Aiming High In High School
The Boston Globe
Editorial
November 29, 2003
High-stakes MCAS tests have put the public focus on helping as many students as possible pass. But education reform was designed to produce more than minimal competence, and that goal needs more attention.
The first rigorous study of high-achieving urban high schools in the MCAS era has reached a disappointing conclusion: There are hardly any.
After examining nine large school systems with a poverty rate and minority enrollment of at least 50 percent, only one high school -- the University Park Campus School in Worcester -- was found where students consistently performed at high levels.
However, eight other schools came close, and together they provide important lessons for urban high schools statewide.
The study was put out by the Center for Education Research & Policy at the nonpartisan think tank MassINC. It concluded that five factors appear most important to superior performance:
• High standards and expectations for students and teachers.
• Supportive school cultures, including individualized teaching.
• Small learning communities and class sizes.
• Focused, data-driven curriculum.
• Engagement with parents and others in the community.
--SNIP--
S. Paul Reville, executive director of the Center for Education Research & Policy, is on target in saying that one key premise of education reform is that "everybody should be challenged." This means every possible student should be helped to pass MCAS -- and that a great many students should be encouraged to set higher goals, and to achieve them.
