The transition from middle school to high school represents a significant event in the lives of adolescents, one that necessitates support from and collaboration among teachers, parents, counselors, and administrators at both educational levels. Successful transitions place particular emphasis on ninth-grade initiatives and can create one of…

The exemplary high school dropout prevention programs funded by the federal Vocational Education Cooperative Demonstration Program that are profiled in this document reveal several elements necessary for success in an enhanced vocational education program: (1) highly qualified and emotionally stable staff; (2) curriculum and instruction that…

Middletown High School is a comprehensive high school with 1,970 students, located in the environs of Washington, DC. It is distinguished by an open enrollment policy for all courses; a strong emphasis on inclusion of students with learning disabilities (LD) in general education classrooms; block scheduling that allows for more in-depth and…

The feasibility of combining the resources of the school districts of Ottumwa, Iowa, and neighboring areas with Indian Hills Community College into a comprehensive program for Ottumwa high school students at a regional site was investigated. An articulated vocational program, beginning at the junior high level, would extend through high school,…

This report discusses the role that school health centers can play in providing comprehensive health care and health education services to adolescents and reviews the effectiveness of such health centers in three Chicago high schools. School-based health centers need to stress: (1) high-quality care; (2) parental, school, and community…

The New Designs for the Comprehensive High School (NDCHS) project was conducted to develop design processes and specifications for developing new comprehensive high schools, and for restructuring existing schools in accordance with the comprehensive high school model. The project's impact on student learning at two early adapters of the…

The comprehensive-versus-selective school issue is primarily a socio-politico-economic rather than pedagogic problem. The International Project for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) had as its primary objective to relate certain social, economic and pedagogic characteristics of the different systems to the outcomes of instruction in…

High schools and teacher training institutions in the United States exhibit different characteristics than those exhibited by similar schools in other countries. These differences are rooted in America's history and help explain why secondary education and higher education in America are not coordinated in ways that consistently promote…

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between teachers' teaching effectiveness and school effectiveness in comprehensive high schools in Taiwan, Republic of China. The establishment of comprehensive high schools signals a new type of secondary education. In order to improve the quality of education in comprehensive high…

This publication describes four school health programs from the standpoint of young people who participate in them. Its purpose is to indicate how committed staff members in comprehensive school health programs can help students to succeed. The publication identifies four well-respected programs in diverse settings that are using innovative…

In this series of short articles, authors discuss matters that affect vocational education in the comprehensive high school setting, considering nine specific occupational or service programs. (SK)

Loveland (Colorado) High School is a comprehensive high school of approximately 1,500 students located 50 miles north of Denver. Two years ago, Loveland was not making annual yearly progress (AYP) in any subpopulation as required by the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). The scores of the general population were not much to brag about either.…

The U.S. public high school should return to a core curriculum which is defined as a broad consensus on the basic information and skills to which most young students should have been exposed by the time they graduate from high school. The duty of educators is to teach the skills and general information that enable educated persons to continue…

The recent wave of accountability reform movements has largely overlooked the needs of middle and high school counselors, yet has generated daunting pressure for guidance programs to be standards-based and data-driven. Written from the perspective of a practicing, certified counselor, this guide contains essential information needed to implement…

For more than a century, American educators and education policymakers have chosen sides in a great debate about the nature and function of American high schools. The origins of this long-running argument can be traced to 1893, when the influential Committee of Ten, a bluechip panel of educators, issued a report proposing that all public…