IMPLEMENTING CAREER ACADEMIES SCHHOL WIDE
Washington High School 1999

This report was made possible by funding from
the DeWitt Wallace - Reader's Digest Fund
The Career Academy Support Network
is based in the
Graduate School of Education
University of California at Berkeley

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. Washington High School: Year One

Introduction

Restructuring

Ninth Grade Program

II. Managing the Academy Implementation

Governance

Data Collection

Scheduling Multiple Academies

III. Teaching and Learning

Integrated Curriculum

Integrated Project

Senior Project

Technology

Workbased Learning

The Health and Bioscience Academy

Safety Nets for Academy Students

IV. Standards and Academic Achievement

V. Professional Development

VI. Parent, Student and community Involvement

VII. Conclusion

Appendix

References

WASHINGTON HIGH SCHOOL: YEAR ONE

Introduction

Washington, a pseudonym for a comprehensive high school located in an urban area of a western state, serves an economically and educationally disadvantaged student population that is 46 percent Latino, 39 percent African American, 14 percent Asian/Pacific Islander, and 1.0 percent other (Caucasian and Native American). Over thirty percent of the students have limited English proficiency and are enrolled in the English Language Development (ELD) program. Over ten percent of Washington's student body (261 students) are associated with the special education program. In January 1999 enrollment was 2025 students of which 637 were freshmen, 606 sophomores, 476 juniors and 306 seniors. (All student data is from school or district records.)

Washington students suffer from the problems that affect inner-city students and their condition is worsening. Many come from families that are contending with the effects of poverty, gangs, drugs and crime. They have many home responsibilities; some must work to help support their families, and others have responsibilities for younger siblings or their own children. In the past five years Aid for Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) rates have risen ten percent, single parent households have risen by seven percent and an increasing number of students are gang affiliated. Sixty-seven percent of Washington's students are on AFDC, fifty-three percent on free or reduced lunch, and seventy-nine percent come from single parent households. Twenty-three percent of the students have had contact with the juvenile justice system. Washington teachers are engaged in a continual struggle with high rates of student absenteeism, gang related violence, and the needs of immigrant students with limited English proficiency and low academic skills, caused in part by inadequate prior education.

Formerly a grade ten through twelve senior high school, Washington's problems were compounded by the addition of a ninth grade class in the fall of 1997. Seven hundred ninth graders were enrolled because of over crowding in the elementary and middle schools caused by a class size reduction initiative in grades K-2. The new ninth graders represented a 35 percent increase on a campus that is less than seven acres, one of the smallest sites of any comprehensive high school in the state. The school building was designed to serve 1000 students, yet over 2000 are presently enrolled. Thirty portable classrooms were installed to house the overflow. In the fall of 1998 Washington was classified as an impacted school because of the overcrowding. This means that unlike other district high schools, open enrollment into Washington is not allowed.

Washington's certificated staff consists of five administrators, 4.5 counselors, 93 teachers, a student activities coordinator, librarian, part time psychologist, part time speech therapist, full time academy liaison and a mathematics and science achievement coordinator. Ethnically the certificated staff is composed of 39 African Americans, 41 Caucasians, 14 Hispanics, seven Asians, one Native American and one other. Staff credentials include: 11 BA's, 39 BA's + 30, 10 MA's, 37 MA's + 30, and four doctorates. A nurse and part time physician operate a medical clinic on the campus. The 49 classified staff members include nine campus supervisors, eleven instructional assistants, nineteen clerical staff, nine food service employees and ten custodians. Because of the addition of the ninth grade students, almost 40 percent of the staff was new to the school last year and there are 22 new teachers this year.

Washington has a counseling ratio of 500 to one. Two new counselors were added this year, replacing departing staff and the school is still in need of one more counselor, as one retiree is helping two days a week with the large student load. Counselors are assigned to academies and work with the teachers and students in just their academies. The ninth graders are divided among the counselors alphabetically.

A vexing problem has been the high yearly turnover of staff. Washington High School has had three different principals in the past five years and eleven other administrative changes. For example, all 1996-97 administrators left except the vice principal who became principal. In February 1998, two of the new 1997-98 vice principals were replaced. Each principal has come in with their own style and ideas of what the school should try to accomplish. The present principal is actively committed to using the career academy model to help Washington achieve the highest possible standards.

Although Washington has a core of able, dedicated teachers, over sixty percent of the teaching staff has been at the school for two years or less. It is not easy to find qualified teaching staff especially in math, science, and the academy technical areas. Teachers are reluctant to apply citing low wages, overcrowded classrooms, inadequate instructional materials and too many difficult students. Because of a lack of applicants, experienced teachers are sometimes replaced with unqualified long-term substitutes. No consideration was given to the fact that Washington was a restructuring school when the new teachers were assigned.

There are also major gaps in staff preparation that create serious problems. Some teachers and other professional staff members are on emergency certificates or inappropriately certified for their current assignments. Furthermore, certification does not necessarily mean strong preparation, especially in mathematics and science. Interdisciplinary curriculum is difficult enough to develop and implement with teachers who have strong academic backgrounds. New, inexperienced, and in some cases marginally qualified teachers exacerbate the problem. The computer labs are not fully utilized, because of lack of staff expertise. The district is aware that teachers who teach the technical courses should be qualified in the career field. The personnel office says they will attempt to address this problem before 1999-2000 hiring begins.

Restructuring

Preparation for the restructuring to an all academy high school has been taking place intermittently for the past ten years. It began in 1989 when teachers volunteered to start school ten minutes earlier each day to gain planning time. In 1997, the schedule was changed from the traditional 55 minute six period day to a 120 minute three period block schedule. Students and teachers have all of their six classes on Monday and three alternating two-hour classes on the other four days. Students are dismissed at 2:00 p.m. on Mondays to give ninth grade and academy teachers common planning time.

