Adapting organizations to increase learning. To support innovations in teaching and learning, successful secondary schools often develop new organizational arrangements. At the Thurgood Marshall Middle School in Lynn, Massachusetts , teachers cluster students in groups that include bilingual and special education students. The flexibility Title I lends to these schools supports the innovative practices critical to raising the academic achievement of all students. Linking schooling to the future.
Successful schools help students connect academic success to future opportunity.
Reforms call for students to graduate as skilled learners, able to continue their education in college, technical school, or work-based programs and to acquire the skills they need to achieve their goals. Tech Prep, youth apprenticeships, career academies, and college prep programs and supports are examples of strategies used to promote students' future success. Creating networks of support for students that address students' academic and personal needs can enable at-risk secondary students to persist and succeed in school. ESEA highlights the need for schools to provide coordinated services by encouraging the development of networks of support. Resources for improvement, such as staff development that introduces new methods and materials, promotes peer collaboration, grounds teachers in principles of reform, and fosters the sharing of responsibility and authority among teachers.