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Overview To help high school students achieve higher levels of academic and personal success, major changes are taking place in SDCS high schools. These efforts are part of the district's High School Renewal initiative, which was precipitated by several key factors:
By redesigning traditional, large high schools, the district intends to improve academic achievement by:
Goals of the High School Renewal initiative include:
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New School Models
As part of the high school renewal program, five school "models" will be implemented:
Alternative
Alternative education high schools are small schools that focus on reinvigorating non-traditional formats and options in order to enhance student engagement and improve student achievement.
Learn more.
Challenge
This model's focus is on enhancing the achievement of all students. Many of these schools met their Academic Performance Index (API) school-wide targets, but did not meet their API targets for subgroups of students. They are intent upon closing the achievement gap between groups of students.
Learn more.
Community Engagement
This model's focus is on retaining neighborhood students. These schools will work to unify and broaden community engagement for schools within their feeder pattern, mobilize parents and the community to support the K-12 community of schools, and promote the involvement of parents of children participating in the Voluntary Ethnic Enrollment Program
.Learn more.
Freestanding Small Schools
Under development through Proposition MM, these new schools will be designed by the High Tech High Learning Network in conjunction with district implementation teams which include parents and community members.
Learn more.
Small Schools
This model's focus is on enhancing student engagement to improve student achievement. Each has formed internal leadership teams to begin the process of modifying the large high school complex into a group of small, separate schools. Redesigned high schools will have the authority to implement their own curriculum (within district and state standards) and their own school structure.
Learn more.
Key Principles
Key principles guiding the design and development of new schools under the high school renewal initiative include:
High Expectations
Students are engaged in an ambitious and challenging course of study, developed by staff members who are dedicated to helping students achieve state and local standards and leave school prepared for success in work or further education.
Personalization
Each school environment promotes sustained student relationship with adults, where every student has an adult advocate and a personal plan for progress.
Performance-based Promotion
Students are promoted to the next instructional level only when they have achieved competency, and receive the additional time and assistance they need to achieve it.
Time to Collaborate
Teachers have time to collaborate to develop their own skills and to develop plans to meet the needs of all students. They partner with parents, businesses and institutions of higher education to meet these goals.
News Archive
| Aug 5, 2004 | San Diego City Schools Receives $4.1 Million Grant : U.S. Department of Education Grant to Support Small Learning Communities |
| Mar 2, 2004 | Board of Education Meeting: First reading on the Alternative Education component of high school renewal (item E.6.b.). |
| Feb 11, 2004 | State of Education 2004: State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell calls for reforms to improve achievement at California's high schools. |
| Feb 10, 2004 | Board of Education Meeting: Revised report on the Small Redesign Schools (item E.6.i.). |
| Jan 27, 2004 | Board of Education Meeting: First reading on the Small Redesign School component of high school reform effort (item E.6.i.). |
| Nov 25, 2003 | Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation awards $11 million grant to San Diego City Schools and New American Schools (NAS) to increase student achievement and high school graduation rates. View the news release . |
| Nov 7, 2003 | William and Flora Hewitt Foundation awards $6 million grant to help improve student achievement. View the news release . |
| Jun 24, 2003 | Board of Education appoints John DeVore to newly-established position of high school reform administrator. |
| Sep 9, 2003 | Board of Education Meeting: Status report on district high school reform (item E.6.y.). |
| Apr 9, 2002 | Board of Education Meeting: Board approves designation of school-within-a-school at Kearny High Schools as the Stanley E. Foster Construction Technology Academy for engineering, architecture and construction trades (item E.4.e.). |
| Mar 12, 2002 | Board of Education Meeting: Status report on proposed expansion of district high school reform efforts and the receipt of two planning grants, a Smaller Learning Communities Grant from the Department of Education, and an award from the Carnegie Corporation of New York (item E.4.e). |
| Mar 2000 | District efforts to reform high schools begin with adoption of the Blueprint for Student Success. |
Related Resources
Materials from Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
| • | Fact Sheet: Making the Case for Small Schools |
| • | Gates Foundation Report: High Schools for the New Millennium |
| • | Evaluation: National School District and Network Grants Program |
Research
| • | Achievement in San Diego City Schools: A Progress Report Non-partisan summary of the status and direction of student achievement. Prepared by the San Diego Achievement Forum, a network of researchers and higher education leaders with a strong interest in student performance in San Diego City Schools. The research and report was sponsored by the San Diego Dialogue. • Summary • Full Report • Statement of Findings |
| • | Review of Selected High School Reform Strategies Identifies five approaches to high school reform—small schools, applied learning, professional development, youth development, and whole school reform—and canvasses the available empirical evidence on their respective effects on students' academic achievement. Prepared by Stanford University for the Aspen Institute's Education and Society Program. |
| • | Adelman, C. (1999). Answers in the Tool Box: Academic Intensity, Attendance Patterns, and Bachelor's Degree Attainment. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Education. |
| • | Brand, B. (2003). Rigor and Relevance: A New Vision for Career and Technical Education . Washington, D.C.: American Youth Policy Forum.
See more publications from this organization: http://aypf.org/pubs.htm. |
| • | California Postsecondary Education Commission (1999). College-Going Rates: What are they and what do they tell us? |
| • | Daggett, W.R. (2003). The Future of Career and Technical Education. Rexford, NY: International Center for Leadership in Education. |
Contact Information
Office of Secondary School Innovation (OSSI)
2441 Cardinal Lane, Bldg. E
San Diego, CA 92123
(858) 496-1849 - Phone
(858) 496-8129 - Fax
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