This publication explores how state accountability systems currently address college readiness and academic and technical career readiness and offers recommendations and examples of policies and practices that incentivize and reward districts and schools for preparing more students to earn credentials and degrees in high-demand career fields.

Children born since the early 1990s have never known a world in which computer and information technologies are not essential to every aspect of their lives. However, far too many young people, especially low-income and minority youth, lack opportunities to learn about the impact of computer and information technologies on their lives and become…

The middles grades are critical to public school systems and our nation's economy. It's the make-or-break point in students' futures. Studies repeatedly show when students are not engaged and lose interest in the middle grades, they are likely to fall behind in ninth grade and later drop out of school. When this happens, the workforce suffers, and…

In 1998, the Southern Regional Education Board began using "High Schools That Work" (HSTW) strategies to improve urban student achievement. HSTW staff compared data from 1998 and 2000 HSTW assessments and examined the performance of career-bound students from 55 urban high schools. Results offer information on progress made in raising…

State accountability goals for high schools must give equal emphasis to raising standards and increasing the percentages of students entering grade nine and earning high school diplomas four years later. High school completion rates between 1988 and 2000 declined in all but eight states. Many high schools in states with declining graduation rates…

Georgia's High Schools That Work program aims to improve career-bound students' reading, mathematics, science, technical, and problem-solving capabilities by integrating college preparatory program content with vocational studies and by stressing effort over ability. Other key elements include raising expectations, requiring a career major, and…

Students benefit from a year or more gain in student achievement when urban district and high school leaders commit to the implementation of the "High Schools That Work" ("HSTW") design. It is not enough to be a "HSTW" site--it is about taking effective actions to implement the design. Schools that do take action witness significant progress in…

This report focuses on the noteworthy achievement and the successful practices of 12 rural schools in the southern region that are members of the "High Schools That Work" (HSTW) school improvement network. Although these schools enroll high percentages of minority and/or impoverished students, they have managed to outperform rural…

In 1987, the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) and 13 Southern states formed the SREB-State Career/Technical Education Consortium and established two goals. One goal is to increase the percentages of career-oriented students who complete a planned sequence of career/technical (CT) courses and a challenging academic core in English/language…

The High Schools That Work (HSTW) program is geared to help public high schools meet high standards for many more students by building educational programs around college-preparatory-level academic studies and challenging career concentrations. The program is based on the belief that almost all students can learn advanced-level academic and…

The Southern Regional Education Board's High Schools That Work program has successfully raised academic standards for non-college-bound students (the majority of students). Over 400 schools in 19 states now participate. The best HSTW schools feature higher expectations, tougher academic and vocational curricula, heftier homework assignments, and…

The Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) has worked with states, districts, and high schools since 1988 and with middle-grades schools since 1999 to improve student achievement. SREB followed students tested in 2000 and 2001 from eighth grade through ninth grade and found both middle-grades schools and high schools must find ways for students…

The Southern Regional Education Board (SREB)-State Vocational Education Consortium's commitment to higher standards for and greater achievement of vocational students has brought substantial gains in student performance. SREB's High Schools That Work (HSTW), a school improvement initiative, documents achievement gains by vocational students. Data…

This document is intended to help high school vocational-technical teachers design courses that result in high-quality learning for all their students. The book's seven chapters detail this process for designing courses that achieve the following results: model the concept of quality; produce independent learners; develop active participants in…

This document, which draws heavily on lessons learned during 11 years of the Southern Regional Education Board's High Schools That Work initiative, is intended to help state leaders review their existing system for assessing accountability in vocational education or plan such a system. The document begins with a discussion of the purpose of…