Transforming the High School Experience: How New York City’s New Small Schools Are Boosting Student Achievement and Graduation Rates

By: Keith Pierce, Director of Communications, New Visions for Public Schools
June 23, 2010

New Visions for Public Schools is proud of the findings of a groundbreaking independent study released on Tuesday that validates one of the most significant aspects of our work– the creation of small high schools.

The report by MDRC, one of the nation’s most respected public policy research firms, provides overwhelming evidence that our New Century High School initiative has resulted in schools with higher attendance, credit accumulation and graduation rates, particularly for low income, special education and ELL students.

According to the MDRC analysis of 105 newly created high schools—two-thirds of which are New Visions schools—the graduation rate was 6.8% higher than the other schools. This improvement alone had the dramatic impact of narrowing the graduation achievement gap found across the city between students of color and white students by nearly a third. MDRC’s findings also demonstrate that New Visions, in partnership with DOE, the mayor, unions, as well as the city, has been able to design an effective model for a new approach to high school education and, equally important, rapidly implement it on a scale sufficiently broad so that the results indisputably demonstrate an improvement in the academic trajectories of large numbers of traditionally underserved students.

This affirmation of our work would not have been possible without your incredible commitment and willingness to stay the course for our schools and students. MDRC’s in-depth analysis and unambiguous findings of success are a testament to the quality of the education provided by the more personalized and supportive learning environments offered in New Century High Schools.

With this public validation of the work New Visions began nearly a decade ago, your ongoing efforts will continue to touch the lives of tens of thousands of New York students. On behalf of the staff and board of New Visions, please accept our deep appreciation for all you’ve done and continue to do for the New Century High Schools and so many deserving students.

To download the executive summary click here.

To download the full report click here.