IRRE Receives Gates Foundation Grant for High School Work

Award Of $3.8 Million Will Expand Capacity To Support Reform In Underperforming Schools

Philadelphia — A $3.8 million award from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to the Institute for Research and Reform in Education (IRRE) will help school districts transform struggling high schools into places where all students can succeed, according to the organization's announcement today.

"Our partner districts and schools are showing that even very troubled schools can become places where students come to class and are engaged in their studies," says Dr. James Connell, president of the Philadelphia-based IRRE. "We are delighted that the Gates Foundation is building our capacity to help districts create a personalized and rigorous education for all high school students."

While many elementary schools have succeeded in raising levels of student achievement, efforts to reform high schools have largely failed. Some 32 percent of students leave school without graduating, a figure that rises to 50 percent for African-Americans and 47 percent for Hispanics. High schools need not only to graduate students, but also to give them the education to succeed in an information-rich, global society.

"The economic and civic health of our nation is at risk unless we do a better job of preparing all of our young people for college and work," said Tom Vander Ark, executive director of education, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. "With a strong track record to date, IRRE is in a position to play an important role in improving our nation's high schools."

Schools working with IRRE's reform framework, First Things First, stand out as exceptions to the dismal record of reform at the high school level

The grant from the Gates Foundation, payable over two years, will allow IRRE to:

• Bring First Things First to more districts and high schools;
• Develop new tools, including meaningful ways to measure progress, for leaders of reform; and
• Conduct research on the practices and supports that increase student achievement, especially throughout a district.

Incorporated in 1995, IRRE is known primarily as the developer of First Things First, currently operating in eight districts with 70 schools. Using the framework, districts convert large schools into small learning communities, bridge the gap between home and school through a family advocate system and strengthen the range and quality of instruction to engage all students in rigorous learning. FTF schools have improved attendance, graduation rates and student performance on state tests. "We no longer regard First Things First as our reform framework," says Dr. Ray Daniels, Superintendent of the Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools, which implemented FTF in all 43 of its schools. "It is simply the way we do business."

While much of the reform field has focused on creating new schools, IRRE has continued to focus on transforming existing ones. "Right now, the number of high schools looking for help far outstrips the collective capacity of reform experts to provide it," says Laurie Levin, director of IRRE. "With this support from the Gates Foundation, we can start to address this need."