The collaboration required to change to a block schedule lessened the traditional isolation of a large faculty of diverse backgrounds and opened the doors for Washington teachers to begin to talk to one another. The faculty began to understand how their expectations for students can differ significantly depending on the presence or absence of problem solving structures at the school level. They realized that school governance was a crucial element in implementing academies. By 1993 the faculty was talking about how to set up structures to foster problem solving and planning. Their conversations led them to institutionalize their governance system as a s ite b ased m anagement t eam (SBMT) based on the Comer decision making model. (The Comer model, named after James Comer of Yale University, is based on principles that include parent involvement and site based management. Its decision making guidelines include no fault, collaboration and consensus. Expected outcomes are a school plan, focused staff development, and formative and summative assessment.) At Washington the SBMT's purpose is ìto be the representative body that channels and spearheads a continuous cycle of inquiry and action research.î The SBMT includes representatives from the faculty, administration, students and parents.

Although the high administrative turnover created difficulties, the SBMT has continued to develop, refine and focus their decision making processes. Teachers were given an opportunity to use their expertise in arenas outside the classroom. For example, a math teacher who has always participated strongly in the SBMT took on the responsibility of data collection. She collects important academy data for the staff and makes presentations on data collection both in the district and at local conferences. A French teacher who lives near the school, took on the responsibility of mobilizing parents and other members of the community to become aware of and participate in school activities. A social studies teacher wrote the grant that allowed Washington to be the second school in the area to participate in the biotechnology education program.

In 1992 Washington applied for and received a State Demonstration of School Restructuring Initiative grant to support their nascent reform efforts. (These grants funded a five-year program of support for a small group of schools to demonstrate how school restructuring might result in ìmore powerful learning for all students.î) Washington's membership in this restructuring initiative and exposure to other schools engaged in improvement processes, helped the faculty see that fundamental changes could lead to significant changes in student performance. The staff's professional capacity was enhanced by their participation in the state restructuring initiative from 1992 to 1997. It was also helped by the discretionary resources that accompanied the initiative.

A Media Academy was established in 1985. For several years the faculty had been aware that students enrolled in the Media Academy achieved more than other students, not only academically, but also in terms of assuming student leadership roles and in the positive relations that they developed with their teachers and each other. The faculty began to explore the idea that the Media Academy's key components might be used as a model for the rest of the school. They observed how the teachers worked with the same students over a period of at least two years and how the students knew one another well because they had several classes together. The faculty was aware of how hard the academy staff worked, but they recognized the payoff for the students and admired the espirit de corps among the staff and students. Consequently, they decided to focus their restructuring efforts on building a system of career-based houses that were similar to the academy model.

The staff's goal was that each student would choose to enroll in a house that connected academic learning to a career option in which they would be interested. They focused on career orientation to put the curriculum into a meaningful context. This was an important insight. They were concerned that their loose house configurations could fail because of the lack of a strong organizing theme. To avoid this problem, career themes were chosen, teacher teams identified, and the houses designed so that groups of students would keep the same teachers. Teachers met with their house colleagues to plan and develop curriculum. The course of study was structured so that all of the core academic courses met University academic entrance requirements.

Consequently, in 1994 Washington High School was reconfigured into small learning communities that included two academies, four career oriented houses and the International House. Staff development was provided and teachers attended conferences, joined organizations such as the National League of High Schools, and shared their new perspectives. The faculty adopted the principles of the Coalition of Essential Schools, and committed to personalizing the educational experience for all students. The counselors, previously assigned to students alphabetically, were made responsible for the students of a particular house or academy. Advisory periods were arranged by houses to provide students an opportunity to meet regularly to discuss areas of concern.

The average GPA at Washington has improved since 1992, even though the majority of students enter below grade level in core academic skills. Between 1992 and 1996 SAT scores rose 40 points in math and 89 points in verbal. Enrollment in geometry and the increase in students taking math classes above geometry is over 50 percent. Student participation in the senior project improved 100 percent. However, Washington teachers saw that their students need more support than the traditional school structure was able to provide and they were determined to provide that support.

Although the houses served as an interim remedy, they were too loosely organized and had insufficient support. The following data was compiled and analyzed in 1997.

Table 1
GPA by House/Academy

* The Architecture Academy was started in 1994

Tables two and three were compiled from student surveys conducted in November 1996, and given to 11th and 12th grade students only. Tenth grade students were not surveyed since they had only recently begun to participate in the House system.

Table 2
Do you know the other students in your academy / house?

Table 3
Are you in the academy / house of your choice?

In January 1998 Washington was selected to participate as a leadership site in a local school reform Collaborative. This Collaborative defines a leadership school as a school that is taking on an issue or challenge of significance for that particular school and for other teachers and schools in the region, and sharing what they are learning with others. Their leadership proposal was used as an anchor paper for other schools going through the application process. The principal and the four teacher implementation team are overseeing and coordinating Washington's improvement effort. Members of the team have clearly defined roles: curriculum and staff development, parent and community involvement, and data management and collection.

In the spring of 1998 the faculty decided that the principal's leadership and the technical and financial support from the DeWitt Wallace - Reader's Digest Fund to the Career Academies Support Network (CASN) and the Collaborative, would allow them to reconfigure the houses as full fledged career academies. In the spring of 1998, Washington's staff chose to implement academies schoolwide. Their goal in establishing these academies was to personalize teaching and learning to provide the support and motivation that their students need to graduate and go on to higher education and employment. The decision was made to have all tenth grade students enrolled in academies by the beginning of the 1998-99 school year. Students are given a choice of one of six academies. Limited English proficient students are enrolled in a special program required by the state's bilingual legislation that Washington has designated as an International Support House. When limited English speakers are reclassified as fluent English speakers they are enrolled in one of the six academies.

