High challenge, high support: the district's role in high school reform can be boiled down to two strategies: defining high expectations and offering an array of options.

In America's state houses, governors' mansions, boardrooms and family rooms, the reality is sinking in: Our nation's outdated high school expectations jeopardize our future. We can no longer ignore the fact that too few of our young people graduate from high school ready for today's competitive economy and complex society. Nor can we assume that elementary school improvements are sufficient to make high schools work. The long-term National Assessment of Educational Progress shows elementary gains have not translated into increased high school scores.

So what have we learned about preparing all students for success? One thing is clear: High schools cannot do it alone. Widespread change requires a district-level reform effort that both ramps up expectations for students and schools and increases support to help them get there. Making sure we are doing everything possible to prepare this generation for college, work and citizenship will require a unified commitment to increasing graduation and college-readiness rates, a strategy for accomplishing these goals and strong supports for schools, teachers and students.

Modern Goals

The task before us is extremely challenging. Most school districts expect too little from their students and their schools. Rarely are there consequences for failing schools, even when graduation rates and achievement levels remain low year after year. Some districts always seem to be in the middle of a new reform plan, but high leadership turnover and shifting priorities mean these plans rarely have time to take hold. The lack of progress is most glaring at the high school level. Many high schools still sort struggling students into watered-down and frequently boring courses and provide little opportunity for them to build relationships with teachers.

Our high school system is doing what it was designed to do--preparing roughly one-third of students for college. But our world has changed. Unlike the industrial age, the 21st century requires all workers to master skills our schools previously considered necessary only for top students. Achieve's American Diploma Project found a convergence between what employers and college professors require of high school graduates. All young people should have great life options. That means they should be able to pass placement exams for technical or community colleges and be prepared to do college-level work when they leave high school.

Today's young people must be critical thinkers, decision makers and problem solvers with a solid foundation in basic skills. Twenty years of studies also have highlighted the importance of strong social skills in the workplace. Our students also must learn respect, responsibility and how to work together. We need a new unifying mission--not just for high schools but for public education.

The good news is hundreds of strong new schools already are arming students with these important skills. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is supporting communities' efforts to develop more than 1,600 new and transformed high schools that focus on what Elliot Washor of The Big Picture Co. calls the 3R's--rigorous, college-preparatory academics; relevance to students' lives and interests; and relationships between students and faculty. These schools do not sort students by perceived ability level. By design, they prepare all students for success.

Many school districts across the country have improved elementary education by creating an aligned instructional system of standards-based curricula, embedded assessments and aligned professional development. However, the multiple tracks and hundreds of courses offered at the secondary level make it a far more daunting challenge to create an aligned system.

A growing number of larger districts, including Boston, New York and Chicago, are combining two promising strategies: a core curriculum and common design for district-managed schools and innovative, semi-autonomous schools of choice. The goal of this school improvement and school development strategy is to create a portfolio of high-quality secondary schools that exhibit the 3R's.

Smaller and medium-sized districts can embrace a system of choice as well. For example, Mapleton Public Schools, a small urban district in Colorado has big-city challenges. With most of the district's students being Hispanic, 17 percent English language learners and more than a third eligible for free and reduced-price lunch, Superintendent Charlotte Ciancio and her staff developed Choices for Learning, a strategic plan with tangible goals to transform the schools into a high-performing system of choice so all students graduate from high school prepared for success.

Mapleton is transforming the district's one large high school of nearly 1,500 students into six smaller, high-quality schools. As of this past fall, all six schools are operating, and they are drawing on proven school models. These include Expeditionary Learning, a student-centered Big Picture school and New Technology Foundation's New Tech High, which combines technology and problem-based learning with real-world applications. Additionally, the superintendent is making improvements throughout the administration, including central-office capacity building to sustain excellence at the new schools. The district's leadership team works closely with the business community, the teachers' union, the school board and the broader community.

High Challenge

Even with state standards, every community must define what it wants students to know and be able to do. Districts should make sure standards, assessments and graduation requirements are designed to reach these goals. Districts can foster a high-challenge environment through the adoption of a college-ready mission, effective governance, strong accountability and community engagement.

