In a typical Talent Development Middle School, up to 300 students a year receive an extra 10 to 12 weeks of instruction in mathematics and reading. The model also develops parent and community partnerships that connect students' schooling with their families and communities. In addition to the nine middle schools that will open this fall, more middle schools in Detroit, Mobile and Memphis are slated for training and implementation in January. The Talent Development High Schools program attempts to transform those schools by, among other things, dividing large high schools with about 2,000 students into smaller units, including a ninth grade academy and other academies based on career themes for students in upper grades. Separate program tracks, like college prep, general and vocational-business, are eliminated, replaced by a single common academic program of demanding courses for all students within each academy.
Students working below grade level receive extra help during and after school hours.
In the ninth grade, three new Talent Development courses are offered to help poorly prepared students catch up in Reading, Mathematics and the study skills needed for advanced high school work. Students working above grade level have access to advanced courses, courses at local colleges and internships. Each student also has the same home room teacher from grades 10 to 12, who acts as an advisor to the student throughout high school. A separate, after-hours Twilight School is also held in the building for students with serious attendance or discipline problems, including students recently released from prison or suspended from another school. Calif. Additional schools in Memphis, Tenn., Mobile, Ala., and Detroit are also slated to implement the reform model this winter.