A project aimed at redesigning Ohio’s secondary schools has resulted in significantly higher graduation rates, increases in college coursetaking, and improved test scores among students in participating schools, according to an evaluation of the program.
The 6-year-old project, headed by the Cincinnati-based KnowledgeWorks Foundation, involved more than 25,000 students at the 44 schools in the Ohio High Schools Transformation Initiative and six Early College High Schools. The project was funded by the Seattle-based Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and state and federal grants.
Released this month, the report credits the program’s small-school structure, a curriculum that emphasizes so-called 21st-century skills, student-progress monitoring, professional development and reduced workloads for teachers, and connections to postsecondary education for the improved student outcomes.
