Breaking the Mold

Many districts offer alternative programs for students who are not successful in a traditional high school, but they provide no comparable alternatives for able students. Comprehensive high schools may meet the needs of many high achievers, but some will be even more successful in an educational setting that meets their needs and aspirations.

Three such public schools can be found in Oakland County, Mich. These schools represent a variety of pedagogy styles, governance structures, and funding sources. They use a variety of admissions criteria, including lotteries, interviews, test scores, and self-selection. But all three schools provide specialized settings that match students? learning interests and styles, and all three recognize students? desires and inclinations and enrich the academic programming available to them.

We were involved in developing two of these schools and offer the following brief profiles as possible models for districts that are interested in providing alternative programs for their able students. The profiles are structured around a series of questions about the schools? purpose and culture:
| What are the mission and vision of the school?
| What are some of the school?s special characteristics?
| How do students and teachers relate to each other?
| What is the learning environment like?
| What curriculum or learning theory is used?
| What is the school?s governance structure?
| How is the school financed?
| What are the school?s future plans?

International Academy

The International Academy (IA) ? a tuition-free public high school of choice in Bloomfield Hills, Mich. ? was started in 1993 using the International Baccalaureate (IB) curriculum. It is a partnership among 11 districts that send their students. Bloomfield Hills serves as the host district.

As an inclusive academic program, the International Academy provides an extended school year (205 days) and a longer school day. Students may participate in cocurricular activities at their home schools using flexible time at the end of the school day. The school runs at full capacity, with an enrollment of 576.

Mission and special characteristics. IA?s mission is to prepare students to succeed and flourish in an international arena. The International Baccalaureate curriculum carries worldwide credibility, which is a benefit to students who plan to continue their studies abroad. In addition, IB is recognized nationally by highly selective schools and is known for producing students who are successful in higher education. The mission drives the school?s pedagogy, which focuses on developing thinking skills and interdisciplinary connections.

Students can choose a wide range of activities through interest-based ?product teams,? many of which are sponsored by business and community partnerships. Working with mentors, the teams undertake semester-long projects that link their academic learning with a tangible product or service, such as tutoring students in disadvantaged elementary schools and sponsoring schoolwide tournaments. In addition, IB requires community/school service, which helps drive learning activities outside the school?s walls.

The culture of the school is critical to its success, so faculty, students, parents, administrators, and the collaborating districts work to ensure its stability. Because the IB curriculum is academically challenging and students choose to attend the school, everyone works to maintain a casual environment. Both student-to-student and student-to-teacher collaboration are encouraged, emphasizing a collegial, nonauthoritarian relationship. The combination of academic rigor and supportive structures seems to work well.

Newsweek recently named the International Academy the top high school in the nation, based on the high number of students who pass the IB exams as seniors, compared with the total population of seniors in the school.

More than one-third of IA?s students have attended a private or parochial school at some point, and 15 percent come from nonpublic middle schools. Proving competitive in this market where parents have the resources to send their students to nonpublic schools is noteworthy.

Governance and finance. The school is governed by a steering committee that represents each sending district and oversees IA?s policies and general welfare. Each district provides teachers, so letters of understanding have been written to create a bridge to the sending districts? teacher contracts. The letters of understanding recognize common working conditions and a common process for teacher evaluation. The school?s administrative team ? a principal and an associate principal ? evaluate teachers using a common format.

To fund its start-up costs, the academy offered the participating districts ownership shares. Each district decided how many student enrollment spots it wanted in the school and purchased that number of shares. In addition, seed money obtained from corporate sponsors and private donors was used to purchase equipment, renovate space, and train teachers.

Operational funding is based on student enrollment at the sending home school and the sending district?s cost per student, $7,950. The per-pupil-cost funds flow from the districts to the Bloomfield Hills School District, which then administers the funds for the school. Participating districts provide faculty, a cost that is deducted from the total pupil enrollment expenses. The Bloomfield Hills District provides the facility.

Future plans. The school?s mission and culture have established the International Academy as a lighthouse project for optional educational programming. Discussion is currently under way to expand the program to include elementary and middle school grades.

Model High School

Model High School was designed around the Nine Common Principles of the Coalition of Essential Schools, developed by Theodore Sizer of Brown University. Launched in 1990 after a year of research and community discussions, the school attempts to deliver instruction solely from the perspective of the learner.

The program, which is located in Bloomfield Hills, enrolls 200 students and provides transportation to and from their home high schools. The students spend all or part of the school day at Model High School and are given a block of time to pursue two subjects of their choice. They graduate from their home high schools, but transcripts reflect Model High School courses and allow district graduation requirements to be fulfilled.

Mission and special characteristics. The purpose of the school is to facilitate students? holistic development and foster a commitment to personal growth and change. Model High School strives to develop students? capacity to recognize change, adapt, and thrive in a future that is yet to be defined. The school has worked in conjunction with the two home high schools to develop interdisciplinary studies that are relevant to students? interests and that require creativity, reflective thought, systems thinking, and substantial intellectual engagement. Students must demonstrate mastery of materials and skills through authentic assessments.