At present (1998-99), Washington is configured as six academies, an International House for the Limited English Proficient students, and three ninth grade clusters where teachers share students. The academies are as follows:

• Architecture for students interested in the construction trades and building design
• Humanities/Human Services/Arts & Education emphasizes the arts and teaching
• Business and Government covers business and government, computer applications and law
• Electronics concentrates on careers in transportation electronics and related fields
• Health and Bioscience for those interested in health careers and the emerging field of biotechnology
• Media for students interested in pursuing a career in television and print journalism

Students at Washington take two core courses regardless of academy. These courses are:

• Grade 10: English II, World Cultures
• Grade 11: English III, U.S. History
• Grade 12: English IV, Government/Economics

Although every student must complete three years of math and science, which subject is included in the academy core courses is dependent on the academy's career focus. For example, science is included in the Health and Bioscience Academy, while math is included in the Architecture Academy. All academy technical courses begin with an introductory course that is common to the same academies across the district. For instance, introduction to business is offered at each district high school that has a business academy.

Ninth grade program

Washington students experience a high rate of failure in ninth grade courses, a common occurrence in urban schools. The faculty realized that they had to halt the onset of the indifference and poor attendance that demoralizes teachers and makes effective teaching impossible. With the principal's guidance, they decided to divide the ninth graders that entered Washington in the fall of 1998 into three clusters to prepare them to be successful in the academies. Students in each cluster are assigned to interdisciplinary teams made up of teachers who share the same group of students and who represent the four core academic subjects (English, math, science, social studies). Emphasis is placed on developing positive attitudes and the skills necessary to succeed in high school. Ninth graders also take a career exploration technology class that allows them to learn about a variety of careers before choosing their academy.

The cluster arrangement provides students with a team identity, a group of adults who are looking after them and coordination among all their teachers in both instruction and discipline areas. A ninth grade coordinator was selected and charged with developing activities that create a strong sense of belonging. Cooperative learning, problem based curriculum, cross-disciplinary projects, multicultural content, and multidimensional assessment are being developed to ensure student success. Students are supported by peer mentoring and tutoring programs. The new portables that were placed at Washington to ease the overcrowding are being used for the ninth grade classes.

MANAGING THE ACADEMY IMPLEMENTATION

Governance

The Site Based Management Team is potentially a powerful institutional support for teachers' work. It is helping the staff develop a coherent, positive school-level professional learning community that is invested in best practices and problem solving. It is also beginning to play a major role in how teachers view their work and their students, by focusing on the conditions in the school that support ongoing learning opportunities, and stimulate such thoughtful practices as the senior project.

After receiving confirmation of support from CASN and the Collaborative in the spring of 1998, members of the SBMT held a retreat. Their purpose was to review and improve their by-laws and refine their decision making processes. The agenda included:

• What components of the Comer decision-making model did they want to use?
• Are Comer's gradients of agreement an effective precursor to consensus?
• What issues should be brought to the SBMT?
• What to do if consensus could not be reached?

Participants represented a cross section of the school. Each academy and house was represented. The meeting was ably facilitated by a young member of the faculty, and there was a spirit of cooperation among the participants.

The district's interest in schoolwide academies led the SBMT to consider what is required for the comprehensive implementation of an all school academy program. With the cooperation of the rest of the faculty, the SBMT developed a list of questions to determine why an all academy structure would work better than their present structure of two academies and four loosely organized houses. The questions included:

• How successful are the academies?
• What do they do right?
• Do they match the intentions that the staff had when they started them?
• What factors contribute to their successes?
• What adjustments need to be made?

Data Collection

Statistics from the district's testing and research office were used to provide data. In 1998 the data was analyzed both holistically and by appropriate sub-sets. The findings highlighted some sensitive issues and raised questions about some of the choices that had been made. Patterns that emerged were:

• Students were not distributed evenly among the academies. There were significant imbalances in ethnicity, gender, special education status and the number of 10th graders.
• There was an uneven distribution of academically strong and academically weak students.
• There was a wide variety between academies and houses as to whether they have their core courses in place.
• Students in academies with their core courses in place had higher average GPAs.
• GPA generally correlates to math level; students who have completed algebra, and certainly geometry, have higher GPAs.
• Students with low GPAs have a greater dropout rate, more attendance problems, and higher suspension and expulsion rates.
• When the SBMT began to look at how students were placed in the existing academies further questions were raised:
• What are the sources of the disparities between academies and houses in terms of success and failure?
• Why are the academies and houses distinguished by ability groupings?
• Is this what we want?
• If not, how do we change it?

Washington identified several crucial factors as reasons for the improved performance in its academies. Students were kept in tight cohort groups for all of their core classes. They had a clearly defined core of dedicated teachers. The master schedule had not supported the houses in the same fashion. They did not have a strong set of core classes and students were often scattered among a number of teachers. The academies supported the purchase of needed supplies and technology, tutoring, manageable class size level, and important student motivational activities such as field trips and award ceremonies. Work-based learning was made available. Academy students had mentors and internships. The houses had few resources for their students and no formal work-based programs.

The fact that the houses did not have the same levels of support as academies created Washington's focused effort to implement the academy model equally throughout the school. The faculty knew that their present configuration did not serve all students equally well. There was concern not only about the size, but the GPA and ethnic mix of the academies. The business house was disproportionately African-American and larger and lower performing than any of the academies. Most teachers felt strongly about practices that created substantially different student environments and teaching challenges for teachers within the same school and department. They felt that the program had suffered and caused problems among teachers, and more importantly, unfairness to students. In April 1998 the faculty decided to change the houses into academies and balance them in size, GPA and ethnicity, but at the same time allow students as much choice as possible. If left unchanged, inequities in these areas represented problems that could ultimately undermine the entire move to school-wide academies, and the cooperation among the staff.

