The Writing Revolution

Amy Edelstein thought that if high school students knew how to meditate they could learn how to focus, stay on track, and regulate negative self-talk. They could become better. So, in 2014 she started the Inner Strength Foundation to provide public schools with research-backed mindfulness curriculum. The curriculum has become a 12-week program, with instructors visiting classrooms in 19 schools across the city once a week.

About “1,500 (High School) students from 75 of the nation’s poorest schools in 35 cities,” are enrolling in college courses in elite universities like Harvard and Columbia through an initiative started by a nonprofit—and succeeding. The aim of the program is to prepare underprivileged students for the rigors of college education, and give them a confidence boost before they enter college. They complete the same coursework as the college students and get a grade. “All of these schools talk this game, ‘We want diversity, but we can’t find these kids,’ and this proves they can build a pipeline."

The Covina-Valley School District in California reduced high school drop-out rates and chronic absenteeism among special education students by providing a more engaging environment and curriculum for students. Students are divided into three levels based on their levels of cognitive competence, and educators rewrote textbooks and curriculum to fit the varying needs and capabilities of students within each level, as opposed to putting all special students in one level. Another successful approach has been to combine general and special education staff meetings and increase curricular collaboration.

Although trauma-informed approaches to education have become increasingly popular in alternative schools, they are still rare in traditional "comprehensive" schools. Sequim Senior High School in Washington State is at the forefront of this movement. In addition to its standard instruction, Sequim offers a different classroom experience for a small group of students who have endured significant trauma and are struggling in normal classrooms as a result. The trauma-informed school within a school has so far seen fewer suspensions and better attendance, but, still in its early years, faces myriad challenges.

Boys’ Latin Charter High School in West Philadelphia is changing up the traditional school day with a program that matches the entire junior class with internships at different places around the city. Students are matched with partner businesses and organizations based on their interests so they can better understand what they want to do after high school and have more equitable opportunities.

Despite the evidence of early interventions when children are failing academic, a now-defunct Israeli remedial high school program had long lasting effects on the participants. The teens that participated in the program attended college at higher rates, rose on the income ladder and even had higher marriage rates as adults. “I don’t think that we have evidence to give up on students who are older.”

In Baltimore, a non-profit known as the Next One Up program is helping young men who are struggling in school by supporting and advancing their academic, athletic, and social development through small group activities. Although small, the highly-individualized program – which "focuses on students who have attendance issues, have experienced trauma, or need food, clothing, or parental support" – meets every Sunday for class and homework help, followed by a sport of their choice. All who have participated so far have graduated high school on time.

Over one-third of juniors and seniors enrolled in Colorado public high schools are also taking postsecondary education courses. The model is saving students time and financial costs and is helping to close the achievement gap between white and minority Coloradans.

Now in 10 states and 17 countries, the P-TECH program combines high school with internships and free community college classes. In low-income neighborhoods in Newburgh, New York, P-TECH has helped increase earning and career potential and started to close the skills gap.

Founded in 2011, the Brooklyn-based P-Tech school allows high school students to earn a secondary and associate's degree upon graduation. Born out of a partnership with the New York City Department of Education, New York City College of Technology and IBM, the dual enrollment-program pairs students with mentors and matches students with paid IBM internships. The cross-sector model is being scaled up internationally.