High Schools That Work (HSTW)

(Copied from the Ohio Department of Education’s website)

High Schools That Work: New Partnerships and a National Network to Improve High School Education

High Schools That Work (HSTW) is the nation’s first large-scale effort to engage state, district and school
leaders and teachers in the partnerships with students, parents and the community to improve the way
all high school students are prepared for work and further education.

HSTW provides a framework of goals, key practices and key conditions for accelerating learning and setting
higher standards. The HSTW effort is based on the belief that, in the right school environment, most students
can learn complex academic and technical concepts. The initiative targets high school students who seldom
are challenged to meet higher academic standards.¹

HSTW began with 28 sites in 13 states when it was started in 1987 by the Southern Regional Education
Board-State Vocational Education Consortium. Since then it has grown to more than 1100 sites in 26 states,
including Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana,
Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma,
Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia.

Major goals

• Raise the mathematics, science, communication, problem-solving and technical achievement of more
  students to the national average and above.
• Blend the essential content of traditional college-preparatory studies – mathematics, science and
  language arts – with quality vocational and technical studies by creating conditions that support
  school leaders, teachers and counselors in carrying out key practices.
• Advance state and local policies and leadership initiatives necessary to sustain a continuous
  school-improvement effort.

Key practices for accelerating student achievement

• High expectations – setting higher expectations and getting more students to meet them.

¹These students are the 60 percent to 65 percent of high school youths who plan to work, attend a
two-year technical or community college, enroll in a four-year college or university with an open
admissions policy, or enter the military after high school graduation.

• Vocational studies – increasing access to intellectually challenging vocational and technical studies,
  with a major emphasis on using high-level mathematics, science, language arts and problem-solving
  skills in the modern workplace and in preparation for continued learning.
• Academic studies – increasing access to academic studies that teach the essential concepts from
  the college-preparatory curriculum by encouraging students to use academic content and skills to
  address real-world projects and problems.
• Program of study – having students complete a challenging program of study with an upgraded
  academic core and a major.
• Work-based learning –giving students and their parents the choice of a system that integrates
  school-based and work-based learning. The system should span high school and postsecondary
  studies and should be planned by educators, employers and employees.
• Teachers working together – having an organization, structure and schedule giving academic and
  vocational teachers the time to plan and deliver integrated instruction aimed at teaching high-level
  academic and technical content.
• Students actively engaged – getting every student involved in rigorous and challenging learning.
• Guidance – involving each student and his or her parents in a guidance and advising system that
  ensures the completion of an accelerated program of study with an in-depth academic or
  vocational-technical major.
• Extra help – providing a structured system of extra help to enable students whom may lack adequate
  preparation to complete an accelerated program of study that includes high-level academic and technical
  content.
• Keeping score – using student assessment and program evaluation data to improve continuously the
  school climate, organization, management, curricula and instruction to advance student learning and
  to recognize students who meet both curriculum and performance goals.

Key conditions for accelerating student achievement

• An organizational structure and process ensuring continuous involvement by school administrators
  and teachers in planning strategies to achieve the key practices.
• A school principal with strong, effective leadership who supports, encourages and actively participates
  with the faculty in implementing the key practices.
• A system superintendent and school board members who support school administrators and teachers
  in carrying out the key practices. This commitment includes financial support for instructional materials,
  time for teachers to meet and plan together, and six to eight days per year of staff development on
  using the key practices to improve student learning.
• Leadership from the superintendent and school board to involve employers and postsecondary institutions
  in the design and implementation of school-based and work-based program to prepare students for
  employment ad postsecondary education.
• A commitment from the school board to support the school in replacing the general track with a more
  demanding academic core and either an academic or a vocational-technical major.

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