Nonetheless, recent reports also underscore the existing inequalities between urban and suburban high schools and the need for profound and comprehensive high school reform. Meanwhile, in August, the Carnegie Corporation of New York awarded grants to school districts-community partnerships in 10 cities under its urban high school initiative, Schools for a New Society. Students attending high schools in which African-Americans and Latinos comprise 90 percent or more of the student population are more than twice as likely to be taught by teachers without certification than their counterparts in schools where Whites comprise 90 percent or more of the student population. When Chicago s Best Practice High School opened its doors in 1996 with 138 students, it was under much scrutiny. As the first new public high school established in Chicago in 20 years, the school was greeted with high expectations.
Every student is known and appreciated in a diverse, collaborative community.
Voice and Leadership . Both students and teachers exercise choice and make decisions in all aspects of school life. Teachers collaborate with students to explore and employ a growing repertoire of instructional strategies. With their teachers, young people engage in challenging inquiry into topics that matter. Young people are engaged in the life of the community and the world of work.