1998 Washington High School Time Line of Progress

Scheduling Multiple Academies

With the principal's strong support the SBMT decided to look closely at the recruitment of students for the different academies at Washington. They wanted the academies to serve as a strategy to reduce or eliminate tracking and to have students grouped heterogeneously in classes based on their interest. A committee was convened to collect and study the information available about the 1997-98 schedule and to use it to build a stronger master schedule for 1998-99. The previous pattern had been that individual academies competed to recruit the best students. As a result a disproportionally small number of students were concentrated in the academies with the best reputations and the most rigorous work.

In order to achieve an equitable distribution of students, the SBMT agreed that this practice must be changed. The recruitment process was redesigned to emphasize choice in students' selection of their academy. The SBMT proposed and the faculty agreed that ninth graders would select their academy through a process where all students were given equal exposure to the offerings of all academies. They could then choose based on their career interests. Limited access to certain academies would be eliminated. If the students' choices were widely disproportionate, counselors, teachers and the administration would try to balance the academies in terms of size, gender, ethnicity, and GPA. It was hoped that this new selection process would ensure a more equitable distribution of students across the academies.

Academy Size 1997, 1998

In the Appendix, Figure 1 compares GPA by Academy from 1995-96 to 1998-99. Figure 2 measures distance from the average ethnicity of the 1998 10th graders as compared to the 1998 11th and 12th graders. Averages were taken only for African Americans (39 percent), Asians (16 percent) and Hispanics (41 percent). The percentage of Caucasians and Native Americans was too small to include. The 1998 numbers in the tables clearly show that the academies are more nearly balanced in size, GPA and ethnicity than they were before the new schedule was created. Washington has taken a giant step toward detracking and equalizing their academies.

Choices were found to be surprisingly equitable when students got their preference and were not pressured to join a certain academy. Even though GPA, gender and ethnicity were taken into consideration almost all of the new tenth graders received their first choice. Consequently registration was smoother and the 1998-99 school year began on a far better note than in previous years. At the end of the first grading period fewer than twenty-five students had asked to be moved to a different academy.

Although much improved, the master schedule remains a challenge. Washington's data shows that the established academies have been able to program their students more consistently in a greater number of core classes. During this first year of implementation the new academies are developing their courses. Their next step is to put together a master schedule where core courses for grades eleven and twelve are established and respected. The academies that already have these courses in place have succeeded where others have not. This is because they had the additional support of either money or of state regulations that require certain students to take certain courses with teachers with specific credentials (e.g., the International House which serves the ELD population).

There are other areas where much work also remains to be done. The present block schedule was adopted to support changes in a curriculum that called for more active hands-on project-based student work. Some teachers are more integrated into the academy concept than others by virtue of what they teach as well as by personal philosophy, commitment and personality. Staffing problems are further complicated by the latest teachers' union contract that limits teachers to two preparations. This contract limitation has created a situation where many teachers are teaching in two academies, and a few are teaching in as many as three. Teachers who are teaching in more than one academy are often disconnected from academy planning and activities which compromises one of the major strengths of the academy model, the small learning community.

Further improvement will increase the number of students having multiple classes with the same cohort group and staying with their teachers for more than one year. This will strengthen the foundation for all future master schedule work and could serve as a template for use by the other high schools in the district. Developing this schedule demands compromise, creativity, and commitment. Most teachers are willing to make the effort because of their own persistence and growing evidence that their work is paying off for their students. They have learned the hard way that discussions, even disputes, must occur before a satisfactory master schedule is crafted. They are also learning that scheduling six academies and a bilingual house may require a larger staffing allowance.

To enhance the sense of community for students, academy classrooms are being changed so that they will be in closer proximity to one another. The faculty agrees that now that they have their school governance and structure under control and their schedule in better shape, they can concentrate on improving teachers' commitment to teaching in an academy and students' motivation to learn.

TEACHING AND LEARNING

Integrated Curriculum

Washington's stated goal is to develop ìsustainable changes in curriculum that will improve teaching and learning for all students.î (Western Association of Schools and Colleges Accreditation Report 1999) The staff plans to achieve this goal by working together across academic and technical subject areas to demonstrate the importance of the relationship between school and work. Most faculty members are convinced that this form of interdisciplinary teaching provides motivation by giving students a context to understand why they are studying a particular subject and how to relate it to other subjects. Academy teachers work in teams to develop interdisciplinary curriculum to promote active learning and participation. They believe that contextual coursework is needed to raise academic achievement by making what is taught in school more meaningful and more relevant. Their ongoing challenge is to match the curriculum projects to district academic and industry standards.

Curriculum integration requires staff commitment and training. The faculty is organized into academy teams, the English Language Development team and ninth grade cluster groups. In June 1998 they were given concentrated staff time for training on interdisciplinary projects and rubric development aligned with the state and district standards. In September they presented the projects they developed over the summer and received feedback from their colleagues. In addition, coaching support, provided by a grant from a local foundation, is focusing and giving momentum to their efforts to develop curriculum that is both interdisciplinary and infused with industry specific themes.

Integrated project: How Can We Solve the Graffiti Problem at Washington High?

Washington has had serious problems with graffiti. It affects the entire high school community, by lowering self esteem and dividing students along ethnic lines and sometimes between gangs. The Media Academy felt that if they could reduce graffiti on campus, the school might better serve other student needs. A project was designed to use the resources of the Media Academy to define the problem and explore solutions. It combined telecommunication with media tools and skills to help students analyze and solve a real problem while integrating academic and technical skills. Industry partner, Pacific Bell, provided expertise and service. They installed voice mail, a direct line for faxing, and other lines for direct communication on campus between teachers and students via electronic mail through the CLASS LINKS program at Pacific Bell.

