CHALLENGER Early College High School

1
CHALLENGEREarly College High School

• A joint Learn Earn Initiative oversight project
  of the Catawba Valley Education Consortium,
  including the Catawba and Alexander County
  Schools, Hickory Public Schools, Newton-Conover
  City Schools, and Catawba Valley Community
  College partially funded by the Bill and Melinda
  Gates Foundation supported by the NC New Schools
  Project.

2
THE WORLD HAS CHANGED!!!

• By 2015, 95 of all available jobs will require
  some college-type training beyond high school.
• Currently, only about 65 of all NC 9th-graders
  will graduate from high school in 4 years with
  their entering cohort peers.
• Only about 40 enter 2- or 4-year colleges or
  universities.
• Only 25 graduate with Bachelors degrees within
  6 years of entrance.

3
We need a new paradigm

• more kids need to be prepared to plan go to
  college
• more rigorous academic preparation
• more supportive environment
• allowance for failure without washout
• safety net(s) for those who try but need help to
  succeed

4
The Fix

• Enter Governor Easleys Learn and Earn
  Initiative The More You Learn, the More You
  Earn
• and
• The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation 21
  million in seed money

5
The N.C. Learn Earn Initiative

• Redesigned high schools into small-school
  learning communities
• Academies, focused career prep magnets, workforce
  prep centers
• Early College High Schools

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• Redesigned High Schools for the 21st Century
• Including
• Early College High Schools opened across the
  state 5 sites in 2005-2006 and still growing

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The CHALLENGER Model

• Logistics and Operations
• Alignment with college calendar
• 900-500 school day
• Bus transportation provided
• No meal service lunch on your own!
• Open campus movement

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Academic Program

• Double-barreled program simultaneous High School
  diploma and Associate in Arts, College Transfer
• Open ideas and information access
• College instructor sovereignty
• Engaged learning inquiry-based and
  project-based lesson designs
• Integrated curriculum Connections 1-2-3-4
  required courses
• Service Learning required Community Service and
  Intern/externship hours

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Assessment Program

• 3-Tiered Assessment
• - Diagnostic Where are they?
• - Formative Are they learning?
• - Summative What do they know, and what
• can they do?
• Showcase Portfolios and Student-Led Conferences
• School-wide rubrics and grading practices
• No penalty-based grading

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Support Systems

• CAPS College Access Placement Seminar
• Personal Adult Advocate
• Required Parent Involvement
• mandatory volunteerism 6 hours per year per
  family with student(s) enrolled
• 5 school visits per year required
• 15-day phone or personal academic conferences
  required
• current contact numbers and availability required
• Peer tutoring, mentoring programs under
  development
• Facilitated study groups
• Staff-led tutorials
• College support systems LAC, WAC, Library,
  College Liaison

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Student Activities Program

• Interscholastic Athletics
• Band, Chorus, Drama
• Clubs and student organizations
• Yearbook
• Student Government Association
• Academic competition teams
• Student-interest organizations

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The NC New Schools ProjectDesign Principles

• 1. ALL STUDENTS COLLEGE READY
• 2. POWERFUL TEACHING AND LEARNING REQUIRED
• 3. PERSONALIZATION
• 4. PROFESSIONALISM REDEFINED
• 5. PURPOSEFUL DESIGN

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ALL STUDENTS COLLEGE READY

• All students enter college courses from day 1
• All high school courses taught at honors level
• Default university-prep curriculum
• Remediation for college access built into the
  high school curriculum offerings
• Every student has a personal matriculation plan
• College Liaison and college Student Services
  Liaison report directly to the college President
• Entire school operates on college calendar,
  schedule, and logistical support systems

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POWERFUL TEACHING AND LEARNING REQUIRED

• Research-based best practices only
• - Project-based learning in all subject areas
• - Student groupwork assignments directed by
  Lexile scores
• - Standards-based team teaching
• - Cross-curricular teaming
• - Extensive Paideia seminars and student
  discussion groups
• - Inquiry-based connections emphasized
• - Mandatory 3-level assessment systems, all
  subjects
• - Cross-curricular exemplars and rubrics
• - Mandatory showcase portfolios, Student-Led
  Conferencing
• - Writing standards embedded in all subject
  areas
• - Performance-based authentic assessment in all
  subjects
• - Non-censored, unfiltered access to ideas and
  information

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PERSONALIZATION

• Personal Adult Advocate (PAA) program
• Small size personal acquaintance with each kid
• Frequent cross-team meetings about specific kids
• 3 levels of academic monitoring and advising
• Structured communications between college and
  high school concerning individual kids needs
  and circumstances
• Alternative curriculum delivery vehicles
• Student voice in school governance
• Differentiated instruction

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PROFESSIONALISM REDEFINED

• Full-staff common daily planning time (2 hours)
• Staff meetings and professional development
  occur in context of common planning time
• Full staff committee of the whole for all
  required committees
• Teacher-driven periodic discussion groups
  centered on instruction and assessment issues
  and trends
• No duty assignments
• Full technology support for all staff
• Pervasive peer collaboration

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PURPOSEFUL DESIGN

• Autonomous governance
• - budget - flexible use of resources
• - structure - on-site authority
• - staffing - support systems flexibility
• Seamless 9-14 design
• Course redundancy eliminated
• Long-range sustainability planning
• Intentional, standards-driven student recruitment
  and selection
• College atmosphere and culture

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The Parent Connection

• The CHS Parent Support Organization
• - the Parent Advisory Council
• - the Class reps
• - the Committee Chairs
• Mandatory Volunteerism
• Take five meetings and call me next year
• 100 parent involvement
• Parent partnerships
• The Care and Feeding of Your Parents

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How to Build a Boat While Sailing It

• Establishment of school culture and traditions
• Development of a comprehensive student
  activities program (including athletics!)
• Band and Chorus and Drama, Oh My!
• The Workforce Preparedness Component predicament
• Its Alive! The Story of Frankenfaculty
• Swimming with the piranha
• We Are Family

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Whats it to ya?

• How much is it worth to the Unifour to have
• Its own home-grown crop of college-educated
  managers and business owners
• A nucleus of young professionals who have been
  schooled in the arts of consensus and
  collaboration
• A workforce peppered with young adults who have
  been prepared to handle college-style
  bureaucracy and expectations for personal
  responsibility
• Hundreds of immigrant and marginalized families
  who have been acclimatized and acculturated
  through smooth interaction with institutional
  systems through their kids participation in an
  educational program where they learn to navigate
  the bewildering waters of an unfamiliar society
  and its expectations for normalcy

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THE BOTTOM LINE

• KIDS FIRST
• RELATIONSHIPS REQUIRED
• MANDATORY RELEVANCE
• RESEARCH DICTATES PRACTICE
• AUTHENTIC ASSESSMENT ONLY

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CHALLENGEREarly College High School

• Putting research and best practices in action
• Preparing scholars for the future
• Setting the standard for innovation
• Redefining the high school experience