The U.S. Department of Education has released a new publication that highlights eight charter high schools that are using innovative methods to help close the achievement gap between low-income, minority, and special need students and their peers.

Produced under the auspices of the Department's Office of Innovation and Improvement (OII), Innovations in Education guide, Charter High Schools Closing the Achievement Gap focuses on schools that are bringing a new consciousness to the challenge of raising the achievement of traditionally underserved student populations at the secondary level. "By trying out innovative new strategies, these schools are blazing a trail for others to follow," said U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings. "They're dispelling the myth that some students can not learn and proving that if we raise the academic achievement bar, our students will rise to the challenge."

For instance, the Media Technology Charter High School (MATCH) in Boston, Mass., requires all incoming freshmen to start with a five-week summer academy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The focus is on reading, math, and building the school culture. Another special feature is the MATCH Corps, whose 45 members—all college graduates—serve as tutors and teaching assistants for a year at the school. Every tutor works one-on-one daily with students, reviewing homework and reinforcing lessons to support their learning. Each tutor stays with the same students for the full year. The training for MATCH Corps members begins three weeks before school starts when they observe the MIT summer program.

Students at Gateway High School in San Francisco, Calif., are chosen by lottery and offered an award-winning, individualized college preparatory education. The hallmark of Gateway's program is achieving academic excellence through personalized, student-centered learning. The school's core features are differentiated instruction, project-based learning, caring relationships between adults and students, assurance that individual talents and needs are identified and supported, self-discovery, and the fostering of intellectual curiosity. Students report always having a teacher or other adults to go consult, noting that at other schools they only received individual attention when they were somehow in trouble.

The schools were chosen in 2005 from over 400 charter high schools that are meeting academic targets under the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and are closing achievement gaps by holding students to high academic standards. To be considered, the schools had to have graduated at least one group of students and have data to show that, for the most part, students were moving to postsecondary education or employment.

In addition to MATCH and Gateway, the following schools were selected: The Preuss School, La Jolla, Calif.; SEED Public Charter School, Washington, D.C.; Minnesota New Country School, Henderson, Minn.; North Star Academy Charter School of Newark, N.J.; YES College Preparatory School, Houston, Texas; and, Toledo School for the Arts, Toledo, Ohio. Each of these schools is college preparatory in intent, and is developing creative solutions to problems faced by high schools across the country.

Although all the schools are unique, six similar characteristics unite them. The schools are mission-driven; focus on college preparation; teach for mastery; provide support; value professional learning; and hold themselves accountable.

For decades, the United States has grappled with achievement gaps that separate the academic performance of low-income, special needs, and minority students from their peers. Although progress has been made at the elementary level, there is still work to do to improve the performance of students at the secondary level.

Charter schools, in particular, may be well suited to contribute to this cause. Charter schools are public schools, but they operate with more freedom than their traditional public school counterparts. The Charter High Schools guide includes mini case studies of eight charter high schools that are demonstrating that all students, regardless of their zip code, learning differences, race, or native language can become learners who are prepared to succeed in school and in life. These schools use innovative instructional practices, and many have completely re-tooled the traditional academic day and year.

Charter High Schools (http://www.ed.gov/admins/comm/choice/charterhs/index.html) is part of OII's Innovations in Education book series, which was commissioned in 2004 and details how schools and districts across the country have put NCLB to work. Previous guides have highlighted public school choice, supplemental educational services, alternative teacher certification, school leadership, and magnet schools.

Future guides will feature K-8 schools that are closing the achievement gap and practices to expand the pool of high quality charter schools. In addition, the series will include strategies to encourage parents to help improve schools and show ways in which distance learning can increase access to rigorous coursework. Educators, parents, elected officials, and community leaders have found the guides to be a valuable resource.

For more information about the Innovations in Education series, please visit http://www.ed.gov/about/pubs/intro/innovations.html.

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