A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

Section II
An Overview of the Schoolwide Planning Process (Continued)

Combining Funds:
An Important Part of the Planning Process

By combining Title I funds with other federal, state, and local funding and with private resources, schoolwide budgets can be allocated according to student needs rather than specified funding targets. This section describes how funds can be combined in new ways in schoolwide programs.

The reauthorized ESEA allows schoolwide programs to combine most available resource streams to improve the entire educational program. By combining resources and eliminating the differentiation among programs, schools can more effectively achieve the goal of raising academic achievement for all students. Schoolwide programs may combine most federal education programs and activities into a coherent reform design, using various program sources to support a comprehensive plan that addresses the identified needs of all students in the school.

Under the reauthorized ESEA, schoolwide programs are not required to identify activities, strategies, staffing, or student populations by their traditional categories. However, schools must describe how the plan:

• Meets the intent and purposes of each separate program

• Serves the students that each separate program was designed to assist

• Uses all funding sources, including any additional special grants and other state, local, federal, or private funds

Districts must continue to provide schoolwide programs the same amount of state and local funding that they would have provided had the schools not chosen to adopt a schoolwide approach, and these funding sources should be included in the plan.

What Does Satisfying the Intent and Purposes Mean in Practice?

A schoolwide program meets the legislated intents and purposes of component programs if it offers sufficient activities to address the academic needs of students who are the intended beneficiaries of the legislation. As a school considers combining resources, it will need to think about these issues:

• How do federal, state, and local resources work together to meet the overall school goals?

• How does the schoolwide program meet the intents and purposes of the federal programs whose funds are combined?

• Are all involved school personnel aware of the program and budgeting flexibility in the law?

• What is the rationale for continuing some separate programs? Should that rationale be re-examined?

• How are separate programs aligned with the overall school program?

Montview Elementary School in Aurora, Colorado, combines Title I, Part A funds with funds from Title VII - Bilingual Education, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), a National Education Association grant, and various state and local funds. As an elementary school with an 84 percent poverty rate, based on free- and reduced-price lunch data, Montview became a schoolwide program to improve the overall academic program for all students. Responding to its comprehensive needs assessment, Montview chose to use part of its combined schoolwide program funds for professional development and mentoring to allow teachers in all classrooms to incorporate the Literacy Learning Model. Teachers schoolwide have also incorporated multiple assessment procedures, including individual reading inventories, writing samples, classroom observations, conferences, self-assessments, and journals, to diagnose student academic needs and monitor progress.

Montview meets the intents and purposes of several programs whose funds it combines, including Title VII, Migrant, and IDEA, among others, by implementing the Literacy Learning model in all classrooms. All ESL and special education staff were involved in developing the schoolwide program and participated fully in the professional training to implement Literacy Learning. This ensures all students benefit from consistency of instruction in literacy and mathematics. Students with limited English proficiency or disabilities have specialized, in-class assistance from the specially trained staff and staff assistants as needed. Because Montview individualizes its in-class instructional strategies so they respond to students' specific instructional needs, the school does not need to demonstrate that any of the separate funding sources go directly toward services for particular students, nor that it has met the specific requirements of the separate Title VII, Migrant, IDEA, or programs for gifted and talented students.

Encina High School in Sacramento, California, combines School-to-Work Opportunities Act funds with funds from Title I, Part A, Title VII - Bilingual Education, the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act, and other state and private sources. Encina's curriculum combines rigorous preparation for college with a sequence of vocational courses offering students on-the-job mentoring, hands-on experience, and technical skills. Encina satisfies the intents and purposes of the programs it combines by allowing all students, including LEP and special education students, to choose from five career-related academies where academic and technical content are integrated with work-based learning opportunities. Its program includes a "Graphic Design Academy," stocked with an impressive collection of hardware and software, including both Mac and IBM-compatible computers, scanners, and LCD projectors that convert a computer monitor display to a wall-size image for class presentations. Although numerous local, state, federal, and private sources fund these programs, the school need not show how each group of funds supports the varied components because it addresses the intent and purposes of each program through a fully integrated schoolwide plan.

