# Presentation: 708698

## Archived InformationTexas High School Initiative

**National High School Leadership Summit**
**December 2****–****3, 2004**

**Barbara Knaggs**
- Office of Education Initiatives
- Texas Education Agency

## Texas High Schools Today

## Texas High School Today

**Exit-Level TAKS Results**
- 						_Pass Rate_
- 	Spring 2003			        49%
- 	Spring 2004			        72%

## Texas High Schools Today

**Postsecondary Enrollment Rates**
- A 2002 Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board study showed that 56 percent of all 1999-2000 public high school graduates enrolled in Texas public higher education within two years of high school graduation.

## Texas High Schools Today

**Advanced Placement Participation**
- From 1987 to 2003, growth in participation in AP in Texas greatly outpaced growth in participation in the nation.
- 				   _1987_		   _2003_
- 	Texas		   8,792		  90,880
- 	Nation		259,222		998,329

## Texas High Schools Today

**Advanced Placement Participation**
- From 1995 to 2003, Hispanic and African American students increased as a percentage of AP test takers.
- 						_1995__	__2003_
- 	Hispanic			16.9		26.3
- 	African American		  3.5		  6.1

## Texas High Schools Today

## Texas High Schools Today

## Texas High Schools Today

**College Readiness**
**Percent of Students Met THECB Standard for Higher Education Readiness**
**	****	****	****	**_**English LA**_**	**_**Math**_
**All Students               28%****	****	****  42%**
**African American      18%****	****	****  21%**
**Hispanic****	****	****         20%****	****	****  28%**
**White****	****	****         36%              55%**

## Texas High Schools Today

**Higher Education Participation Rates**
- 					_Participation Rate_
- 	Hispanic					3.7
- 	African American			4.6
- 	White					5.0
- 	Nation					5.4

## Texas High Schools Today

**College Success**
- The number of Hispanic and African American students who receive bachelor’s degrees is well below their proportions in the state’s population.

## New Vision for Texas

- All Texas high school students will graduate prepared for the full range of postsecondary opportunities.

## How We Achieve the Vision

- Promote a rigorous curriculum
- Ensure that every student is taught by a highly qualified, effective teacher
- Build leadership capacity for reform
- Foster multiple pathways for learning

## Programs Promoting a Rigorous Curriculum

- Texas High School Completion and Success Grants, Cycle 1 and 2
- Personalized Study Guide
- Texas Accelerated Science Achievement Program
- Texas Math Diagnostic
- Science Diagnostic

## Programs Promoting a Rigorous Curriculum

**Texas High School Completion and Success Grants**
- $38 million in grants awarded to 220 school districts
- Targeted to under-performing high schools
- Funding provided for programs designed to increase student achievement and college readiness and improve graduation rates

## Programs Promoting a Rigorous Curriculum

**Texas Accelerated Science Achievement Program**
- Funding provided for after-school and summer school acceleration programs in science
- Targeted to under-performing high schools and high schools with low passing rates on science portion of Exit-level assessment
- Approximately $10 million in state funding available

## Programs Ensuring a Highly Qualified Teacher in Every Classroom

- Teacher Quality Grants
- TEXTEAMS Mentoring Academies
- Texas A&M University System Mathematics Achievement Project

## Programs Ensuring a Highly Qualified Teacher in Every Classroom

**Teacher Quality Grants**
- Designed in collaboration with Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board
- Supports the development of teacher training courses in math and science for grade 6-12 teachers
- Funded 95 sites to provide courses to teachers

## Programs Ensuring a Highly Qualified Teacher in Every Classroom

**TEXTEAMS Mentoring Academies**
- Provides professional development, instructional materials, and resources to principals and science teachers at high need campuses
- Focuses on using data to drive instruction to improve scores on state science assessments
- Funding for 20 Mentoring Academies

## Programs Building Leadership Capacity

*Breaking Ranks II *Statewide High School Summit
*Breaking Ranks II *Trainer of Trainers Model

## Programs Fostering Multiple Pathways for Learning

- Comprehensive School Reform—Texas High School Initiative
- Texas High School Redesign and Restructuring Grant
- Middle College/Early College High School Expansion Grant

## Programs Fostering Multiple Pathways for Learning

- Texas High School Project—Early College High School Initiative
- Texas High School Project—Redesigned High School Initiative
- Texas High School Project—New Schools Initiative

## Programs Fostering Multiple Pathways for Learning

**Comprehensive School Reform****—Texas High School Initiative**
- Directed half of Title I, Part F—CSR funding to high schools
- Awarded $12 million to 83 high school campuses
- Provides funding for innovative, schoolwide improvements, covering all aspects of a high school’s operations

## Programs Fostering Multiple Pathways for Learning

**Texas High School Redesign and Restructuring Grant**
- Funding to build capacity for schoolwide reform at high schools that have been designated as low-performing under the Texas Accountability Rating system
- Aligned with state sanctions regarding low-performing campuses

## Programs Fostering Multiple Pathways for Learning

**Texas High School Project—Early College High School Initiative**
- Establishes 15 small high schools that integrate college/K-12 instructional programs, enabling students to graduate with an Associate’s degree or 60 hours toward a baccalaureate degree
- Schools target Hispanic and African American students and first-generation college-goers

## Programs Fostering Multiple Pathways for Learning

**Texas High School Project—Redesigned High School Initiative**
- Funds the redesign of existing comprehensive high schools into smaller, focused learning communities
- New smaller schools will offer a challenging curriculum with personal attention and high expectations for all students
- Inviting proposals from seven districts in high need areas of the state

## Programs Fostering Multiple Pathways for Learning

**Texas High School Project—New Schools Initiative**
- Funds the replication of successful models by high-performing school operators
- Creates a network of quality high schools in areas of need throughout the state
- Inviting proposals from selected new school operators

## Resources

- Texas Education Agency— Division of Discretionary Grants
-    _[www.tea.state.tx.us/opge/disc/index.html](http://www.tea.state.tx.us/opge/disc/index.html)_
- Texas High School Project—Communities Foundation of Texas
-    _[www.cftexas.org](http://www.cftexas.org/)_

## Contact Information

**For more information about the Texas High School Initiative, please contact Christi Martin or Barbara Knaggs.****	**
**	****	**
- Christi Martin	Barbara Knaggs
- Senior Advisor	Program Manager
- Education Initiatives	Education Initiatives
- Texas Education Agency	Texas Education Agency
- William B. Travis Building	William B. Travis Building
- 1701 N. Congress Avenue	1701 N. Congress Avenue
- Austin, TX  78701	Austin, TX  78701
- (512) 936-6060	(512) 936-6060
- _[christi.martin@tea.state.tx.us](mailto:christi.martin@tea.state.tx.us)_                _[barbara.knaggs@tea.state.tx.us](mailto:barbara.knaggs@tea.state.tx.us)_