The goal of the project was to use collective critical thinking to solve the problem: what can the Media Academy, as a team, do about graffiti on campus? Media Academy students explored the historical, political, socio-economic, environmental, economic and media aspects of graffiti, and whether reducing graffiti on campus could make it possible to divert district moneys to the delivery of educational supplies and services. Cognitive skills included researching the pros and cons of a controversial issue and demonstrating critical thinking through use of persuasive writing and speaking. Academic content was integrated in English, US history and government classes. Cooperative learning was used to devise strategies for classes to work together to publish the results and record progress through the school newspaper, a student magazine and a student produced video. Students broadcasted their results through teleconference facilities provided by Pacific Bell.

Work based skills included applying desktop publishing to writing skills in more than one style. The Pacific Bell partnership resulted in over 40 mentors. The academy initiated and maintained these one-on-one relationships primarily through telecommunications: phone, fax and e-mail. SCANS employability competencies were addressed by having students work together to produce multiple products and carry out individual and team roles according to a common timetable. Cross curricular activities were included in the school newspaper, magazine, radio and television productions.

The project also included a strong community involvement component. Students used telecommunication, primarily phones and faxes, to drive a press and public relations campaign. They were able to unite varied groups behind the common theme ìTake Back Our School and Rid Our Campus of Litter and Graffiti.î Nearly two hundred people - students, faculty, politicians, community activists, parents and other members of the community - painted over graffiti, cleaned bathrooms, picked up garbage and united to do something positive and active to improve the school's environment. The project was evaluated on the effectiveness of the vocational and academic integration and alignment, the degree of success of telecommunication inclusion, and the quality and process value of each individual project and product. Each teacher was responsible for evaluating and grading the individual and group work of their students.

(Note: The district installed cameras on campus in the fall of 1998 resulting in a noticeable reduction in graffiti. Also, the district paint crew now comes within days of an attack of graffiti.)

Senior Project

The senior project is a major component of Washington's integrated curriculum effort. It began in 1993 as an effort to push students to demonstrate what they had learned and encourage teachers to prepare students for an exhibition of their mastery. The senior project represents a culmination of student learning and an authentic assessment of student achievement. Washington's senior projects have three parts: 1) research paper, 2) product, and 3) presentation. A public exhibition is required. All students, including upper level ELD students, are required to complete a project. Business partners, parents and other members of the community serve on panels that judge the projects. In January 1998 the district's Board of Trustees made successful completion of a senior project a graduation requirement for all high school students.

Funding has been made available to provide additional teacher training in such areas as writing across the curriculum, and developing rigorous exhibits of mastery for their classes. Washington hired consultants to work with teachers to develop methods to prepare students for the senior project and sent teachers to a senior project conference. At the conference they attended sessions on ìCurriculum and the Senior Project, Building Benchmarks to Senior Project Successî and ìSenior Projects and School to Work.î They shared results with the staff at the September staff development meeting and will be involved in planning and participating in a district-wide senior project institute.

The staff is attempting to provide a project mentor for each senior and plans to ask English majors in area colleges to serve as mentors and support personnel. The school's exhibitions coordinator is responsible for the organization of the senior project exhibition. The school to career link with the senior project is being strengthened by academy directors, the school to work liaison and the exhibition coordinator. They are trying to match students with outside business mentors to help them with the development of their projects. Parents are encouraged to attend meetings and be involved in developing and assisting in judging senior projects.

The exhibitions coordinator, along with a representative committee, is continuing the work of coordinating and implementing the senior project and preparing students in the ninth, tenth, and eleventh grades. This committee will develop and disseminate benchmarks and instructional materials for students as well as assign the staff to mentoring positions for seniors. The coordinator is also developing the schedule for senior project presentations by the end of the first semester. Staff training where previous student work is examined in relation to a rubric created by the committee is ongoing. These rubrics will be developed and anchored by the end of the first semester, so students can begin their senior project work with the rubrics in mind. Washington teachers are willing to share their students' work and agree that work will not be hidden, but exchanged and evaluated so that others can build upon it. One teacher said, ìexamining and sharing student work is like a mirror. It is both scary and wonderful.î

When asked,î Is the senior project achieving its goals?î teachers answer, ìpartially, in that students are participating and are proud of their work. They bring their parents and other family members to see them and invite other special guests who may have helped them with their projects.î Student writing continues to be poor, largely because skills need to be improved in earlier grades. The addition of the ninth grade is providing one more year for skill development. The difficulties students have finding mentor relationships for their projects must be addressed. Students are often forced to work on their projects without the benefit of other adults except their English teachers. Improving mentor relationships will help students not only produce higher quality projects but also strengthen their ties to the community.

Technology

Student use of computers at Washington has increased markedly in the past five years. Computers are available throughout the school. Eighty percent of the teachers have computers in their classroom, and there are full size computer labs in three different areas of the school. There is also a fully equipped computer lab in the Media Academy. Almost all students use technology at some time throughout the school year. They are supported in their efforts on the senior project, and other exhibitions of mastery, by Washington staffing at least one computer lab during lunch time and before and after school. This is an interim plan as the district proceeds towards its goals of staffing all the computer labs at the high schools . In February 1999, the library received fifteen satellite computers that have immediate Internet access. These computers have been greatly used by students, some of whom stay after school to work on them. Most of Washington's students do not have computers at home and the library has become an important source of access for them.

The presence of computers has led to a real change in what teachers can do. Many teachers have redesigned their curriculum to encourage students to use the computers. Most require papers to be written on computers, something low income students would be unable to do without their presence in school, since few of them have computers at home. Students use word processing, spreadsheet and other applications in classes besides their computer class. They use computers for their integrated projects and many have become quite proficient in basic computer applications. Computers are also being used in academies, such as business, that prepare students for jobs and occupations that are either centered on or strongly affected by the use of computers. The labs are frequently filled with students doing work for different classes. Previously, the only students using computers regularly were in the Media Academy.