Issues in Combining Funds for Students with Special Needs

Two federal funding programs—Migrant Education (Title I, Part C) and Indian Education (Title IX)—require schoolwide programs to coordinate their activities with the special interest groups or organizations that represent parents, students, or both. When using funds from the Migrant and Indian Education Programs, other points to consider are:

• Schoolwide programs that combine migrant education funds with other funds must, in consultation with parents of migrant children or organizations representing those parents or both, first address the particular identified needs of migrant children to support their successful participation in school.

• Schoolwide programs that combine Indian Education funds with other funds must first receive approval from the Indian education parent committee that the LEA establishes.

Funds from the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) can be used in a schoolwide program, provided that the other requirements of Part B of IDEA are met in that school by the LEA. Students with disabilities who enroll in schools with schoolwide programs must receive services in accordance with properly developed individualized education plans (IEPs), and they must be afforded the rights and protections guaranteed to eligible students and their parents under Part B of IDEA. A 1997 amendment to IDEA also makes it permissible to use IDEA funds to assist not only students with learning disabilities but also other children.

Many resources are available to help schoolwide programs ensure that the needs of students with disabilities are met. Among them is the National Information Center for Children and Youth with Disabilities (NICHCY), a national information clearinghouse that provides free information to assist parents, educators, and others in helping children with disabilities become participating members of the school and community. NICHCY can be reached by telephone at (800) 695-0285 or by e-mail at nichcy@aed.org or www.nichcy.org. The Regional Resource and Federal Center Program (RRFC) assists state education agencies by improving their capacity to serve infants, toddlers, children, and youth with disabilities. Six Regional Resource Centers provide advice and technical assistance to administrators and educators in SEAs and other appropriate public agencies. Information about RRFC is available by telephone at (202) 884-8215 or e-mail at frc@aed.org or www.federalresourcecenter.org/frc.

Planning Schoolwides for Secondary Schools: New Opportunities and Challenges

The 1994 reauthorization of ESEA placed a priority on serving the highest-poverty schools, regardless of grade level. As a result, more middle and high schools than ever before are able to develop schoolwide programs. Title I, Part A funds can be combined with other federal and state initiatives in secondary schools to connect academic programs with school-to-work opportunities and vocational preparation programs. In middle and high schools where students were once separated into academic tracks, or faculty assumed some students would not succeed in the "academic" program, staff can now work in teams and adopt teaching strategies that reach all students with the message that every student can meet the same challenging academic standards.

As in elementary schools, secondary schoolwide planning can blur the lines across grades, departments, and subject areas to design multi-disciplinary teaching and assignments that connect school and work. Rather than maintaining traditional territorial divisions, middle and high schools can design a curriculum that links classroom learning with the real world outside of school.

What opportunities do schoolwides offer secondary schools? Many schoolwide programs in middle and high schools encourage collaboration among teachers—across departments and in partnerships with local businesses and education institutions. These collaborations tear down the walls that divide the school and the community and establish relationships and activities where students can:

• Concentrate on building high-level academic and technical skills

• Learn actively by working in an expanded range of cognitive and career interests

• Work with teachers in small learning communities, such as schools within schools

• Receive personal support from college or adult mentors

• Use technology to enhance learning and develop workplace skills

• Obtain information on careers and postsecondary education and training

• Prepare early for college and careers by forming ties with high schools and postsecondary institutions

The combined funding possible with a schoolwide program enabled staff at Benjamin Franklin Middle School in San Francisco, California, to participate in professional development on expanding literacy and using portfolios to demonstrate student achievement to parents. Teachers also learned how to use information in portfolios for diagnosis and assessment. "Before we were a schoolwide program, funds were divided into three budgets and there was not enough money in any one to do what we needed," principal Lynette Porteous reported.

think about this. . .

Challenging High School Courses for All Students

At Gompers Secondary School Center for Science, Math, and Computer Technology Magnet in San Diego, California, students with the highest needs take the most challenging classes they can, alongside all other students. This gives every student the chance to participate in seminars and courses that stimulate higher achievement. Up-to-date equipment and resources—including a state-of-the-art computer network with 64 terminals, an eight-inch telescope, and laser/holography apparatus—sustain advanced science, mathematics, and computer courses. Core courses in technology introduce students to robotics, electronics, computer graphics, desktop publishing, and computer-aided drafting and architecture; they also enhance school-to-work transitions. Students with computer and business interests combine them in applied courses. They also can learn digital electronics and several computer languages. Faculty from nearby universities offer college-level courses in advanced mathematics, science, and social studies to give Gompers students the chance to develop their skills in research, experimentation, and the use of technical equipment.

