Sunday, January 11, 2009

Alternative High School Initiative Developing Place-Based Approach

The group of school developers that make up AHSI have been working developer to make it easier for mayors and superintendents to expand their portfolio of schools for students that are off-track to graduation. This saves time and energy on the part of the cities/districts and the school developers.

The latest partnership is with Newark Mayor Cory Booker and Superintendent Clifford Janey

From the AHSI newsletter:

Newark, N.J., Mayor Cory Booker and Newark Public Schools Superintendent Clifford Janey recently announced a new partnership to reduce local dropout rates by developing a portfolio of innovative, student-centered alternative high schools. Over the next two years, the partnership will open a total of nine schools and programs that feature a rigorous and relevant curriculum, project-based learning, close student-teacher relationships, and youth voice.

Along with Indianapolis and Nashville, Newark is one of three pilot cities in which the Alternative High School Initiative (AHSI) has established a "place-based partnership." AHSI is a network of 12 youth development organizations that have developed innovative alternative school models. The network is supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and co-convened by the YEF Institute and Big Picture Learning. Over the next two years, the City of Newark will collaborate with AHSI members such as Gateway to College, Communities in Schools of New Jersey, DiplomaPlus, Big Picture Learning, as well as local partners such as Newark Public Schools, the Nicholson Foundation, Rutgers University, Newark Alliance, and Essex County College in opening new schools for students who struggle in traditional high school settings.

The question is: shouldn't the districts be doing the segmentation analysis to understand their off-track population before selecting school models?

1 comment:

  1. Maybe it's because (I just came across this) New Jersey state code requires continual assessment of at-risk kids throughout middle school and high school.

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