Rethinking High School: Inaugural Graduations at New York City's New High Schools

Author: Huebner, T.A., Corbett, G.C., Phillippo, K.
Publisher: WestEd
Publication Date: 2006
Full text available online at: http://www.wested.org/cs/we/view/rs/830

Abstract (written by WestEd)

In 2002, New York City initiated an ambitious campaign to transform its public high schools, which, on average, had been graduating only half their students. The lowest performing high schools in the City were replaced with new, smaller schools intended to prepare students for successful postsecondary study or work. But, have smaller high schools worked?

This study, prepared for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, examines 14 of the new, smaller high schools that graduated their first class in June, 2006. Data indicate that attendance is high, ninth grade promotion rates are high, and a majority of students are graduating. A significant number of those graduates are applying to and being accepted by postsecondary institutions, over half of whom will be the first in their family to attend college.

Rethinking High School: Inaugural Graduations at New York City's New High Schools provides a snapshot of the promise and impact of these small high schools in the lives of adolescent learners from some of New York's most underserved communities. The report also outlines several issues that the small schools initiative should address in order to become sustainable and expanded to serve more students.

For more information on the Foundation's work in small schools, see other reports in the Rethinking High School series:

• Rethinking High School: An Introduction to New York City's Experience
• Rethinking High School: Five Profiles of Innovative Models for Student Success
• Rethinking High School: Preparing Students for Success in College, Career, and Life