have been accepted to college, most of them at four-year universities. 

And while progress is encouraging, much work remains. Graduation and college readiness rates are too low across the country, demanding that we not only create high-quality high schools, but put in place successful models that can lead to large scale changes. According to the recent Education Week Diplomas Count report, only 70 percent of students in the class of 2004—the last class for which national data is available—graduated from high school on time. That means more than 1.2 million students dropping out every year. For African American and Hispanic students, the numbers are even more alarming—only half of African Americans and 58 percent of Hispanic students completed high school with their class.

To offset these numbers, many innovative educators, policymakers, elected officials, education organizations, parents, and concerned citizens have made the commitment to improve high schools and the school districts that support them. Determined to ensure that all students have the skills and knowledge to succeed, their combined efforts are designed to elevate student achievement and provide learning environments that foster academic success, ultimately increasing high school graduation and college-readiness rates. Working with school districts and school developers, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is helping to support the following innovative approaches that are leading the way to help more students beat the odds: 

In New York City, the 47 small high schools opened in 2002 and 2003 had an average graduation rate of 73 percent this year using the City's traditional calculation, and 71% using the State's methodology, according to preliminary data released by the New York City Department of Education. Over 90 percent of these graduating seniors are African American or Hispanic, and almost 70 percent entered high school below grade level academically. The more than 70 percent graduation rate far exceeds the collective 35 percent rate posted by the schools that were closed and replaced by small schools, 30 of which had graduating classes this year.

YouthBuild, which operates 27 schools in 13 states and the District of Columbia, serves low-income young people between the ages of 16-24 who have been in foster care, in the juvenile justice system, or in the welfare system. Students spend half of their time in classes working toward their GED or high school diploma. The other half is spent on acquiring job skills by working on the construction of affordable housing for the homeless. The majority of the graduates in the Class of 2007 will be going on to post-secondary education with 36 percent planning to attend two- and four-year colleges, 32 percent planning to attend trade schools, five percent doing apprenticeships, and 27 percent planning to do internships and/or work full-time.

Early College High Schools (ECHS) work with students who are at risk of dropping out and partner with local colleges and universities to offer students the opportunity to graduate from high school with both a high school diploma and up to two years of college credit. Jobs for the Future (JFF), a research and policy organization that promotes education reform and workforce development, is working with a number of partners and funders to coordinate the Early College High School Initiative. ECHS are having success keeping students in the classroom, with an average daily attendance rate of 94 percent, and success in achievement, with students from most of the ECHS outperforming student counterparts in other district schools on both reading and mathematics exams. JFF is working with 13 partners to create 130 Early College High Schools in 24 states including North Carolina, California, Texas, and New York. By 2011, JFF plans to work with 239 ECHS serving over 96,000 students.

The Great Maine Schools Project (GMSP), a statewide high school reform initiative, works with disengaged high school juniors and seniors, challenging them to take college courses on local campuses. Early indications show that this program can have an impact in Maine where the 2004 college-going rate was 49.6 percent, well below the national average according to the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems. Nearly 100 percent of the students participating in these early college programs are graduating and enrolling in college.

"My college counselor helped me to understand that this program was just like college—it was a sneak peek. Knowing that and getting the support from my counselor and teachers gave me the motivation to put my best foot forward," said Khalil LeSaldo, a graduating senior from the University of Maine at Fort Kent Early College High School. A struggling student before participating in the Fort Kent program, Khalil will now be attending Bowdoin College this fall on a full scholarship.

"Schools and districts across America recognize that in order for all students to succeed, we must provide a new kind of learning," said Allan Golston, president of U.S. Program at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. "These innovative approaches are gaining momentum and showing signs of promise. By focusing on high standards, high expectations, and strong support we can help all students graduate with the skills they need to be successful in college and work."

To date, the foundation has invested more than $1.7 billion to improve high schools, supporting more than 1,800 schools in 47 states and the District of Columbia. Nationally, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and its partners are focused on increasing graduation and college readiness rates by supporting the creation of new high-quality high schools and the transformation of existing low-performing high schools into more focused and effective learning environments.