The district also must hold schools and staff members accountable for performance. The swirl of controversy around testing has distracted us from the real issue: How well are we preparing all students for the future? Tests always will be part of the equation--and they should be. But they should not be the only way we gauge students' progress. Students learn and understand material at different rates in different ways. Local districts could require students to demonstrate what they have learned in different ways, including projects, papers, performances and presentations.

Students, educators and schools also need strong support to reach these higher standards. Students, especially those who are struggling or behind, need help mastering the more challenging curriculum. That can mean extra class time, targeted tutoring or advisory periods that allow students and teachers to get to know each other well.

Teachers need a professional culture that includes strong instructional leadership from administrators and professional development aimed at improving their practice. Districts should ensure that teachers know a range of different teaching methods and use differentiated instruction that builds on students' knowledge and skills. Chicago Public Schools holds struggling schools accountable by placing them on probation, but supports them by providing additional resources and technical support, such as reading specialists, counselors and mandatory monthly professional development to boost achievement. These schools also are required to develop Advanced Placement courses to inspire more students to become top performers. Ultimately, schools that still do not improve are being replaced with new schools.

Districts can provide valuable leadership to direct school improvement efforts, including:

* Grouping schools by performance level to provide differentiated support;

* Allowing flexible and adequate budgets based on school demands;

* Using standards-based resources, data and information systems for planning, teaching and assessment;

* Supporting families by developing greater college awareness, guidance and academic supports; and

* Engaging the community and fostering public-private partnerships to support reforms.

Schools and districts frequently need guidance to accomplish such comprehensive change. When schools attempt reforms without promising models or outside assistance, they often struggle with structural issues and devote insufficient time to improving curriculum and instruction.

Districts also can benefit from working with skilled partners that have developed comprehensive school reform models to raise the academic performance of all students, particularly those in low-income communities. Models that have demonstrated success in low-income communities include the Institute for Research and Reform in Education's First Things First, Johns Hopkins University's Talent Development High Schools and the Southern Regional Education Board's High Schools That Work. These models combine a rigorous curriculum with efforts to improve instruction and student support.

System of Schools

Since the launch of the accountability movement, many school districts have made progress with aligned systems of instruction, especially at the elementary level. These aligned systems link school practice with state and local standards and assessment by creating districtwide curricula, instructional materials supported by professional development and instructional coaches.

In this system, the curriculum, assessment and professional development all work together. Students learn the material on which they will be tested, and teachers know what was covered in prior grades so they can build on students' common bases. For example, Los Angeles elementary schools teach reading through the phonics-based Open Court reading program, and coaches train teachers to match their instruction to the district's assessment.

Strategies like this become even more effective when combined with public school choice to create a portfolio of public school options to match student needs and interests with the themes, specialized programs and teaching approaches of charter and contract schools. In combining both strategies, the district defines student expectations but allows students to choose from among several schools with different plans for how to reach these common goals.

For choice to work within this new structure of high challenge and high support, strong accountability is critical. Choice should not turn into another form of tracking--all schools must share the mission of preparing all students to have the option of going to college. Ultimately, districts will build networks of high-quality schools, capable of posting strong results throughout a system.

Under the leadership of Superintendent Thomas Payzant, Boston Public Schools has embraced this kind of district-level reform, using both aligned instruction and a portfolio of contract schools to provide additional options. The district plan, known as Focus on Children, outlines specific strategies to raise the quality of instruction and student support through small schools and small learning communities.

Early results in the district are promising. Between 1998 and 2004, the percentage of students passing the 10th-grade state exam in mathematics rose from 25 percent to 74 percent and passage in English/language arts improved from 42 percent to 77 percent.

To develop such a portfolio system, districts should start by developing a default school model with an instructional program suitable for most of the community. Then, to provide varied schools for students with special interests and needs, the district should develop a new school strategy. The bigger and tougher the challenge, the more likely it is that the district would benefit from the use of outside partners with proven track records.

