The Promise and Reality of Early College High Schools in NC

1. The Promise and Reality of Early College High Schools in NC Kennedy Ongaga, Ph.D. Abdou Ndoye, Ph.D. Scott Imig, Ph.D. University of North Carolina Wilmington

2. Agenda ECHS: History & Numbers across the country Focus on NC NC Model Study: Methodology Findings Recommendations for further study

3. ECHS: What are they? Early college high schools blend high school and college in a rigorous yet supportive program, compressing the time it takes to complete a high school diploma and the first two years of college. (ECHSI, n.d). They bridge the gap between high school and college

4. Why ECHS Traditional high schools are obsolete. By obsolete, I don’t just mean that our high schools are broken, flawed, and under-funded – though a case could be made for every one of those points. By obsolete, I mean that our high schools – even when they’re working exactly as designed – cannot teach our kids what they need to know today. - Bill Gates, National Governors’ Association, February 26, 2005

5. Why ECHS Today, only one-third of our students graduate from high school ready for college, work, and citizenship. The other two-thirds, most of them low-income and minority students, are tracked into courses that won’t ever get them ready for college or prepare them for a family-wage job – no matter how well the students learn or the teachers teach - Bill Gates, National Governors’ Association, February 26, 2005

6. Whom Do ECHS Serve? Source: http://www.jff.org/sites/default/files/a_portrait_in_numbers_072110.pdf 70 percent of early college students are students of color 59 percent ECHS students are eligible for free or reduced lunch—a conservative estimate of students from low-income families Nearly one-third of ECHS receive Title 1 funding, based on the high percentage of low-income students served 32 schools serve students who previously dropped out of traditional high schools or were at risk of dropping out 7 schools serve Native-American youth and are located in the communities where native students live.

7. ECHS Core Principles

8. Number of ECHS in the country Since 2002, the partner organizations of the Early College High School Initiative have started or redesigned more than 200 schools in 24 states and the District of Columbia, serving 47,000 students.

9. Early College High Schools in USA: A Portrait in Numbers Source: http://www.jff.org/sites/default/files/a_portrait_in_numbers_072110.pdf

10. ECHS in North Carolina Started in 2004 with 13 ECHS. As of 2010, there are 71 ECHS serving 14,000 students across the state This represents 1 of every 5 students enrolled in ECHS in the US. They are small by design and enroll no more than 100 students per grade Attract students from low in-come families, first college goers, underrepresented among college students

11. Performance of ECHS in North Carolina New Schools Project, 2010 • Students in ECHS in NC outperform traditional high school students and their performance is on the rise • 2009-2010 Median performance composite (results of all End-of Course exams) for ECHS was 87.3% • 2009-2010 Median performance composite for traditional 80.3%

12. Performance of ECHS in North Carolina - NC DPI, Press Release May 3, 2010 Other Findings from Early College High Schools: Dropout rate of 0.7 percent in 2008-09, compared to a statewide dropout rate of 4.27 percent Dropout rate for 9th graders in the early college high schools in 2008-09 was 0.2 percent, compared to 4.78 percent for all high schools statewide 75% of ECHS students received grades of C or better on campus vs. 70% of traditional college students Saved students nearly $4 million in tuition (2008-2009)

13. NC ECHS Design Principles College Ready: “School exists for the purpose of preparing all students for college and work.” Powerful Teaching and Learning: “High quality instructional practice.” Personalization: “Knowing students well is an essential condition of helping them achieve academically.” Redefined Professionalism: “the shared vision is evident in the collaborative, creative, and leadership roles of all adult staff.” Purposeful Design: “The organization of time, space, and the allocation of resources ensures that these best practices become common practice.”

14. Our Study Does fidelity to Early College High School Design Principles Translate into Increased School Performance?

15. Methodology Two available sets of data to compare fidelity to principles and student performance: • 2008 NC Teacher Working Condition Survey • (bi-annual) • 2008 North Carolina ABCs of public education • (annual) • 41 ECHS in North Carolina in 2008 with both sets of data available

16. Instruments – Data Sets • 2008 ABC’s Performance Composite: • The ABCs Performance Composite is the percentage of the test scores in the school at or above Achievement Level III (often referred to as “at grade level” or “proficient” (NC DPI, 2009) • 2008 North Carolina Teacher Working Conditions Survey: • Completed by 104,153 Teachers 86.7% Completion Rate • 365 Early College High School Teachers Completed Survey in 2008 • Intended to assess whether working conditions standards developed by NC Professional Teaching Standards Commission were being met. • 50+ questions in five domains • Time • Facilities and Resources • Empowerment • Leadership • Professional Development • 5 Point Scale – 1 (strongly disagree) – 5 (strongly agree)

17. Determining Fidelity to ECHS Design Principles - Methodology • Identified TWCS items that align with each design principle. (not including college ready) • 4-8 Items per principle

18. Example Alignments – TWCS Items by ECHS Design Principle Powerful Teaching and Learning Teachers are held to high professional standards for delivering instruction. Personalization The faculty are committed to helping every student learn. Redefined Professionalism Teachers are centrally involved in decision making about educational issues. The faculty and staff have a shared vision. Purposeful Design Teachers have time available to collaborate with their colleagues. Teachers have reasonable class sizes, affording them time to meet the educational needs of all students.

19. Determining Fidelity to ECHS Design Principles - Methodology No statistically significant relationships (in a positive direction) between the 4 principles and school performance Cross-tabs were run to analyze by fidelity level (above/below mean) and school performance (above/below mean)

20. Results • Powerful Teaching and Learning • i.e. “Teachers are held to high professional standards for delivering instruction.”

21. Results • Personalization • i.e. “The faculty are committed to helping every student learn.”

22. Results • Redefined Professionalism • i.e. “The faculty and staff have a shared vision.”

23. Results • Purposeful Design* • i.e. “Teachers have reasonable class sizes, affording them time to meet the educational needs of all students.”

24. Implications • ECHS Fidelity to: • Powerful Teaching and Learning • Personalization • Redefined Professionalism • Purposeful Design Doesn’t matter Or…

25. What it Might Tell Us Is • Fidelity to the ECHS principles matters greatly. Overall, ECHS significantly outperform traditional high schools in NC and this is most likely the result of scores of variables at play: • Parent and student self-selection • Teacher selection • School size • Overall ECHS design and intention

26. Future Research As numbers in NC and across US explode, our teacher N will increase and allow for more powerful analyses Qualitative interviews and observation within ECHS will allow us to move from teacher self-report to actual teacher performance

27. Thank You We welcome your questions, comments, and suggestions.