Essential question: How can we work to ensure that all students develop a sense of community while they are in high school?
California's high schools must have the resources to create learning communities in which all students will feel connected, supported, and empowered. Students who experience their school as a caring community are more motivated and engaged in their learning. Communities "are organized around relationships and ideas."1 These relationships include student-to-student, student-to-adult, and student-to-community interconnectedness. Positive connections between students and teachers, coupled with high expectations, promote academic success.2 Implementing programs that enhance a student’s sense of belonging to a community will increase the likelihood that a student will succeed academically and in the workplace and as a contributor to the community.
Recommendation 3.1
Support recommendation 4.2, from Subcommittee 4 of the California P-16 Council, to develop a transition plan from middle school to high school for the approximately 500,000 eighth grade students in California.
Recommendation 3.2
Support local, regional, and state collaborations to increase multiple pathways to school graduation that promote success in college and work. Provide educational options (other than those exclusively tied to the “a-g” requirements) to attract and retain students and prepare them for college and career.
Recommendation 3.3
Design and fund a continuum of research-based high school transition plans that:
- Connect students to a variety of career paths and postsecondary education.
- Engage students and school staff on a regular and ongoing basis.
- Include strategies for the successful transition between grade levels and life beyond high school.
- Provide flexibility for implementation at the local level.
- Can be offered in the summer and on Saturdays during the school year.
Recommendation 3.4
Provide schools, school districts, and county offices of education with pertinent information and tools to support school community safety and violence prevention.
Subcommittee 3 full Report and Recommendations (PDF; 133KB; 20pp.)
Footnotes
1 Thomas Sergiovanni, Leadership for the Schoolhouse: How Is It Different? Why Is It Important? San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, Inc., 1996.
2 Kathleen Cotton, “School Size, School Climate, and Student Performance.” (SIRS Close-Up #20). Portland, Ore.: Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, May 1996.