Although there are still teachers who do not use computers regularly, the number is decreasing. The district has a well-equipped training lab at the district office and offers workshops for teachers both in the summer and during the school year. Attendance at technology workshops is creating a demand for more creative software and other technology for classrooms. They want to promote problem solving by using computers as integrated learning tools throughout the curriculum in each academy. The emphasis will be shifted from training in routine mechanical skills to conceptual understanding and problem solving. Priority is given to developing intelligent use of various technology assisted methods such as graphing; numerical approximation and computer symbol manipulation; and mathematical skills and software tools such as graphics, spreadsheets and databases. Implementing such programs requires a long and sometimes difficult effort. It also will require substantial curriculum planning and the development of in-depth understanding and appreciation of technology and how it provides the basis for work for a large segment of society.

Work-based Learning

Although Washington students presently participate in work-based programs at local businesses, hospitals and biotechnology companies, a significant expansion of work-based learning experiences is being planned. Job shadowing and mentoring programs are already in place in the Architecture, Health and Bioscience, and Media Academies; but work based learning opportunities are not made available across the school equitably. There is a critical need for paid internships from the private sector. More partners are needed to sustain the program by providing training facilities with equipment used in the workplace. Resources are concentrated on students who have been under-represented in previous work-based learning. This is being done by developing mentoring, job shadowing, service learning and internship opportunities within each academy. At the end of this school year, each academy is expected to document the placement of their students in work-based learning situations such as job shadowing, internship or service learning.

The district school-to-career office coordinates program services training with business, labor, and industry, and is a strong partner in the effort to provide high quality work based experiences for students. Academy directors, district school-to-career liaisons and the special education vocational coordinators oversee the development of sites, contacts and partnerships with the business community. Mentors and internships are crucial in motivating Washington's students and helping them understand the connection between school and work. Instruction in developing a mentor program and finding internship sites are provided to academy directors as needed by the district school-to-career office. Training for appropriate personnel to help with this effort is conducted at summer institutes. The school-to-career liaison and special education vocational coordinator are responsible for monitoring the number and success of students placed in work-based learning. Teacher participation in work-based learning is being monitored. Business partners are also needed to evaluate students.

The Health and Bioscience Academy

In 1996, members of Washington's Health Academy submitted a successful proposal for Washington to become part of a non-profit science education program that promotes biotechnology education. Students are enrolled in a rigorous curriculum that includes courses in chemistry, microbiology, biochemistry and physiology. They are considered to have achieved mastery in these courses when they earn a grade of B or better. The curriculum meets industry standards and is reviewed frequently. Industry protocols describe what will be included in each course and what students are expected to learn. The program provides:

• paid internships for enrolled students to practice skills required for getting and keeping a job in positions similar to those that they might get after completing the program
• community college programs with appropriate state-approved curriculum and hands-on experiences guided by educators and industry, and articulation between high school and community college curricula
• paid teacher internships in the biotechnology industry to address their lack of experience with industry needs and issues
• job placement
• support services for students that include mentoring, tutoring and counseling
• evaluation of all program components and data collection on participant outcomes

An extensive and successful work-place learning program is provided. Students are placed in summer jobs between their junior and senior years. Funds to pay for these internships comes from the local biotechnology companies. The internships are skilled biotechnology jobs with opportunities for advancement. Students have been employed in over twenty different work locations. Workers are enthusiastic about the interns. Several local biotechnology companies support their employees continuing education by helping to fund their college course work.

The program is articulated with a nearby community college where students in their senior year can take advanced biology. Funds are made available for tuition and books for any student to continue at the college. A lab assistant who tutors students who need extra help in their math and science courses is also funded. Students who successfully complete the biotechnology program at Washington and enter community college are eligible for a co-op position. Students sign a contract stating that participating in the college's co-op jobs program is conditional on their success in both the work and school experience. Some of the positions pay over $25 per hour. The only students who have not taken this option have chosen instead to attend a four year college.

Teachers at both the college and Washington say this is a tremendous opportunity not only to help students, but to allow the faculty to get a reality check on their curriculum. Washington's two biotechnology teachers have had summer internships. Both agreed that the experience was outstanding. The summer internship introduces teachers to the reality of working in the industry and shows them how courses can be better integrated for the next academic year. Companies in the biotechnology industry are eager to involve teachers for they realize how important it is for them to be current in their curriculum. Seeing the industry from the perspective of an employee allows teachers and students alike to gain experience that can be applied in the classroom.

The Health and Bioscience Academy also develops and maintains contacts with parents in many ways. Parents must sign a copy of the Health and Bioscience Academy expectations at the beginning of each year. They are invited to a number of school events during the school year: an academy open house in October, a dinner in the spring, meetings with employers in June and an exhibition of student work especially for parents and the wider school community. A parent said, ìpeople say knowledge is the key to life and this academy is giving our children that key.î A senior said ìyou don't just read but you get hands on training. Its a great challenge, but I like challenges. The work is really interesting. Adults say that those of us in generation X are lazy. I say generation X in our academy stands for generation excellence. After all, I didn't learn how to parallel park (drive) from a book. You get better by doing it. By following the protocols you get the same skills that the other workers have. I have confidence! I am not even intimidated by 30 year olds.î

Safety Nets for Academy Students

Teachers at Washington say ìour students are as capable as any. They simply lack background and confidence and must be given the time needed for mastery.î Tutorial services are provided on campus to build safety nets for students who are experiencing academic difficulties. There are tutoring programs in math, science, English and social studies. Students have access to peer tutors, both after school and at lunch time. Peer tutoring gives participating students class credit and other rewards. Teachers also help students by counseling, mentoring and after class tutoring. The on-site literacy coach works with students across the curriculum on reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills. Assistance is also offered by identifying community resources for tutoring and coordinating their efforts on campus.

