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Governor Bob Wise

Photograph of Governor Bob Wise
Governor Bob Wise
President, Alliance for Excellent Education

Governor Bob Wise, author of the book, Raising the Grade: How High School Reform Can Save Our Youth and Our Nation, became president of the Alliance for Excellent Education in February 2005. Under his leadership, the Alliance has continued to build its reputation as a respected authority on high school policy and and to advocate for reform in America's secondary education system, working to ensure that all students graduate from high school prepared for success. He has advised the U.S. Department of Education and frequently testifies before the U.S. Congress. As Governor of West Virginia from 2001-2005, he signed legislation to fund the PROMISE Scholarship, which has helped thousands of West Virginia students remain in the Mountain State for college. During his administration, West Virginia saw a significant increase in the number of students completing high school and entering college.

Governor Wise serves on the Public Education Network's board of directors; the board of trustees of America's Promise; and is an advisory committee member for a number of organizations, among them the Campaign for Educational Equity, Editorial Projects in Education, and the National High School Center, which is funded by the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Office of Special Education Programs and housed at the American Institutes for Research. He also serves on the board of directors of C-Change, which works to eliminate cancer as a major public health risk at the earliest possible time.

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Federal Role in High School Improvement

Question 1: What are the major federal initiatives planned or currently underway that will support or promote high school improvement?

Over the past few years, federal policymakers have realized the severity of the high school dropout crisis and have been working on several policy initiatives to bring positively change to high schools that significantly increases postsecondary education, career opportunities, and success for all students. Also, some existing federal funding streams have gotten a significant one-time boost due to the "stimulus package" with the goal of delivering more resources to State and Local Education Agencies working to turn around low-performing schools and districts.

Current Opportunities for High School Improvement

The stimulus package, officially known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), creates a unique opportunity for states, districts, and high schools to work together on behalf of high school students. Uses of education funds made available under ARRA need to be consistent with its central principles. Broadly speaking, these goals are to stimulate the economy for the near term and to invest in education for the long-term growth and stability of the economy.

ARRA supports education through two main components: additional support for existing federal education programs, and the creation of the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund (SFSF), which is intended, in part, to help governors maintain and grow employment within the education sectors in their states. Under ARRA, the $4.35 billion Race to the Top Fund is a new competitive grant program that will reward states for meeting certain education performance measures such as better distribution of highly qualified teachers and improved academic and graduation outcomes for students. An additional $650 million will go toward the Investing in Innovation Fund to help research, create, and disseminate models to increase student achievement and prepare students for success after high school.

In addition, newly proposed regulations, along with increased funding levels under Title I School Improvement Grants, strongly encourage states to identify and prioritize their lowest performing high schools. Finally, the stimulus package includes $250 million for statewide data systems, which will make it easier to follow student progress, determine the best ways to improve student achievement, and provide instruction targeted to students' needs.

Emerging Opportunities for High School Improvement

Also underway is an effort to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) that will better address the high school crisis, moving the nation toward the goal of all students graduating from high school ready for college and careers. In addition, there are also various pieces of secondary school legislation currently pending before Congress:

  • High School Improvement: Graduation Promise Act - S.1698: The Graduation Promise Act (GPA) would authorize $2.5 billion in new funding to turn around low-performing high schools. The GPA would provide money to districts and states in order to implement effective, research-based reforms tailored to a low-performing school's specific needs.
  • Graduation Rate Calculations: Every Student Counts Act - S. 618 and H.R. 1569: The Every Student Counts Act would hold high schools responsible for graduating students by improving the calculation of and accountability for high school graduation rates. Specifically, the bill would require states, schools, and districts to use a common, accurate graduation rate calculation that is consistent across states, require reporting of subgroup graduation rates, set meaningful graduation rate goals and targets, and remove incentives for schools to push out low-performing and at-risk students.
  • Innovation and Research: Secondary School Innovation Fund Act - S. 968 and H.R. 2239: The Secondary School Innovation Fund Act would authorize $500 million to support partnerships for creating innovative programs and models in secondary schools to increase student achievement and prepare students for success in postsecondary education and the workforce.
  • Adolescent Literacy: Striving Readers Act of 2007: The Striving Readers Act, which was introduced in the last Congress, would seek to improve student achievement and high school graduation rates by ensuring that older students who struggle to read at grade level would receive the literacy interventions needed to succeed in school. A revised version of the legislation, which would create a comprehensive literacy program for grades K-12, is currently in development and should be introduced in the current Congress in the next few weeks.
  • Middle Schools: The Success in the Middle Act - S. 1362 and H.R. 3006: Although this legislation doesn't directly fund high schools, it can have a positive impact on high school graduation rates because it targets the schools that have middle-level grades that feed into the nation's approximately two thousand "dropout factories." Dropout factories are high schools in which 60 percent (or fewer) of freshmen will have become seniors three years after finishing their ninth-grade year. The legislation would authorize $1 billion a year in formula grants for states to improve low-performing schools that contain middle grades and require states that receive grants to develop early-warning data systems to identify students who are most at risk of dropping out and intervene to help them succeed.

In summary, there are numerous current and planned policy initiatives that are specifically targeted to high school improvement in general and to the quick turnaround of the lowest-performing high schools. A common goal of all these efforts is to ensure that all high school students graduate ready to succeed in post-secondary education and future career opportunities, and can become productive citizens who are prepared to compete in the 21st century global economy.

Resources:

Alliance for Excellent Education. (2009, September). Key Pieces of High School Legislation. Washington, D.C. Retrieved from http://all4ed.org/files/KeyPiecesofHSLegislation_092409.pdf

Alliance for Excellent Education. (2009). Legislative Updates. Washington, D.C. Retrieved from http://www.all4ed.org/federal_policy/legislative_updates

Rutenberg, D. (2009, June). The American Reinvestment and Recovery Act for High School Improvement. Washington, DC. Retrieved from http://www.betterhighschools.org/docs/NHSC_ARRA_PolicyBrief.pdf