While Roderick was tracking 8th-graders as they moved on to 9th grade, she found that students who were enrolled at two Junior ROTC small schools enjoyed high school more. They loved it. They weren't talking about ROTC being different, they were talking about high school being different. The prototype is the Junior ROTC Business and Finance Academy at Tilden High in Back of the Yards. Students take classes with their grade-level peers for most of the day.
Teachers have common planning time to prepare lessons and discuss the students.
The model gets results. The attendance rate for academy students is 90 percent, a full 10 points higher than Tilden's 80 percent average rate. The close personal attention teachers give to students is one reason for the academy's success, says sophomore Nichola Davis. They watch over us so we won't go in the wrong direction. Teachers know students well enough to intervene in interpersonal conflicts long before they become fights, she adds.