Hallmarks of high schools that succeed with the neediest students include frequent use of data to adjust instruction, common curricula, and opportunities for teachers to learn collaboratively about proven teaching methods, concludes a study of high-performing, high-poverty secondary schools in California.
A summary of “Challenged Schools, Remarkable Results: Three Lessons from California’s Highest Achieving High Schools” is available from Springboard Schools.
Researchers at Springboard Schools, the San Francisco-based nonprofit group formally known as the Bay Area School Reform Collaborative, reached that conclusion by examining 10 such schools and comparing their practices with those of a group of less successful ones.
The resulting report includes brief case studies of five of the successful schools, as well as descriptions of what to look for to determine if schools and districts are employing the techniques most associated with high performance.
