In August 2003, the Governor's Education Cabinet and the Public School Forum launched a private-public partnership to focus leadership and financial resources on change in the state's high schools. The North Carolina New Schools Project (NCNSP) awards planning grants to create new small high schools across the state or to convert existing comprehensive schools into one or more discrete small schools within a building. Once the planning phase is complete, NCNSP provides implementation grants to support a multi-year initiative to establish new models of teaching and learning in each school that demonstrated success during the planning stage. The schools serve as models for an academically rigorous curriculum designed to prepare all students for work and college. NCNSP also seeks to create Early College High Schools.
The website includes a number of resources including PowerPoint presentations and policy papers and is an example for other states that want to pursue private-public partnerships for on-the-ground redesign of their high schools.
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Background and Context
One key approach to improving instruction for high school students is redesigning the environment and structure in which they learn. Creating smaller learning communities is one way schools are fundamentally reshaping that environment. Guided by a belief that student achievement will improve in a more personalized environment, advocates of smaller learning communities hope that smaller class sizes, increased teacher collaboration, comprehensive advisory systems, and a more relevant and rigorous curriculum will reap substantial gains in academic achievement.
