Higher Expectations

Higher expectations

CHALLENGE TEACHERS AND STUDENTS TO SUCCEED

Ten years ago, Atlanta’s Henry W. Grady High School evoked dual, conflicting images. “If you were a student in the communications magnet program, you got a pretty good high school education,” recalled Gene Bottoms, executive director of High Schools That Work (HSTW). “But if you were one of the other students, you didn’t get much.” After almost a decade as an HSTW site, Grady is recognized not only as Atlanta’s most successful pub- lic high school, but also as a Title I Distinguished School, a Southern Regional Education Board Gold Award winner, and a Georgia School of Excellence. What’s more, the school now offers a second magnet program through its Health Science Career Academy. “They’ve made some nice improvements,” said Bottoms. “They’re on a nice

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Improvements at Grady High School

Considered an inner-city high school, Grady has made significant improvements through sustained professional learning.

The attendance rate increased from 83% in 1996 to 93% in 2002, the last year for which data are available.
The 9th-grade retention rate dropped from 35% in 1996 to 11% in 2006.
Between 2000 and 2004, the percentage of 12th-grade students completing the HSTW-recommended curriculum in English, math, and science increased from 41% to 88%. And by 2004, all students were completing college- preparatory English and algebra courses.
The percentage of Grady 11th-grade students passing the Georgia High School Graduation Test on their first attempt increased in all five subject areas between 1998 and 2005. The percent passing grew from 73% to 90% in social studies, from 62% to 74% in science, from 84% to 92% in math, from 85% to 92% in writing, and from 93% to 97% in English.
The number of Grady students taking Advanced Placement exams increased from 48 in 1998 to 177 in 2006. The number of tests taken jumped from 77 to 274.
Mean SAT scores for Grady students increased from a combined verbal and math score of 905 in 1998 to 1100 in 2005. The increase is particularly significant given that the number of students taking the test grew from 77 to 141.
The high school graduation rate between 2001-02 and 2004-05 increased from 56% to 89%.
A total of 194 of the 212 students who graduated from Grady in 2006 entered college. Three students entered the armed forces.
The percentage of Grady students entering public colleges in Georgia in need of remediation decreased from 25% in 1998 to 18% in 2002, the last year for which data are available.

High Schools That Work

This school improvement initiative aims to prepare students for careers and further education by improving curriculum and instruction in high schools and the middle grades.

For more information, visit www.sreb.org/ Programs/hstw/ hstwindex.asp