A NEW Vision for California High Schools: The AB2648 Multiple Pathways Report

This week Multiple Pathways to Student Success: Envisioning the New California High School  was released by California State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell. This report was the legislative outcome of Assembly Bill 2648. The report outlines some revolutionary ideas and suggested action items for redesigning our California high school system:

The policy recommendations outline a vision for transforming California’s high school system. The vision includes new policies and practices that fundamentally change the orientation of the high school experience from one in which time is the constant and learning is the variable to one in which learning is the constant and time is the variable. A transformed system would provide multiple rigorous programs of study, structures, and practices to ensure student success and accountability for results. Attaining this vision requires fundamental changes within the system.

The report addresses such variables as policy, procedure, the variable of time, the variable of mastery and ultimately addresses the vision/purpose of high school as well. A few of the reports recommendations (in no particular order) include:

• Eliminate the California Education Code requirement that particular courses be completed for high school graduation and establish standards-based performance benchmarks that must be met for high school graduation.

• Expand the number of measures within the Academic Performance Index (API) to include rates of completion of college entrance requirements, career technical education program completion and certification, school graduation rates, and dropout recovery rates.

• Allow continuously enrolled students to remain in high school or other appropriate educational programs until graduating from high school to increase available instructional support services.

• Replace the current seat-time-based school finance system with an equitable performance-based system designed to increase student performance.

      -Provide 80 percent of the base funding to high schools for the number of students enrolled annually, plus 20 percent of the funding tied to the number of students graduating and the number of students remaining in school annually.
     -A school district would not be penalized if students achieved early attainment of mastery and moved on to college or careers.

• Provide school districts with incentives to meet essential state priorities to increase performance; such as
     - Provide incentive funding to recover student dropouts, paid upon the students’ completion of high school.

My thoughts and I welcome yours as well – We really don't need another report to sit on a shelf and gather dust - let's build on the courage it took to write this report that suggests our current system isn't working. We who support education need to communicate with the California Department of Education that the time has come to discuss implementation of these and other innovative ideas and to move out of educating students in a manner that no longer serves us or them well.

You can find the Executive Summary of the Report at the link below:
http://www.schoolsmovingup.net/mpstudy/downloads/AB2648_MP_Report_Executive_Summary_051210_FINAL.pdf