135 students, 4 teachers, 1 classroom: Why a team approach to teaching is taking hold

The ecosystem of D.C. charter schools that has evolved over the last two decades represents a cornucopia of creative and nontraditional approaches to education, in addition to fairly traditional college-prep schools, and is now producing some of the highest graduation rates, college acceptance rates, and average test scores in public schools in the nation.

Educational nonprofit OneGoal has proven that its model of education helps provide low-income students in Chicago and Houston with the tools needed to pursue a college degree. Now, the nonprofit hopes to improve the college graduation rate in New York City by assisting high school students in understanding the basic techniques to achieve success.

Small rural schools in New Hampshire achieved some of the state's highest reading scores by leveraging their size to create multi-grade classrooms, provide individualized support to all students, and build long-term student-teacher relationships. In result, these lower-income districts have outperformed expectations by the widest margins in the state.

A public high school in Brooklyn, New York, hosts an annual camping trip for students to come out of their shells and get to know their peers and teachers over the course of several days of outdoor activities.

The nonprofit School on Wheels pairs students experiencing homelessness with tutors to help them catch up, and stay caught up, in school.

A pilot program, organized by the Consortium Partnership Network, seeks to improve school outcomes by shifting key decisions to staff inside the school, which schools remain under district supervision. The schools also partner with a nonprofit to provide technological support and bring in philanthropic dollars. The partially autonomous governance model is supported by the teacher’s union and has improved teaching-focused aspects as well as programs addressing the mental health, clothing, and food needs of students.

Nathaniel Rochester Community School 3 in the Rochester City School District in New York has a record of poor academic achievement, but a special accelerated summer math program had 16 seventh graders pass the Regents algebra test. Students and administrators attribute the success to having the program focus on acceleration rather than remediation and the genuine support from the teachers for the students.

In the last decade, collaborations between non-profit student-support organizations and public schools have fostered a model called "Last-Chance Schools" with remarkable success. The program targets root causes for dropping out, including economic disadvantages, mental health challenges, violence, and unstable home lives. As several Boston charter schools demonstrate, use of social-emotional learning, conflict mediation instead of zero-tolerance discipline, and flexible curricula has helped boost graduation and college acceptance rates while lowering suspensions.

To improve its consistently high truancy rates, last academic year Española Valley High School implemented a new truancy and dropout prevention program aimed at shaping up poor attendance. The results are yet to be determined — but debate still rages within the school about the best method for battling truancy.

Young people are graduating from high schools and not ready for college level work. Liz Willen describes different initiatives around the United States that have provided solutions for improving secondary education. She addresses the importance of STEM, role models for students, and project-based learning.