Which funds should be combined in secondary schools?School programs funded by the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act and the School-to-Work Opportunities Act are logical choices to combine with ESEA Title I, Part A funds. These programs share two important qualities with schoolwide programs:

• A goal of ensuring that students at risk of academic failure meet challenging academic standards while preparing for careers and further education at community, technical, or four-year colleges

• An emphasis on accountability, which leads schools to concentrate resources on students' greatest needs. With a schoolwide program, high schools can use the funding sources to strengthen the academic curricula, retrain teachers to integrate academic and vocational instruction, or develop assessments that prepare students for increasingly demanding tests of cognitive achievement—rather than simply to support remedial classes.

All other available federal, local, or state funding can also be included in the combined schoolwide budgets.

What challenges do schoolwide programs in secondary schools face? The first hurdle that schoolwide planners must cross often is the reliance on subject-based instruction that prevails in many secondary schools. This division of staff, teaching, and learning into subject-bound territories does not lend itself to schoolwide, comprehensive improvements.

At Spring Woods High School in Houston, Texas, the schoolwide planners straddled these old boundaries by including two team members from each department on their planning team. This fostered discussion across subject areas and avoided marginalizing any individual or department. The extensive representation also built credibility for the team and the concepts that emerged from planning. As a school support team facilitator explained:

We asked team members to imagine the most inspired high school they'd seen, one where they'd send their own kids. "Think about what happens in that school," we asked. This process has the heart and soul that can be used to turn those dreams to action.... We're not forcing commitment until we've had a chance to examine issues. We will break into separate groups, each facilitated by planning team members, and we'll develop study groups, conduct partner observations and action research, and then—with a solid understanding of what is [now] and what is possible—the team will tie their decisions to the school's accountability goals.

The second challenge for secondary schools is to build and sustain a broad constituency for the schoolwide program. Initially, people may not understand why planning is so important or how to include all departments and the whole school community in decision making. Many principals have to overcome staff skepticism about planning and new reform ideas. "People are not convinced that planning is that important," reports principal Lynette Porteous of Ben Franklin Middle School in San Francisco. "[Some staff or parents] don't feel empowered [enough] to really participate in examining research-based strategies."

think about this. . .

Models for Developing Schoolwide Programs in High Schools

The New American High Schools Initiative can provide ideas for schoolwide planning teams. These are schools where all students are expected to: (1) meet challenging academic standards and develop technical skills; (2) pursue integrated academic and career preparation programs; (3) engage in real-world, hands-on learning and assessment; (4) work in small, highly personalized and safe environments; (5) work with adult mentors, and (6) acquire knowledge about careers and college opportunities.

Although this high school initiative provides excellent ideas for developing schoolwide programs, any secondary institution receiving a Perkins Basic Grant can develop a schoolwide using its Perkins funding. Secondary recipients with an approved local plan may apply Perkins funds to curriculum and professional development, services for special populations, integration of academic and occupational education, and guidance and counseling. Careful planning in the development of a schoolwide program can make the use of Perkins funds an integral part of the program's success.

The following New American High Schools illustrate innovative options for combining resources in schoolwide programs:

• The Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences in Chicago, Illinois, weaves agricultural science into the total school curriculum for 469 students. This school, which has large African American and Latino populations, requires all students to take college preparatory classes that are integrated with agriculture-related technical skills. Students can participate in work-based learning to apply their knowledge and can earn high school and college credits at the same time. The school boasts a 93 percent graduation rate, with 72 percent of students pursuing higher education.

• At Encina High School in Sacramento, California, students study in one of five career-related academies. The school, which enrolls 987 students, serves a diverse population and is a magnet center for English as a Second Language. All freshmen are enrolled in the Freshman Academy, where they choose a career focus for grades 10-12. Sophomores, juniors, and seniors choose from health, graphic arts, business, and career exploration academies where teachers collaborate across grades and subject areas to integrate academic and technical content, work-based learning opportunities, and technology.

