Fixing a chronically poor-performing high school. Everybody knows the symptoms. Student achievement is dismal, physical resources are scarce, student violence is high and parent support is low. Even teachers and principals are pessimistic about the future.
Solutions are elusive.
Various models of reform have cured ailing elementary schools, but at the secondary level, results have been mixed. Most of these models focus on modifying procedures, not personnel. Chicago Public Schools has concentrated its efforts at improving problem high schools on teacher performance, but so far to little avail. In 1997, CPS subjected seven failing high schools to reconstitution, a get-tough measure that allowed the board to evaluate and dismiss teachers. A year later, the board rolled out re-engineering, a kinder, gentler version of reconstitution that holds teachers accountable through peer reviews.