STANDARDS AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT

Although the implementation of academies has not yet caused dramatic increases in overall academic achievement, data clearly shows that students who are in the best organized and most supportive academies have the highest rates of achievement. Results vary for other teachers who are just beginning to rethink their strategies in terms of the academy model and make changes in their classroom activities. The majority of Washington's staff feels that their original intention of developing academies to provide more personalized and contextual learning is correct and that low scores are largely due to the poor preparation of entering students and should improve.

Part of the problem in providing high quality standards based curriculum is the trade-off in power between the academy directors and the traditional subject matter department heads. When academies are seen as supplying the standards and the goals, authority over curriculum shifts from the departments to the academies. Professional roles are altered. New responsibilities are being placed on academy teachers. They have flexibility in methods of achieving student outcomes and are given freedom to manage curriculum, pedagogy, scheduling and resources. They are experiencing the meaningful relationships academies can create between teachers, and how academies can change ways of teaching and attitudes toward colleagues. At present most of Washington's faculty finds this approach more appealing than the previous practice.

However, there is concern about ignoring the impact of these new relationships, largely because the nationwide standards reform effort centers on subject matter knowledge. An important, but contentious, meeting to address this issue was held in the fall of 1998 at the district office. Afterward, some teachers said that the meeting was an important one and that it helped to clarify the change in traditional roles. Others were not satisfied. They wanted more evidence that the new all academy system is more effective than the traditional way of configuring schools. Some teachers felt strongly that when department leadership is lacking, academic leadership is diminished. They asked that responsible action be taken throughout the high schools to ensure that required course material is covered.

Washington has developed a structure to try to resolve this issue. Teachers began by asking what is the significance of departmental structures and their traditional allegiance to subject matter. They agreed that departments have served important purposes over time and should not be dismantled and replaced. They feel that schools are not likely to do much about underachieving students until teachers are empowered to use their professional judgment. The question was then asked who will take on these roles if both the academies and departments are to be strengthened. The faculty decided that departments are to be considered as home groups and academies as focus groups. Focus groups cut across curriculum areas in the same way as academies and bring together teachers with different subjects who share students. The faculty is presently engaged in planning how these specialized concerns will be coordinated and reconciled in the best interest of the school as a whole.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Washington is conducting a carefully planned professional development program that is aligned with the larger goals of the district. The faculty is receiving intensive training in the teaching of reading and writing, interdisciplinary planning, rubric development, integration of technology, and learning styles. Washington's staff development is driven by a coherent plan that dovetails with the district's professional development activities. New constructs in teaching and learning require time and commitment for educators to adapt to them. The curriculum coordinator and her committee are conducting afternoon extended activities and schoolwide staff development days. Weekly academy staff planning sessions are conducted as a forum where teachers meet and discuss their efforts to coordinate curriculum integration, the senior project and state and district standards. Collecting data and examples of student work is ongoing. The goal is to adopt this process as routine and required to make meaningful decisions.

The newly formed curriculum committee planned the professional development for the first two inservice days in the spring of 1998. On the first day a series of workshops was presented by the Washington staff in an effort to make certain that the entire staff understood academy vocabulary and requirements. The workshop topics included integrated curriculum, computer technology, writing, diversity, and classroom management. The second day was allocated to the senior project with presentations given by consultants from Oregon. Eight more professional development days were conducted over the summer: three in June immediately after school ended and five days in late August and early September before school began. During this time the staff refined its vision, and decided to broaden its focus to include a literacy initiative for the 1998-99 school year. Teachers also conducted seminars to share what they had learned at conferences they attended during the summer.

Washington's curriculum coach is making a special effort to help the twenty-three new teachers adjust to the academy structure. He has initiated discussions with teachers to clarify their vision, goals, and ideas; developed coaching agreements; and is planning strategies to support these agreements. Most teachers will be expected to develop at least one new project that integrates academic and technical curriculum by the end of this year. He is also providing demonstrations of effective instructional practices such as curriculum alignment and project based learning. His classroom serves as a learning lab for the staff.

Washington's professional development is based on the premise that the more teachers know, the more their students will learn, and that effective schools are judged by the attitude of its teachers toward learning. Through the concerted effort of the principal and the curriculum committee the entire staff is engaged in ongoing professional growth. Their theory of action is that teachers cannot teach what they do not know. In addition to knowing their subject matter they must know how to motivate students and contextualize learning, so that economically and educationally disadvantaged students can understand and achieve. They are proving their commitment by continuing to attend professional development seminars on Saturdays and after school. By the end of the first semester of this year they had attended ten workshops, five of them on Saturdays.

PARENT, STUDENT AND COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

Parental participation , while low, is increasing. Even though the number of single parent households has increased in the last five years, more parents are participating in school events involving their students. Washington's principal is eager to strengthen home/school partnerships and is working with her community group involvement coordinator, to develop more direct engagement between the school and home: one that reflects the tenets of the academies.

Parents are interested in the work their students are doing in the academies. They support strong academy programs that offer opportunities to their students not available in other schools, and certainly not provided for them when they were in school. Each academy is encouraged to develop a parent involvement plan. A primary effort for the 1998-99 school year is to conduct a campaign to increase awareness of the academy initiative among parents and the community. There were 105 family members at the May 1998 Health and Bioscience Academy dinner. Washington is identifying parent leaders so that they can influence events at the school. A parent contact to support dissemination of information about academy programs and activities has been identified.

