National High School Alliance

The Learning Community

NATIONAL NETWORK OF CONSTITUENT ORGANIZATIONS E-NEWSLETTER

October 31, 2006

NNCO BUSINESS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

October Meeting
The October NNCO Meeting was held on October 24. The meeting focused on graduation requirements policies and strategies for Network members to advance these policies in the states. Network members will receive a meeting summary that captures the highlights of the meeting and next steps for NNCO participants. To review the meeting agenda and related materials click here.

NETWORK RESOURCES AND INFORMATION

NNCO Web Site and Resources
The NNCO web site includes information about each of the Network organizations, resources and publications developed by Network organizations, and resources developed by the National High School Alliance. Please remember to check the web site frequently for updates and publications from the HS Alliance and the Network organizations.
NNCO Web site

Network Member Resources
NGA Honor States Progress Reports
These reports summarize states’ progress in implementing their Honor States’ grants.
Progress Reports

Identifying Potential Dropouts: Key Lessons for Building an Early Warning Data System
This report, prepared for Achieve by Craig D. Jerald, provides policymakers with an overview of research about the dropout problem and the best strategies for building an early warning data system that can signal which students and schools are most in need of interventions.
Full Report

Other Resources
ECS Highlights State and District High School Initiatives
The Education Commission of the States High School Policy Center recently released a new database that highlights state and district high school initiatives. The first three initiatives include the San Jose Unified School District's use of the rigorous "A-G Curriculum" for all students, Maine's early college high school program, and two innovative programs from the state of Virginia. The database will continue to be expanded as additional innovative state and district high school reform efforts are identified.
Full Database

Indiana Department of Education, Core 40 Info Center
This web site provides information about Indiana’s Core 40 course and credit requirements. It also includes information making the case for a college preparatory curriculum.
Core40 InfoCenter

HONOR STATE UPDATES
State Progress in Implementing Increased Graduation Requirements
(Excerpted from the Phase One State Progress Report, August 2006)

Arkansas
Governor Mike Huckabee and Commissioner of Education Ken James have launched Next Step for Arkansas’ Future, which focuses on communicating the need for high school redesign so all students are prepared for life after high school graduation. Next Step Arkansas includes a statewide media campaign that will help the public, and students and parents in particular, understand the importance of staying enrolled in school and in the Smart Core college-ready curriculum. Initially, the campaign includes a Web site, television and radio public service announcements, and a series of four posters distributed to every high school.

Delaware
The Delaware State Board of Education passed new high school graduation requirements that will be effective with the 2007 incoming freshman class. Recommended requirements include four years of English language arts, four years of mathematics (with at least Algebra I, Algebra II, and Geometry and one math course required in the senior year) and three years of laboratory science. As part of its communication strategy, the state held parent focus groups and will soon convene business leaders for focus groups to determine their level of awareness about and support for the increased expectations for high school graduates.

Maine
The state convened a secondary education task force which recommended that the state significantly increase the rigor of its graduation requirements. This proposal is expected to go to the Legislature in the fall. In addition, support is growing for end of course examinations across a range of subjects to provide quality control.

Massachusetts
The Massachusetts Board of Education is considering regulation changes involving the Certificate of Mastery and an enhancement of the competency determination standard for high school graduation. The proposed regulations would require students to score proficient on the mathematics or English Language Arts Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) before graduation or continue to take the test to reach a score of 240 on the MCAS and, if necessary, receive an education plan for reaching the proficiency target.

Michigan
In April 2006, Governor Jennifer Granholm signed into law rigorous high school graduation requirements, which include 4 credits of math and English, 3 credits each of science and social studies, 1 credit of physical education/health, 1 credit of the arts and two years of a foreign language. The State Board approved new high school content expectations for English Language Arts and Mathematics at its April 11, 2006 meeting and the new expectations are currently being implemented.

Minnesota
The Legislature approved a $1M request through the supplemental budget to expand AP, IB, and CLEP (College Level Examination Program). Coupled with new state standards, rigorous course offerings are expanding across the state. The state hopes this leads to students that are better prepared for college and the workplace; to find out, all eighth and tenth grade students were recently administered an early college ready assessment (ACT Explore in 8th grade; ACT Plan in 10th grade).

Virginia
Virginia continues its efforts to support its 30 Honor Schools, including awarding year two transition grants to the schools. Schools can use the grants to fund activities that support students making the transition from middle to high school. During the summer, Honor Schools hosted Algebra Readiness Camps for rising ninth graders at risk of struggling with Algebra as freshmen. Schools are submitting student performance data that will be used to evaluate the camps.

UPCOMING EVENTS

HS Alliance National Calendar
The National High School Alliance Calendar of High School and Youth Events has recently been updated. Please review and send any relevant events to Sara Goldware at goldwares@iel.org.
View Calendar

If there are any resources you would like to share with the recipients of this newsletter, please send an e-mail to chaitr@iel.org.

National High School Alliance
4455 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20008