Effective high school reform: Meeting the academic needs of urban high school students

Across California, schools and districts have been reshaping instructional programs to meet the legislative mandates of the Public Schools Accountability Act (PSAA) of 1999. Shortly after the passage of the PSAA, the Federal No Child Left Behind act also was implemented in an increasingly high-stakes atmosphere.;California high school students who have fallen behind academically fail the California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE) and, therefore, will not graduate from high school. Urban high schools with many students from poverty are especially challenged by the diverse academic demands of their student population.;For several years, I have been studying the reasons why some schools succeed and others fail in poverty districts. The desire to understand what makes some high school programs successful was the drive behind this study.;This study is unique because it focused on over 2,600 students who entered three specific programs in the 9th grade during the 2005/2006 school year. The purpose of this research was to investigate how high school reform was implemented for at-risk students at the high schools in a large urban district, the Pomona Unified School District. It was important to quantify and investigate the academic effectiveness of alternative programs for these high school students who had been promoted from 8th to 9 th grade. The key outcome variable was the gain in student academic performance, as measured by the annual point change (academic growth) in the Language Arts California Standards Test scores from 8th grade to the 9th grade.;Constructing the unique data files for this study took a considerable amount of time and effort. The data files cover a time span of more than six years. The data collected include independent variables such as students' gender, ethnicity, participation in free or reduced lunch, number of years in the district, middle and high school attended. The dependent variables collected for this study were the 2005/2006 California Standards Test scores in English Language Arts and grade point average. Additionally, a pilot study from the 2002/2003 school year is also included.;The research methodologies used in this study were both quantitative, e.g. multivariate statistical analyses, and qualitative, e.g. structured teacher interviews. Descriptive statistics and comparisons of means by program of the grade point average and California Standards Test scores in English Language Arts were used to provide a background context for this study. More depth was provided through the use of analysis of variance and analysis of covariance. These techniques were used to analyze academic performance in terms of value-added grade point averages and value-added California Standards Test English Language Arts test scores.;Structured teacher interviews also were developed for use in this study. These teachers work directly with students identified as at-risk of dropping out of high school. The purpose of the interviews was to provide a comprehensive understanding of secondary reform efforts from the front lines. Additional insights on the characteristics of successful 9th grade students are provided through profiles of the top five students who improved most in each of the high school programs.;The study yielded two main conclusions: (1) California Standardized Test scores in English Language Arts increased more at the Village Academy High School, an innovative program characterized by small classes, than in either the regular high school or a standard intervention program. The Village Academy High School is the most effective program that targets academic achievement for low socioeconomic and minority students in 9th grade urban high school students in the Pomona Unified School District. (2) Teachers who spent time building relationships with their students especially increased the academic performance of students.