The SBMT's effort to expand student and parent participation continues to grow. There was some participation with the focus groups and several parent discussion groups addressed the school's vision. Students began working with focus groups last year. It was sporadic and they are continuing to build on their involvement. This year there is a team of students representing the academies, the International House and the 9th grade clusters. They are working and giving input on the direction the school is going with regard to student learning. Students have a voice on the SBMT, although there is presently very little effective student government at Washington. Students are involved in planning social events and providing leadership for clubs, but most have not ventured beyond these traditional areas. The faculty feels this must be changed. Academy leaders have taken on more responsibility to work with their colleagues and collaborate around student participation. Yet students continue to have very low levels of participation on school committees such as the SBMT.

It is the community involvement coordinator's responsibility to ensure that parent, student and community voices are included in all aspects of Washington's work. She is responsible for planning and implementing a program to bring students, parents and community support groups into the decision making process at Washington. Two community awareness days where parents are informed of the on-site and community services available to Washington students were held in 1998; one in the spring and one in the fall. Support agencies provided parents and students with information concerning health, colleges, vocational education and city and county services. Agencies represented included the mayor's office, Private Industry Council, local colleges and universities, and the Spanish Speaking Citizens League. In attendance were the district superintendent and other officials, representatives from several community support agencies, as well as parents, faculty and support staff.

Both affairs familiarized parents, students and the community with the various agencies that support Washington, and increased their understanding of the roles of the different community organizations. They sparked conversations about how students could use the community as a learning laboratory, the importance of participation in community service activities, how teachers could integrate community issues into their curriculum, and how teachers and students might develop school based enterprises that addressed community needs. The affairs helped the participants understand that the organizations must be brought together in one cohesive whole. In several cases, organizations that were doing similar work for Washington High School had never met. This reinforced the fact that community partnerships need formal agreements with schools to make relationships sustainable and that they should not be dependent on individual relationships. An effort to coordinate these groups has high priority on Washington's school improvement agenda.

Other plans for community involvement include a newsletter, use of the campus as a center for community activities, and the sponsorship of an accountability event in the spring of 1999. The monthly newsletter began in April 1998 to enhance communication by improving the quality of the information passed between the school and the home. Recent issues included such topics as a discussion of Washington's plan for implementing academies school wide, a description of Washington's support providers, information about Washington's staff development plans and an invitation to participate. A calendar of events is enclosed to inform parents of important dates.

Another Washington goal is for the high school to become a hub of the community by making the school available to groups to meet in the evenings and the weekends. At present, Washington is locked down after school. It is hoped that better lighting for night activities and a reduction of vandalism will be byproducts of increased community involvement.

An accountability event is being planned for the spring of 1999 to make school data public and begin a dialogue with parents, students, teachers and business partners. All will be invited to participate in this meeting where Washington's progress on its academies and other reform goals will be shared. State and district standards will be discussed and student progress toward meeting them will be examined. Washington feels obligated to report to parents and the community not only when students are doing well, but also when they are not, as this will allow them to mobilize assistance. The staff hopes that addressing the full range of academic performance will be extremely productive and encourage the community to feel that they are members of a problem solving team. Solutions are more likely to be successful if they are created with an awareness of the multiple aspects of student performance, and a clear understanding of students' academic strengths as well as their weaknesses.

CONCLUSION

Washington is a prominent participant in the growing number of schools that are trying to increase their students' academic and technical achievement through career based education. Clearly their attempt to raise academic achievement by providing career academies for all students has broad implications, especially for public inner city high schools. Their attempt to motivate students by providing a career related context for learning is an ambitious agenda that incorporates the tenets of school reform. The staff is convinced that academies with their real life incentives will provide the motivation and the sense of community that their students must have to achieve.

Word of Washington's progress in developing a format for school governance, academy scheduling, and senior projects is beginning to spread throughout the district. Other district schools are starting to ask for advice and help, and in some cases sending staff members to observe Washington's practices. Their master schedule is being shared with the counseling staff district wide. Washington teachers attribute their success to the principal's unwavering support and to the district's school-to-career director for making explicit the criteria academies had to meet. However, they remind their colleagues in the other schools that so far only grade ten has been addressed. They know that they will have to make tough choices and commit to many more hours of hard work to complete this effort so that it impacts all three years of the academy program equally.

Washington's staff is in a process of continually examining what is not working well so that identified shortcomings can be overcome. They show obvious caring for their students regardless of ethnicity and socioeconomic status and are developing strong relationships with them. Their attempts at interdisciplinary curriculum and personalized attention is making a difference in the lives of many students and earning the appreciation and support of their parents. Washington is not just complying with the district's interest in academies, they own it. A veteran academy teacher said ìWe see our academies as a great opportunity. We don't sugarcoat our problems. We are up against every obstacle in a crowded urban school, but people are working toward change. We are going to be much observed and often studied. We're ready for the challenge and ready for the work.î

APPENDIX

Figure 2: Ethnicity distribution in the academies.

Schoolwide Averages

Ethnic Group gr 10-12

Asian 16%

Black 39%

Latino 41%

How far off the schoolwide breakdown for ethnicity is each academy?

Note: larger number indicates farther from the school average. New selection process only affects 10th graders

REFERENCES

Maxwell, N. and Rubin, V. (1997). The Relative Impact of a Career Academy on Post-Secondary Work and Education Skills in Urban, Public Schools . Hayward, CA: the Human Investment Research and Education Center (HIRE), School of Business and Economics, California State University, Hayward.

Stern, D., Raby, M., and Dayton, C. (1992). Career Academies: Partnerships for Reconstructing American High Schools San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Stern, D., Dayton, C., and Raby, M. (1998). Career Academies and High School Reform. Berkeley, CA: Career Academy Support Network, U.C. Berkeley.

Focus on Learning. Western Association of Schools and Colleges Accreditation Report. (1999).