100+high+schools+grants

=#4, 5, 6, 7= = Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation =  April 21, 2003 = The Chicago Public Schools To Create 12 New Small High Schools with Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation $7.6 Million Grant = CHICAGO -- The Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is seeking partners to create 12 new small high schools over the next five years with a $7.6 million grant recently received from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. This grant will enable CPS to open two new small high schools as early as 2004. The grant is funneled to CPS through a consortium of local funding organizations known as the Chicago High School Redesign Initiative, a five-year effort to develop small schools within existing Chicago public high schools. The initiative includes The Chicago Community Trust, Bank One, Joyce, MacArthur, PolkBros., Spencer, and Steans Family Foundations. In 2001, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation contributed $12 million to that initiative and local foundations gave $6 million. Under that grant, CPS has developed nine small schools and ultimately wants to work with a total of five larger schools to develop 20 small ones. “Chicago has the most ambitious small schools plan in the country, with plans to open 32 new small high schools by 2007,” said Arne Duncan, CPS chief executive officer. “This will help us create better learning environments for our students.” =Small schools gain, but test scores don't show it= //August 3, 2006// **BY KATE N. GROSSMAN Education Reporter** Students at Chicago's new small high schools show up more and drop out less, but they aren't producing better test scores, according to a University of Chicago study of the city's ambitious effort to break up its large, low-performing schools. Since 2002, Chicago has created 23 small high schools, with two more starts likely in 2007, paid for with $25 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and local foundations.
 * Analysis **

**'A long way to go': Duncan** The U. of C.'s Consortium on Chicago School Research studied the first 16 -- 12 of which opened within three formerly large schools: South Shore, Orr and Bowen. Nine had students old enough to take junior year standardized tests. "We still have a long way to go, but this is a fairly dramatic shift," Schools CEO Arne Duncan said. Improved attendance and dropout rates "means they're getting the culture right, and that's hugely important. I'm confident the academic gains will follow."

Small Learning Communities: "Lessons Learned" Problems of converting large high schools to more collaborative learning communities 1) Establish a "Moral Imperative" so stakeholders know why the changes are taking place. Mentions local evidence of need, as opposed to standardized tests and national statistics.  E.g. Following student dropout trends using yearbooks for successive years  2) Understand restructuring as a means to an end: real change is in philosophy and instruction Professional development should deal with a wide range of challenges 3) Teacher flexibility: recognize need for collaboration, not just shared planning time Accept sacrifice of elite and vocational classes in the interest of "success for all"  4) District administration supports instructional changes: reduction in sports, music, AP programs and public opposition 5) Community supports instructional changes 6) Addressing program-specific obstacles: phase-in v.s. full implementatiojn thematic vs. generic curriculum loss of elite programs, e.g. AP and IB programs finding contiguous space restricting cross-over between SLC's and Comprehensive high schools

 ** February 15, 2005 **
= Expanded Investment in New High Schools Aims to Increase Graduation, College-Going Rates of New York City Public School Students = = =

Report shows efforts to develop small, academically rigorous high schools pay off in improved student skills, particularly among lowest-performing students
NEW YORK -- The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation today announced new grants totaling more than $32 million to support and expand efforts to raise achievement, graduation, and college-readiness rates in New York City’s high schools. These grants will help create 35 new small high schools, train more than 40 principals, and improve school facilities in order to prepare students for college and work.

= New Study Finds That New York City’s Small High Schools Markedly Increase Student’s Academic Performance and Graduation Rates =
 * June 22, 2010 **

Improvements seen for broad range of students, including African-American and Hispanic males, less-proficient students, and low-income students
NEW YORK -- MDRC, a nonprofit, nonpartisan education and social policy research firm in New York City, [|released a new report] today showing that small high schools in New York City increase students’ likelihood of earning credits, progressing through school, and graduating in four years with Regents diplomas. This unprecedented study provides convincing evidence that systematically replacing very big failing high schools with a large number of small public high schools can narrow the educational attainment gap and markedly improve graduation prospects, particularly for disadvantaged students.

This report presents encouraging findings from an unusually large and rigorous study, supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, of the effects of SSCs on students’ academic achievement in high school. Key findings include: * Positive effects for all demographic groups, including males of color Analysis [|Full Report] [PDF: 51 pages][|Executive Summary] [PDF: 10 pages]
 * Higher on-track to graduation rates in small schools than non-small-schools after only one year
 * Increased graduation rates in small schools over non-small-schools

//Prepared by Jennifer L. Jennings, assistant professor of sociology at New York University, and Aaron M. Pallas, professor of sociology and education at Teachers College, Columbia University, in collaboration with Annenberg Institute research staff// Over the last decade, the New York City public school system has sought to reform high school education by closing or downsizing large, failing high schools and opening new small high schools in their stead. This report explores whether these reforms altered the distribution of student characteristics across schools by comparing the demographic characteristics of students entering the new small high schools with those of students entering the large high schools that closed and with high schools across the New York City system. The authors found little evidence of a fundamental redistribution throughout the system, but **their data indicated that new small high schools located on the campuses of the large comprehensive schools they replaced enrolled much less disadvantaged ninth-graders than those who were previously enrolled in the now-closed large comprehensive schools**. The authors recommend that the New York City Department of Education remain vigilant when opening and closing new schools, keeping in mind that the fortunes of one school can influence what happens to other schools. (October 2010)



=School Reform in Washington D.C. - Michelle Rhee's Program = http://www.rethinkingschools.org/archive/25_01/25_01_dingerson.shtml