Report on Kentucky High Schools Released

FRANKFORT, KY (April 18, 2002) — A report on case studies of four Kentucky high schools with widely divergent postsecondary outcomes was released here today by the Kentucky Long-Term Policy Research Center, a state agency dedicated to future-oriented public policy research. The third in a series of reports about higher education, Listening to Kentucky High Schools seeks to identify some of the intangible factors that influence college attendance rates. Its authors conclude that effective leadership—formal and informal—is key to the state’s realization of its ambitious goals for increasing college enrollment and, in turn, expanding the percentage of the population of college graduates.

To select schools for study, the Center conducted an analysis of a range of predictive data about Kentucky’s more than 200 high schools, including such variables as testing performance, poverty rates, teacher experience, school spending, and education levels in the county where the school is located. Based on these data, the Center developed predicted college graduation rates for all of Kentucky high schools and then compared actual versus predicted rates. The four schools chosen for closer, qualitative study included one that sends a far higher percentage of its graduates on to college than predicted, two that send a far lower percentage of graduates, and one that sends the predicted percentage of graduates on to college.

The report, which presents its findings about the selected schools anonymously, offers insight into the cultures of some of the state’s poorest performing high schools in regard to the college enrollment rates of their graduates, as well as that of one remarkable overperformer that defies considerable odds. Indeed, the highest performer, by the assessment of the researchers, has the poorest, most racially diverse student body which performs relatively poorly on standardized tests. Moreover, the school spends the least per student. Yet its dynamic, committed, and creative leaders and the highly supportive school culture they have shaped, the report concludes, make the difference. Together, they have shaped an inviting, positive environment that appears to breathe life into a central tenet of the Kentucky Education Reform Act, that all students can learn. The school provides a host of supportive programs and a range of extracurricular activities, in which students are required to participate. Finally, it benefits from the strongest complement of social capital found—lots of parent volunteer hours and an involved business community.

While the case studies found evidence that such widely recognized criteria as per-pupil spending levels and poverty rates clearly influence postsecondary outcomes, the observable and distinctive differences in leadership style and the culture they shaped in these schools, the researchers concluded, were clearly the most important factor. One poor performing school had experienced frequent turnovers in its leadership but had begun to stabilize under strong new leadership that bode well for its future. At the poorest performing high school, however, the administrative staff was sharply divided and weighted by the self-fulfilling and destructive force of low expectations. Moreover, a myopic focus on discipline and order at the school appeared to engender student anger and alienation and undermine academic goals.

As an expansive body of research has confirmed, the home lives of students were clearly key. Students who planned to attend college after high school most consistently reported that their mothers had exerted the strongest influence on their decision. However, the case study researchers also found that external factors beyond the educational experience and the motivation parents provided were key. The surrounding communities of the most successful schools had experienced economic shocks or offered high school graduates only limited job opportunities. The experiences of family members who had lost jobs and earnings proved powerful lessons to many, demonstrating the importance of education in expanding opportunity and enabling flexibility.

The presence of a college in the community where the school was located also appeared to influence college-going rates. Strong links to community colleges, including cooperative agreements that permitted high-performing upper-class students to take college-level courses, were found at the highest performing schools. By contrast, students at the least successful schools faced not inconsequential commutes to a college and, in the case of the poorest performer, had ready access to low-skill jobs in the community.

Educators and students at all of these schools consistently reported that student employment outside of school substantially interfered with academic performance. Many reported working the near-equivalent of a full-time job. The vast majority of juniors and seniors, as well as many sophomores, reported that they worked to finance, first and foremost, a car or automobile insurance that their parents either could not afford or refused to pay for. Many are already caught in adult financial traps. One teacher likened the situation to “a rat chasing its tail. They have the car for the work, the job for the car.” Students often reported that they also paid for their own clothes and entertainment. In essence, one teacher observed, “They basically take care of themselves. Some do a very good job and some need some help … structure, guidance, a firm hand, and they don’t have it.”

In response to their findings, the authors offer a series of action items that they pointedly recommend be considered, not only by policymakers and educators but by the community at large, which ultimately lives with the consequences of a high school’s success or failure.

Focus on Leader Development. Given their influence on virtually everything that goes on in schools, investment in the cultivation of strong, participatory leadership skills would be time and money well spent.

Expand Support for Programs to Improve Academic Performance. Researchers found some excellent programs with attributes that are readily transferable, including: liaison with middle schools and colleges, peer tutoring and counseling, rapid intervention, and freshman orientation and training in study and life skills.

Invest in At-Risk Students. To boost the state’s percentage of college-going students, close attention must be paid to those least likely to succeed, students with poor reading skills and home environments that interfere with their schooling. Interventions by counselors and social workers, visits to colleges, and, most importantly, consistent, positive reinforcement help instill students with the belief that they can succeed.

Improve Accountability Measures and Reporting. Accountability measures for schools need to give more weight to what happens after students leave high school.

Reconsider, Restructure Incentives. Students, particularly the best and brightest, have little real incentive to perform well on CATS tests, yet the skills these tests measure have a lot to do with continuing education after high school. Educators recommend that KEES scholarships be linked to CATS performance, rather than grades and ACT performance.

Make Information-Sharing Integral to Professional and Institutional Development. The institutionalization of routine exchanges of information about best practices is vital.

Consider Statewide Standards for Guidance Counselors. Our data suggest that guidance counselors have too much to do that does not relate to their core counseling skills. Since many children form their attitudes and expectations about college early, informed counseling at every grade may be needed. While more research is needed, manageable student-to-counselor ratios and timelines for achieving prescribed goals may be needed.

Further Examine the Effects of Paid Employment. While work can cultivate habits important later in life, it can also foreclose opportunities for deeper educational experience and social maturity. A useful step would be to ensure employers comply with child labor laws and to educate parents and students about these laws. Additional research into how work affects the underachieving and the at-risk student would also be beneficial.

Foster Wider World Views. Exposure to new ideas, opportunities, and places imbues young people with the desire to explore them and the confidence that they can. Many young people are conditioned by the histories of their parents and the attitudes and expectations of those around them. Programs that broaden student horizons, such as visits to colleges and cultural events, are one way to break this self-limiting cycle.

Copies of the report are free upon request while they are available. To request a copy of Listening to Kentucky High Schools, contact the Center by mail at 111 St. James Court, Frankfort, KY 40601; by phone at 502-564-2851 or 800-853-2851; by fax at 502-564-1412 or 800-383-1412; or by e-mail at ltprc@lrc.state.ky.us. The full report is also available online.