• Fenway Middle College High School is a member of the Coalition of Essential Schools and the Middle College High School consortium. A Boston Public Schools pilot program, Fenway serves 250 students. Both students and faculty are associated with one of three houses that have a particular career focus, such as health, pharmacy, or art/museum studies. Teachers collaborate to link curricula across subject areas and career interests. Students must demonstrate critical thinking, academic, and technical skills to graduate and are assessed through performances and portfolios. Fenway has a 95 percent average daily attendance rate, compared with 84 percent for the district overall, and 80 percent of Fenway's graduates pursue higher education, compared with 60 percent of district graduates overall.

• At Miami's William H. Turner Technical Arts High School, students can earn high school diplomas and state career certification simultaneously. The school, which serves 2,157 students, has seven academies, including agri-science, applied business technology, finance, health, industrial technology, public service/television production, and residential construction. Teachers work in teams to integrate both technical and college-preparatory academic content into thematic units. Students apply their developing academic skills in the workplace and through school-based enterprises. The school's 1995-96 dropout rate was 2.7 percent, compared with almost 9 percent districtwide. Seventy-three percent of graduating students enter postsecondary programs.

• The 1,900 students attending David Douglas High School in Portland, Oregon, identify and plan long-term educational and career paths in Project STARS (Students Taking Authentic Routes to Success). Ninth-graders take intensive career exploration classes and college-preparatory academics and, with mentors from the school or community, map out individualized education plans. Juniors and seniors work in one of seven broad career "constellations" that include social and human services; health sciences; business and management; industrial and engineering systems; natural resources; arts and communications; and hospitality, tourism, and recreation. Teachers team across constellations to connect learning to the real world. The school's 1995-96 dropout rate was 6.7 percent; the attendance rate was more than 93 percent.

• Teachers at Sussex Technical High School in Georgetown, Delaware, integrate courses within the school's four occupational clusters, including automotive/diesel mechanics, business technologies, health/human services technologies, and industrial/engineering technologies. Each cluster has a team of technical and academic core teachers who jointly coordinate instruction. Classes are block-scheduled to give students and teachers enough time to delve into hands-on projects. Students in all academies take advanced math and science courses and prepare for higher education as well as careers. To graduate, all seniors complete integrated senior projects. The school serves 1,091 students. Its 1995-96 attendance rate was 95 percent; the dropout rate was less than 2 percent. Graduating students' enrollment in postsecondary education increased from 22 percent in 1994 to 68 percent in 1996.

think about this. . .

Putting the Pieces Together in a High School:
One Principal's Story

The schoolwide program...[enabled us] to establish an extended day tutorial and to turn to university partners. By combining funding sources we could bring our program partners together. The funding streams we combine include Title I, Part A and Title VII grants, several privately funded programs, Carl D. Perkins, School-to-Work, California staff development, and several private foundations. We are also part of California's Academy Partnership and ED's New American High School Project.

The first thing we had to tackle was to bring the community together to try and stabilize our mobility rate. We used a dropout prevention grant and help from Alliance for Excellence; we worked with our feeder schools and turned to the regional social agencies to offer health services, counseling, and one-stop employment assistance right on campus.... [Because of the schoolwide flexibility], we have the ability to make the school a community resource for the student and the whole family, from preschool to adult.

Because our schoolwide program is so strong, we can use the different funds to provide students with internship opportunities. Through the academy partnerships all our students—including IEP and special needs students—get experience working in nearby hospitals, banks, social service organizations, and businesses, extending their learning from theory to a real-world situation.

The big challenge is to balance remediation with the core information and higher-level cognitive experiences students need to keep motivated. By having mixed funds we're able to create a special education center that helps kids [both] within the regular classroom and enables them to work in isolation, depending on their needs. So we're not dividing by remedial and core programs.... We have the flexibility to move from classroom to one-on-one [instruction] and back to the regular classroom without disrupting the sequence of the class assignment.

Tom Gemma, Principal
Encina High School, Sacramento, CA

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[Section II - An Overview of the Schoolwide Planning Process (part 1 of 2)]

[Section III - Planning Schoolwide Program Change]