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Evidence from
evaluations of First Things First
proved central to the following insights from the report, "Meeting Five
Critical Challenges of High School Reform" and the corresponding issue brief, "Emerging
Evidence on Improving High School Student Achievement and Graduation Rates: The
Effects of Four Popular Improvement Programs:
"Improving instructional
content and practice"
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Evidence from FTF suggests
that strong professional learning communities where teachers are "working
together to align curricula with standards, review assignments for
their rigor, and discuss ways of making classroom activities more engaging
may help boost student achievement." (emphasis added)
"Creating a personalized and orderly learning
environment"
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Structural change to theme-based small
learning communities (SLCs) played a role in significantly improving
attendance and decreasing dropout rates
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In KCK the "relative improvements in
attendance ranged from an increase of three to 15 days per year"
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In KCK, "out of every 100 students,
three to six fewer students dropped out"
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The Family and Student Advocacy System
(FAS) in FTF gives students "a sense that there is an adult in the school
looking out for their well-being"
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The majority of students reported
feeling comfortable talking to their family advocate
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Almost three-quarters of students
reported their "advocate" was "very important" or "sort of important"
"Stimulating change in
overstressed high schools"
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In KCK, FTF built
upon the strong support of the school district which helped to "ensure
effective implementation" and to provide a foundation for the reforms
sustainability over time
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According to representatives from FTF schools, "strong
outside technical assistance and professional development services were
unquestionably important" to the success of FTF
The central lesson that anchors both the
report and the issue brief is that "structural changes to promote
personalization and instructional improvement are the twin pillars of high
school reform." As a reform model building
upon both of these pillars, the evaluations of FTF provide educators invaluable
insight into how best to meet the most "critical challenges" of high school
reform.
In addition to these major areas of interest,
the "Critical Challenges" report offers important insights into how each reform
model tackled the challenges involved in implementing changes. These insights, together with the questions
raised by the reports author, are extremely helpful for educators who may be
thinking about, planning, or even already implementing similar reforms.
Reference: Herlihy, C.M. and Quint, J. (2006).
Emerging Evidence on Improving High School Student Achievement and Graduation
Rates: The Effects of Four Popular Improvement Programs. New York
: Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation.
The full "Meeting Five Critical Challenges" report is
available online at: http://www.mdrc.org/publications/428/full.pdf
The full "Emerging Evidence" issue brief is available online
at:
http://www.betterhighschools.org/docs/NHSC_EmergingEvidence_010907.pdf
Additional
Resources:
For access to the
evaluations of First Things First conducted by MDRC go to www.mdrc.org or to the publications page of our
website.
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