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Talent Development High Schools was developed by The Center for Research on the Education of Students Placed At Risk (CRESPAR), housed at Johns Hopkins University 's Center for the Social Organization of Schools (CSOS). Information on the model's history and current resources for program implementation are available from CSOS at http://www.csos.jhu.edu/tdhs.
Talent Development High Schools was initiated in 1994 through a partnership between CRESPAR and Patterson High School in Baltimore, Maryland. CSOS reports that, as of March 2007, 43 districts in 15 states were operating schools using the Talent Development High Schools model in full or in part.
Talent Development High Schools is a school reform model for restructuring large high schools facing serious problems with attendance, discipline, student achievement, and dropping out. To address these problems and to prepare all students for post-secondary education and employment, the model introduces both structural and curriculum reforms. To reduce student anonymity and isolation, Talent Development High Schools reorganizes high schools into smaller learning communities, including a ninth-grade academy, career academies for the upper grades, and an after-hours school for students with serious discipline problems. The ninth-grade academy is a self-contained school-within-a-school for first-year students, taught by a team of four to five teachers. Career academies for the upper grades, self-contained groups of about 300 students organized around career themes, have their own teaching staff and management. The "Twilight School," an after-hours program for students with serious attendance or discipline problems, provides small classes and extensive support services.
Curriculum reforms, complementing the structural changes, address low student expectations and poor academic preparation, which the model views as root causes of dropping out. To increase expectations for student achievement, Talent Development High Schools provides a college-preparatory academic sequence for all students. The program provides "double dose" mathematics and English courses for ninth and tenth graders. The first semester of "double dose" courses is remedial English or math; the second semester is the district-mandated course, a full-credit (and typically year-long) course covered in one semester of daily 90-minute sessions. In addition, as part of the ninth-grade academy, all first-year students complete a one-semester seminar that teaches strategies for meeting the increased academic demands of high school.
To address the challenges of implementing large-scale school reform, Talent Development High Schools emphasizes ongoing technical assistance and professional development for staff. Each school is assigned a team of curriculum coaches trained by CSOS to work with school staff to implement the model. In addition, CSOS sponsors annual conferences for Talent Development High Schools staff.
According to the CSOS, the additional cost of operating Talent Development High Schools (above and beyond the cost of continuing to operate their traditional high school model) is about $350 per student per year. This estimate includes the costs of curriculum materials and ongoing technical assistance. CSOS indicates that school districts may have additional expenses if the shift to block scheduling and the implementation of the academy model requires them to hire additional staff. In some cases, school districts may also incur additional costs if they need to renovate their facilities so that the ninth-grade academy and the career academies can be housed in distinct parts of the building.
|Institute of Education Sciences
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