High Schools on the HOT SEAT

Stories by Sherry Posnick-Goodwin
Photos by Scott Buschman

With tougher standards about to kick in, momentum is growing behind the idea of restructuring secondary schools.

One hundred years ago the Eiffel Tower was the tallest building in the world, the average life expectancy in the U.S. was 47, and only 8 percent of homes had a telephone. Also noteworthy a century ago was the development of the American high school.

While much has happened in the fields of architecture, medicine and technology, the structure of American high schools has remained, for the most part, unchanged. "The American high school has not undergone a thorough re-examination — or for that matter overhaul — in more than a century," notes an article titled "Demanding More of Our High Schools" published in Education Week.

The restructuring of elementary and middle schools has become commonplace, but high schools have been, in most cases, left alone. Perhaps it's because tackling high schools' complex departmentalization, scheduling and curriculum seems overwhelming.

"It's uncharted territory, but high school reform is the next big thing on the horizon," says CTA Board member Bob Nichols, who serves as liaison to the association's High School Restructuring Task Force.

As if to make up for previous inactivity, the call for high school reform has taken on a sense of urgency. High schools are now on the "hot seat," and high school teachers and staff, working diligently under some very challenging conditions, are beginning to feel the heat.

The heat is coming from several places:

• Last year, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell introduced legislation to reform high schools throughout the state. Because of its one-size-fits-all approach, it didn't survive legislative scrutiny.
• In October, the National Governors Association launched a yearlong initiative, "Redesigning the American High School." It recently staged a national summit at which participants called for more rigorous standards and more difficult exams.
• Thirteen states with more than a third of the nation's high school students among them formed a coalition with the goal of holding schools accountable for graduating students with the skills necessary to succeed in college and the workplace. California is not among them.
• President George Bush has called for expanding the No Child Left Behind Act and imposing greater accountability requirements for high schools through more testing, even though the law lacks sufficient funding to carry out its mandates as they stand.

The tremendous interest in high schools was apparent at last October's High School Summit in Sacramento. The organizers, expecting approximately 2,500 people to attend, were caught off guard when more than 4,000 signed up and hundreds more had to be turned away. Titled "High Expectations for All Students," the two-day summit was sponsored by the California Department of Education and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and was planned with the assistance of several stakeholders including CTA, the State Board of Education, the California County Superintendents Educational Services Association, the California School Boards Association, California State University, University of California and WestEd.

"I think the massive turnout shows how hungry people are for change and for ideas to make their schools better," says Curtis Washington, chair of CTA's High School Restructuring Task Force. "The summit reinforced my understanding of the diversity of California's schools and how different each school can be. I think one of the best things that came out of the summit is that it brought people with disparate views together so they could have a dialogue about schools."

Teachers should be included in any dialogue concerning high school reform, says Washington, a member of the San Mateo Union High School District Teachers Association and a former member of the State Board of Education. Whether high schools are restructured or not, he maintains, they need adequate funding and resources to meet the needs of all students successfully.

"If I could wave my scepter and change the way high schools are structured in California, I would definitely start with reducing class size," says Washington. "And I would make sure there are enough counselors so students can get the attention they need. Instead, funding has been cut, class size has been increased and counselors are being let go everywhere. It's tough to do an adequate job of helping students under these conditions."

Despite inadequate resources — California ranks about $600 below the national average in per-pupil spending, according to a recent RAND Corporation report — high schools are blamed for the majority of ills in education.

"You have to remember that by the time the kids reach us, they have a lot of problems that have had a chance to set, so to speak," says Washington.

From football games to homecoming, the traditional high school is considered a rite of passage and part of the social fabric of America. Proposing to change such an institution can provoke strong emotions.

"Many of the traditional rules of high school structure and operation, while deeply ingrained in the American education system, are not based upon what research shows is the most effective and efficient way to educate high school age students," says Dr. Willard Daggett, president of the International Center for Leadership in Education. He questions the mutual exclusivity of departments for each discipline, the delegation of responsibility for literacy, math and science to single departments, the practices of grouping students by ability and assigning the most experienced staff to the least needy students, and the isolated nature of the institution.

He and other reform advocates maintain that the time is right to reinvent high schools because they aren't as relevant today as they were decades ago when the purpose was to prepare about a fifth of students for college and the rest for decent-paying blue-collar jobs.

"When I went through high school 40 years ago, there were far more jobs that required low skills," recalls NEA Board member Don Dawson, a teacher at Silver Creek High School in San Jose and a task force member. "Things are much different today than 40 years ago. Now, you need a higher level of technical expertise and the ability to interact with computerized equipment for cars. Most interesting jobs in the trades require a higher level of training than they did four decades ago."

While more than 70 percent of U.S. high school graduates enter two- and four-year colleges, an estimated 28 percent require remedial math or English courses, notes "The American Diploma Project," a report by Achieve Inc. and the Fordham Foundation. Fifty-three percent of students take at least one remedial English or math course during their college years.

