Georgia's High Schools That Work program aims to improve career-bound students' reading, mathematics, science, technical, and problem-solving capabilities by integrating college preparatory program content with vocational studies and by stressing effort over ability. Other key elements include raising expectations, requiring a career major, and…

Students benefit from a year or more gain in student achievement when urban district and high school leaders commit to the implementation of the "High Schools That Work" ("HSTW") design. It is not enough to be a "HSTW" site--it is about taking effective actions to implement the design. Schools that do take action witness significant progress in…

The Southern Regional Education Board's High Schools That Work program has successfully raised academic standards for non-college-bound students (the majority of students). Over 400 schools in 19 states now participate. The best HSTW schools feature higher expectations, tougher academic and vocational curricula, heftier homework assignments, and…

After 2 years of promoting more integration of academic and vocational curriculums, the Southern Regional Education Board identified 15 educational practices that may raise the basic competencies of vocational students: (1) positive practices can be collected and implemented; (2) vocational completers from pilot sites requiring competency tests…

In 1994, the Student Assessment was administered to over 12,000 vocational completers at 197 new High Schools that Work (HSTW) sites. Findings indicated that career-bound students at these sites trailed academic students nationwide in reading. Teachers in all vocational programs needed to pay more attention to reading. Career-bound females scored…

Reports on reasons for achievement gap between highest performing middle-school students and lowest performing students including differences in administrator leadership, student expectations, curriculum standards, and teaching practices. Recommends several actions principals can take to improve middle-school student achievement, such as using…

In 1994, the Student Assessment was administered to approximately 12,000 students at 197 new High Schools that Work (HSTW) sites in 13 states; student scores from the mathematics portion of the assessment were analyzed. Vocational completers had an average mathematics score of 282.0, which was 13 points below the HSTW mathematics goal, while the…

The science achievement of career-bound students at High Schools That Work (HSTW) sites in 1996 was compared to performance levels at HSTW sites in 1993 or 1994. HSTW sites studied in 1993 improved their average science scores from 270 to 283 in 1996. Vocational students at HSTW sites scored higher in science (average score, 283) than did the…

The seven High Schools That Work (HSTW) sites making the most progress in raising student achievement between 1990-1993 are changing the high school system and succeeding with a group of students often considered hopeless. They use the HSTW framework of key practices to improve curriculum and instruction. The specific HSTW goal is to close by…

In early 2000, an assessment of mathematics achievement and related school practices was carried out in 24 clusters of rural high schools and their feeder middle schools in seven states. More than 2,400 eighth-graders and more than 1,900 12th-graders took a mathematics achievement test referenced to the National Assessment of Educational Progress…

Implementation of the High Schools That Work (HSTW) key practices improved achievement for career-bound students in these four ways: (1) HSTW sites showed significant improvement in average reading and math scores; (2) the percentage of career- bound students meeting HSTW performance goals in 1994 and 1996 increased from 33% to 43% in reading and…

Good news about reading achievement of career-bound students at High Schools That Work (HSTW) sites includes the following: (1) 60% of the 260 sites that tested students in 1993/94 and again in 1996 saw improvement in reading scores; (2) the performance of all students majority and minority improved significantly; (3) HSTW sites widened the gap…

The mathematics achievement of career-bound students at High Schools That Work (HSTW) sites in 1996 was compared to performance levels at HSTW sites in 1993-1994. Forty-nine percent of the 260 HSTW sites improved their average mathematics scores over the period, with the percentage of career-bound students meeting the HSTW mathematics goal of 295…

The academic achievement of students in business and marketing programs at High Schools That Work (HSTW) sites in 1996 was compared to performance levels in 1994. Between 1994 and 1996, the average reading scores of business students at HSTW sites increased from 271 to 279, and their average mathematics scores increased from 286 to 290. A higher…

The academic achievement of students in family and consumer sciences programs at High Schools That Work (HSTW) sites in 1996 was compared to performance levels in 1994. Family and consumer sciences students at HSTW sites significantly improved their average reading scores (from 261 in 1994 to 269 in 1996). The percentages of family and consumer…