Johns Hopkins'
Talent
Development High Schools program has received a
four-year $3 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation to help turn around large, struggling Los
Angeles high schools by breaking them into smaller, more
manageable, more effective academies.
Created by education researchers at the
Center for Social
Organization of Schools at Johns Hopkins, the Talent
Development model is one of three national programs chosen
to receive more than $7 million from the foundation to
assist the Los Angeles Unified School District with
strategies to strengthen instruction, student support and
facility designs. The other recipients are the Institute
for Research and Reform in Education (First Things First)
and Architects of Achievement.
The three investments will help approximately 14,000
students at Carson, Jordan, Fremont and Washington Prep
senior high schools graduate with the skills and knowledge
needed for success in post-secondary education and work.
The Johns Hopkins Talent Development team will work
with administrators and teachers at two of those schools,
Carson and Jordan, to create separate ninth-grade academies
inside their walls. They will also create smaller,
career-focused academies operating essentially as
autonomous schools in the same buildings, for students in
grades 10 through 12.
TDHS-developed courses in mathematics and language
arts are designed to prepare students who are working below
grade level for the district's high-level curricula, and
the small learning communities in the career academies aim
to foster relationships among students, families, teachers
and administrators. These, in turn, encourage regular
attendance and achievement while deterring students from
dropping out.
Teaching coaches will provide guidance and hands-on
technical assistance for teachers as they implement new
teaching strategies in a "block" schedule, a hallmark of
Talent Development that allows students to take double
doses of math and English language arts in one year. TDHS
also includes a freshman seminar for all ninth-graders to
help them set goals and priorities and strengthen their
study skills.
"We are pleased with the opportunity to work with a
school district that has endorsed small learning
communities as an effective strategy for improving student
achievement," said Maxine Wood, Talent Development's chief
operating officer for site development and operations. "We
believe the Talent Development model offers increased
opportunities for students to succeed by addressing their
specific academic needs. Our motto, 'Changing Schools,
Changing Lives,' reflects our commitment and our goal."
Research has shown that successful schools prepare
young people for college, work and citizenship by offering
rigorous instruction that challenges all students, a
relevant course of study that motivates students through
real-world experience, and meaningful relationships that
ensure that a caring adult is involved with every young
person's learning experience. These elements are most often
fostered in smaller learning environments.
Started in 1994 at Patterson High School in Baltimore,
the Talent Development model incorporates all these
components of successful schools. An independent evaluation
of the model found that Talent Development produced
substantial gains in attendance, course credits earned and
promotion rates during ninth grade, and that the
improvements in credits earned and promotion rates for
ninth-graders were sustained as students moved through high
school. This study, by the social policy research
organization MDRC, focused on five Philadelphia high
schools that had been using the model for several years.
Talent Development organizational reforms, curriculum
and professional development are being used this year in
nearly 100 schools in 19 states and the District of
Columbia.
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