For every 100 California students entering the ninth grade, 67 complete high school within four years, 38 enroll in college, 26 return to college after the first year and 18 complete a bachelor's degree within six years or an associate's degree within three years, according to the California Department of Education (CDE).

"I think we are doing a really good job in our high schools with the best students, but we are letting other kids fall through the cracks," says Nichols.

Fewer than 10 percent of high schools in the state have reached their academic targets, according to the CDE. If the California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE) had applied to the Class of 2004, as many as 20 percent of students would not have graduated on time.

On the other hand, more students in California are passing AP exams than ever before. The state's college-bound secondary students did better than most students in other states on the Advanced Placement Exam, according to the first comprehensive report issued for the College Board's 49-year-old AP Program. Although more minority students than ever before are taking the tests and passing them in California, many minority and low-income students have limited access to AP courses and are not prepared to take the tests.

The hot seat is about to get hotter with tougher standards about to kick in. Next year, for the first time, students will have to pass the exit exam in order to earn a diploma. Students are allowed six chances to pass the test, beginning in sophomore year and ending the year after they finish 12th grade. Based on last year's trial results, which indicated a quarter of seniors could fail the test, high schools are offering preparation classes, Saturday classes and after-school tutoring.

In addition, students will have to pass algebra, thanks to a 2001 state law making Algebra I a graduation requirement. More than 200 school districts got waivers from the requirement last year, but the State Board of Education has said it will not grant any exemptions this year.

Some educators believe that it might be time to consider two types of high school diplomas — one for those going to college and another for students who are going straight into the workforce or entering vocational training.

"We already seem to be moving in that direction," says Washington. "I think it depends on what the public will accept and what a diploma means. As a society we have not decided what a diploma means. Does a diploma mean that a student has mastered a certain level of mathematics and is able to enroll in a four-year college — or does it mean that a student has been through the process of education and socialization, which has taught them how to function with other people and be a productive part of society?"

Ellen Gervase, a special education teacher at Pomona Alternative School and a member of CTA's task force, thinks it might be a good idea to have three types of diplomas. "One would be a 'basic' diploma for a student who has maintained satisfactory attendance, earned the required number of credits and taken the exit exam several times and not passed. This might include special ed kids and those in alternative education. Another could be a 'traditional' or 'regular' diploma similar to the one we have right now, which includes passing Algebra I and the exit exam. And you could have a 'distinguished' or 'exemplary' diploma for those kids in AP classes who get a high score on the CAHSEE and complete all the A-G requirements for entrance to a state university."

Not awarding diplomas to students who fail to pass the exit exam or Algebra I would close many doors to students — including being able to enlist in the military or hold civil service jobs — and could deprive them of the ability to earn a living, says Gervase.

Talk about high school reform seldom refers to students with learning disabilities or those enrolled in alternative education programs, she says. "And they have to be considered as part of high school reform efforts, because their test scores count for the Academic Performance Index."

Many believe reform efforts should focus on restoring value to the senior year. Seniors often take a light load and do the minimum until graduation. For those who receive an acceptance letter from college midyear, interest in high school may dissipate. The strange malady, which some call "senioritis," can be cured.

"I think it's critical to make senior year more meaningful," says Washington. "If students go through senior year and don't take challenging courses and a full workload, they will go to college and get blown out of the water. They're not used to putting in the hours and showing the intensity needed to do the work. * At UC Berkeley, they have 5,000 freshmen and only 2,500 sophomores. I think that tells us something."

Members of the task force say change won't happen overnight, and real reform won't be accomplished if schools adopt quick fixes.

"I think there's promise in change, but it has to be done well — not just change for change's sake," says Dawson. "I think some good changes would be to allow more time for each teacher to interact with students and collaborate with colleagues. Teachers should be able to participate in the reform process as valued partners. And, of course, you need to have enough money. High school reform can't happen just by rearranging things. It's rearranging things and bringing the resources needed to pull it off and sustain it."

"There are many things we can do better," says John Haschak, a member of the Willits Teachers Association who serves on the task force. "But, overall, we are still doing a good job considering that we are educating all of our kids to a pretty high level. In other countries, they only offer a high school education to part of the population."

Haschak observed high schools in Japan through a Fulbright Memorial Fund exchange program a few years ago. "In Japan, the teacher stands up and delivers a lecture every day. No one takes notes or asks a single question. At least here we are helping to create inquisitive minds."

"I personally think it's always time to reform high schools because we constantly need to be looking at how we can better serve our students," adds Washington. "When we stop doing that, we stop fulfilling our mission.

"Teachers truly want to do a good job and are willing to go through fire to make things better. Yes, change is scary, but it's never stopped us in the past."

*Setting the record straight In the article above, Curtis Washington mentions that UC has "5,000 freshmen and only 2,500 sophomores." In reality, UC Berkeley enrolled 3,663 new freshmen in fall 2003 and of these, 3,535 enrolled for their sophomore year in fall 2004. This is a retention rate of 96.5 percent. The staff of the online California Educator regrets the error.