These strategies work in large and small districts. The Highline School District, located just south of Seattle, applies both approaches with promising results. The diverse district of 17,600 students uses a common reading curriculum that is aligned with state standards as part of its districtwide focus on literacy. At the same time, the district is innovatively transforming its four comprehensive high schools into smaller learning communities. Last year, Highline launched Aviation High School, a theme-based, challenging school with a focus on aviation and aerospace. The district is making strong gains in student achievement and graduation rates.

Mission Driven

Helping all students reach levels once considered exclusive to those bound for college will require American secondary schools to adjust their mission, goals, curriculum, instruction and structure. Together, all partners in this enterprise must begin with a question: What is the purpose of our high schools?

Every community should hold a conversation to define its expectations for its schools and its students. This process will help highlight the gap between what high schools are doing and what they must do to prepare all of their young people for the realities of today's economy.

High school improvement is difficult, complex work. But when policymakers, educators, business leaders, parents and others come together around our schools, change is possible. Creating a system of high-quality high schools will take district leadership that couples high expectations with high levels of support and embraces innovative approaches.

Mayors, school boards and others who lead school systems need to revise policies to match the district's revised mission. These include changes to governance structure, standards, curriculum and instructional policies, community relations, school choice and financial and central services. At the same time, educators need to work together as part of a network that both challenges and supports them. Of course, parents, guardians, civic and business leaders and even students themselves play key roles in this kind of transformation, supporting the reformers and using choice to signal preferences for certain models.

Across the country, hundreds of high-quality high schools are already making a real difference in students' lives. Students who once struggled are taking honors courses. Some who never considered college are starting it early, while others are discovering new doors of opportunity thanks to a solid high school education. With strong district-level leadership, thoughtful state and local policies, clear focus and unwavering determination, districts can create systems of schools to spread these promising approaches.

Additional Resources

Tom Vander Ark suggests school leaders consider the following innovative models for organizing students and instruction in high schools:

* First Things First, developed by the Institute for Research and Reform in Education, uses a strategic approach for improving high school structure, instruction and outside supports. The model emphasizes the creation of small, themed learning communities, family advocates, instructional improvement, special literacy and math classes for underachieving students, teacher collaboration and the use of data to boost student achievement. www.irre.org/ftf

* Talent Development High Schools, developed by the Center for Research on Education of Students Placed At Risk at Johns Hopkins University is a proven way to produce gains in attendance, student course-taking and promotion rates. The model stresses the creation of a curricular and organizational structure including 9th-grade academies, career academies for students in the upper grades, longer periods, a double dose of math and literacy courses for students below grade level, plus extra interventions as needed, www.csos.jhu.edu/tdhs

* High Schools That Work, managed by the Southern Regional Education Board, works to help students master rigorous academic and career development work. The program helps schools combine high expectations, an academic program that includes career/ technical training and work-based learning; teacher collaboration; student management, guidance for students and parents; and a culture of continuous improvement, www. sreb.org/programs/hstw/hstwindex.asp

For a more in-depth treatment of some of the ideas in his article, Vander Ark suggests these resources, both of which can be requested from the Gates Foundation at [e-mail], 206-709-3149.

* "Expanding the Supply of High-Quality High Schools;' a September 2005 paper by the Bridgespan Group, the NewSchools Venture Fund and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation that discusses the relationship between design model specificity and managerial control with how quickly and effectively a schools design can be replicated. www.gatesfoundation.org/nr/downloads/ ed/ExpandingtheSupplyofHighQualityPublic Schools.pall

* "High Performing School Districts: Challenge, Support, Alignment and Choice," a paper by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation that discusses how to combine high challenge and high support through a system that allows school choice from a portfolio of rigorous schools while maintaining the benefits of an aligned instructional system. www.gatesfoundation.org/nr/downloads/ed/districtwhitepaper.pdf

Tom Vander Ark, a former superintendent, is executive director of education at the Bill & Melincla Gates Foundation, P.O. Box 98102, Seattle, WA 98102. E-mail: tom.venderark@ gatesfoundation.org