The academy, known as DECA, is part of the “early college high school” movement, which emphasizes a rigorous curriculum, intensive academic support, individualized learning, and an opportunity to take college courses without paying tuition. These small schools target underachieving but motivated students, particularly those without the wherewithal to attend college without help.
The key ingredient in these schools is a partnership among a community or four-year college, a school district, and one or more private foundations.
Various models
There are 47 early college high schools in the United States, enrolling just over 8,000 students, and more than 170 are being developed, says Joel Vargas, senior project manager at Jobs for the Future, an organization that is working on developing these ´chools with support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and smaller grants from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Ford Foundation, and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
“The comprehensive high school is an anachronism,” Vargas says. Such schools “were not designed for today’s economy, where college is necessary for a successful career.”
For every 10 students who start high school, he says, fewer than seven will get a diploma, four will enroll in college, and fewer than two will complete an associate’s or bachelor’s degree within 150 percent of the required time.
Colleges and high schools are not designed to work together, so there isn’t a seamless transition between them, and exit exams are not aligned with postsecondary education, Vargas says.
Early college high schools address these shortcomings. They also eliminate the physical barrier between high school and college, along with the demands of applications for admissions and financial aid, he says. “As soon as you enroll in an early college high school, you are in college.”
There are different types of early college high schools. Nearly two-thirds are regular public schools, and nearly a third are charter schools, Vargas says. Some are located on college campuses, and some are special programs within traditional high schools. They can have grades 6-12, 9-13, or other grade structures.
But they all share certain characteristics, he says, including daily academic coaching for students; an intensive focus on reading, writing, and mathematics; and collaboration among high school and college faculty. Examples include:
• The Delores Huerta Preparatory High School, a public high school in Pueblo, Colo., supported with grants from the National Council of La Raza, allows students to earn credits from Pueblo Community College.
• Antioch University Seattle developed six early college high schools in various locations in Washington state. All are public schools and all focus on Native-American culture and have been developed in partnership with tribal or community colleges.
• The Jacksonville Early College High School, funded in part by a grant from SECME (formerly the Southeastern Consortium for Minorities in Engineering), is a partnership among the Duval County, Fla., school district, Edward Waters College, Florida Community College at Jacksonville, and the University of North Florida. The curriculum focuses on marine sciences, engineering, and environmental technology.
Early college high schools differ from “middle college high schools,” which are aimed at getting dropouts and potential dropouts to graduate. While some of these schools also allow students to earn college credits, that is not their main purpose.
They also differ from dual-enrollment programs, which allow high-achieving students to take college courses while still enrolled in high school.
DECA, a public school adjacent to the University of Dayton campus, serves about 400 students. It features low student-to-teacher ratios, project-based learning, individualized learning plans, and community-based learning through internships.
When the KnowledgeWorks Foundation approached the University of Dayton about starting an early college high school, some university officials were initially skeptical but soon saw the program’s merits, including the possibility of addressing the university’s lack of diversity.
A large majority of the students at the private university were white and upper or middle class, says Thomas J. Lasley II, dean of the School of Education and Allied Professions, while the city of Dayton is much more diverse and the local public school district has been struggling to raise student achievement.
The Dayton school board was looking for innovative and creative high school models, so it embraced the early college concept, says school board member Yvonne Isaacs.
Lasley attributes much of the success of getting DECA off the ground to the Dayton Education Association’s willingness to “set aside problematic clauses” in its contract with the school district. That allowed DECA to hire teachers with alternative certification and to develop a “radically different” structure, Lasley says.
Personalized learning
ýnstead of the traditional grade levels, students must complete six “gateways.” Each one has a series of requirements, such as reading a certain number of books and achieving a 95 percent attendance rate. “This is not a seat-time, Carnegie-unit type of school,” Lasley says.
At DECA, 16 students are assigned to a teacher-adviser, and it’s that relationship that “makes the pivotal difference in why students come to school” -- and why they work hard to pass their courses, says DECA Principal Judy Hennessey.
Not only does the school have a high attendance rate, but Hennessey often sees students still there hours after the final bell rings at 3:45.
The teacher-adviser serves as guidance counselor and confidante, as well as teacher.
These roles are important, Hennessey says, because students who come from families where they are the first to apply to college need a much higher level of support.
Before the start of the school year, the teacher-adviser goes to students’ homes where they engage parents in a kitchen-table discussion about the child’s interests, school history, and learning style.
Students applying to DECA must be entering ninth grade for the first time and must be reading on at least the sixth-grade level. They are required to submit an essay, and their parents must agree to be involved with the school.
The school doesn’t look for only the brightest students, but considers “diamonds in the rough,” Hennessey says.
Getting such students to succeed requires teachers to make much more of an effort to put instruction into a real-world context -- and they must continually explain why students need to learn what is being taught.
The curriculum at DECA stresses reading and writing, with much of it incorporated into multidisciplinary projects.
One of the most difficult tasks for the faculty is dealing with the “gap between what students need to know and what they’re interested in,” Hennessey says. Addressing that issue requires a great deal of creativity on the part of the faculty.
For example, Hennessey says, students used GPS devices to identify trees at a local arboretum, presented their findings with graphs and charts, and wrote reports. This exercise helped students prepare for the five-paragraph essay required on the state assessment -- without resorting to formulaic writing drills.
To help get students interested in math, a teacher developed a nine-week unit that covered all the math needed in building a house -- including such exercises as analyzing a potential family’s budget and mortgage options -- as well as a visit to a building site.
Hennessey acknowledges “tension between high-stakes testing and engaging students in their interests,” yet educators realize they work in an environment where test scores are a key measure of success.
Costs are high
Because most early college high schools are relatively new, there isn’t much data on their effectiveness.
An evaluation of the California Academy for Liberal Studies, an early college high school with grades 6-12 created as a charter school in partnership with Los Angeles Trade-Technical College, has shown promising results in performance on state exams and school attendance rates.
DECA is only in its second year, and because all of its students entered the school at the end of eighth grade, no one has graduated yet. But Isaacs says all but one of the 16 students who took the Ohio Graduation Test passed it.
Several obstacles need to be overcome before early college high schools can become more widespread. These include the lack of a guarantee that all credits students earn will be transferable to other colleges.
Efforts are under way to address such issues by state policymakers, notably in Georgia, and by the National Articulation and Transfer Network, a consortium of urban postsecondary institutions.
Isaacs says the biggest obstacle to creating an early college high school is finding the money to get it started. These schools are much more expensive than traditional high schools, she says, primarily because of the low student-to-teacher ratio -- at DECA, it’s 14 to 1 -- and the need for intensive training for teachers.
DECA is nowhere near cost-effective, Hennessey acknowledges. It’s per-pupil costs are around $14,000 per student, compared to the state’s per-pupil average of $8,165 in 2002.
Most of the money to operate the school comes from the Dayton school district, with the rest provided by foundation grants and the university.
Yet proponents of early college high schools believe the high cost is worth it.
DECA has been a “tremendous learning experience for us,” Isaacs says. “When you have a committed faculty, students who really want to learn, and good parental support, students will succeed. We’re really changing lives here.”