The culture of the school feels different from that of a traditional high school. There are no bells; students sit at computer stations rather than desks and work individually or in groups. Teachers act as facilitators of learning, emphasizing Socratic discussion rather than didactic pedagogy. The school is not designed for immature students, but it has successfully served many students who have been frustrated with conventional schools and are willing to take a great deal of responsibility for their learning.

Model High School is especially attractive to independent, nonconforming students, who readily embrace the culture because of the personal choice the school provides. Students can choose research topics, arrange their time, and set learning priorities. The teachers are also largely self-selected and enjoy the opportunity to develop instructional strategies effective in this setting.

Educators from elsewhere in the United States and from other countries have visited the school, which has been recognized as a successful and long-term example of education reform. The school has been a model for other schools in the district in the areas of interdisciplinary faculty collaboration, block scheduling, and authentic assessment, making it an active part of the district?s continuous improvement efforts.

Governance and finance. The school?s simple structure is largely a philosophic choice. The traditional high school hierarchy has been flattened so as to spend as much time as possible on teaching and learning. All members of the faculty have common planning time and a common lunch period, and each day is spent collaboratively. As a part of the Bloomfield Hills district, the school follows all school board policies, and the principal reports to the assistant superintendent for instruction, as do the other two principals from the sending high schools.

Start-up funding for the school came from a grant from the RJR Nabisco Next Century Schools Fund and two grants from the Michigan Department of Education, along with district support. Now the full-time equivalency per student is computed at the home high school, and Model High School receives a budget and staffing allocation that reflects the student enrollment. Grant monies and partnerships have largely been responsible for the school?s advanced graphics and research resources, with technology funded out of the district?s operating budget.

Future plans. Although budget cuts and funding options are always a threat, the district has made a consistent commitment to the school, recognizing the value it adds. The district is currently addressing major high school renovation and construction issues, including the possibility of future building plans for Model High School, which is currently housed in a middle school.

Center for Advanced Studies and the Arts

The Center for Advanced Studies and the Arts (CASA) was founded 28 years ago to serve juniors and seniors from three school districts. Located in Oak Park, Mich., the program now serves more than 350 students from six high schools in six school districts. Not only has CASA survived shrinking enrollments and budgets, but it has grown to provide instruction that small schools with reduced budgets could not support.

Students attend CASA for only two periods of their six-period day. They take up to four classes during the mornings at their home high schools and come to the center for the afternoon session. More than 30 courses are available, including Russian, Japanese, music theory, philosophy, global issues, mythology, computer networking, forensics, and dance. CASA offers 17 Advanced Placement courses in six areas: English, fine arts, foreign languages, mathematics, science, and social sciences. (A few 10th-graders take courses in the arts and foreign languages, but they are excluded from the AP courses.)

A majority of the students come from two high schools: 140 are from Berkley High School, 118 are from Ferndale High School, and the other 100 students come from Clawson, Lamphere, Madison, and Oak Park high schools.

Mission and special characteristics. The mission of CASA is to provide an enriched learning environment for academically and artistically talented students by offering courses that are not available at students? home high schools. The mission has helped to shape the school?s culture because it is accepted by the students. They have common interests in course content and are motivated to work with others who have similar interests. The students motivate each other and feed off each others? interests and abilities. When parents call the school, it is usually to say thank you. Generally, the only problems that arise are due to inappropriately placed students.

The participation rate in AP exams has increased and now includes more than 95 percent of the students in AP courses. More than 80 percent of the students who take the exams earn a grade of 3 or better (on a scale of 1 to 5), which will allow them to receive college credit for the courses. CASA is now working to increase the number of 4s and 5s on the exams.

Because AP courses drive the program, CASA?s director also works with the sending high schools to establish more rigor in the courses students take in earlier grades. The AP courses at CASA are sometimes the first experience these able students have with higher expectations. The CASA staff believes students will be better prepared for the AP coursework if they have already taken academically demanding courses.

Governance and finance. The center is governed by a steering committee that includes the principals from the six sending high schools, the deputy superintendents or assistant superintendents of instruction from the six sending school districts, and the center?s director. The steering committee sets policy, approves the budget, and addresses emerging issues while the director manages the program.

Each participating school district contributes a percentage of the state aid payment for each student who attends the program. Subtracted from this cost are the rent for the school, custodial costs for the host school district, and the salaries of teachers who come from the respective school districts.

Future plans. In 1993, when CASA was 10 years old, a study was conducted to review progress and set new goals. A similar 10-year study was conducted in 2003 at the 20-year mark. As a result of this study, the center is planning to:
| Add more school districts to the program.
| Add more course offerings.
| Emphasize Advanced Placement courses.
| Provide opportunities for more 10th-grade students to participate.
| Explore a three-period school day.

Opportunities for enrichment

As these brief profiles suggest, a variety of approaches can produce innovative programs for able high school students. But despite differences in structure or governance, all three of these programs have one thing in common: They provide enriched opportunities for secondary students through their offerings of specialized courses and individualized instruction, as well as through rigorous and authentic assessment. The students who participate in these programs experience a rich school culture that is conducive to learning and that joins teachers, students, and parents in common goals, high expectations, and mutually supportive purposefulness.

What is more, these three programs offer concrete evidence that, given the opportunity, public high schools can successfully compete with private schools on a national and international basis.