The two models, designed for underperforming schools with low-income students, have doubled their total of participants this fall and have received requests to enter into even more schools next year. Both the Hopkins middle and high school models involve specific changes in curriculum, professional development, community and parental involvement and, in the case of large urban high schools, even physical changes to school buildings.
Early assessments show that the models work.
Both Hopkins and independent researchers have found profound improvements in Talent Development Middle School students' reading comprehension, problem-solving skills and peer and teacher relations. Early evidence of effectiveness in the Talent Development High School Models report significant improvements in student attendance, promotion rates and in school climate for both students and teachers. The planning of these curricula is based on the best research conducted over the past few decades on middle school and high school practices and programs. Both programs have been in the research and development phase in urban schools in Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, D.C., since 1995. In most cases, the models take about three years to be fully implemented in all grades.