High School Redesign

Why Redesign Our High Schools?

There are few jobs left today that do not require some post-secondary education, and yet the high school drop-out rate is on the rise. A disproportionate number of drop-outs are Latinos and African Americans. Colleges enroll up to one-third of their incoming freshman in remedial classes. The time to better coordinate our efforts to graduate all of our students and prepare them for college and careers is now.

We acknowledge that there are positive practices in our high schools, and there are initiatives underway aimed at improving them. But there is no widespread sense of urgency to redesign our high schools, and no coordination of disparate improvement efforts across the state.

MASCD has convened a task force to address high school reform, and ASCD is developing high school reform legislation at the federal level. The MASCD task force includes representatives from an array of constituent groups including practitioners, professional associations, legislators, business and policy organizations and the Department of Education.

Implementing our vision for high schools will require broad-based awareness of the need for change and leadership for redesign. We are committed to improving the Commonwealth’s high schools and welcome the participation of our members.

 

Related documents:

MASCD Convenes Task Force on High School Redesign
High School Redesign Task Force Participant List
Breaking Ranks II Executive Summary
Summary of Building 21st Century Schools
Strategies for Transforming Rhode Island High Schools
Framework for Connecticut’s High Schools: A Working Guide for High School Redesign

Promising Futures: A Call to Improve Learning for Maine’s Secondary Students

New Hampshire's Vision for Redesign: Moving from High Schools to Learning Communities

ASCD Building Blocks of High School Redesign

 

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