Contact for More Information
Topics: Oregon Small Schools Initiative
For more information about OSSI, contact OSSI.
Where Things Stand
Topics: Oregon Small Schools Initiative
Status Update March 2011As the funding for this project came to an end, Oregon Small Schools Initiative has made available two reports evaluating its results.
When
Topics: Oregon Small Schools Initiative
This initiative began in 2003 and ended in 2010. OSSI schools opened in 2004, 2006, and 2007 in 13 districts across Oregon. OSSI coaches worked to help prepare schools for long term sustainability after the Initiative concluded.
Who
Topics: Oregon Small Schools Initiative
E3: Employers for Educational Excellence administered the OSSI project.
OSSI schools
How
Topics: Oregon Small Schools Initiative
OSSI schools have greater numbers of economically disadvantaged students and students of color than those in the state as a whole. In 2008-09, 52% of students at OSSI schools qualified for free or reduced-price lunches versus 37% at non-OSSI high schools. Thirty-five percent of students at OSSI schools were students of color versus 26% at non-OSSI high schools. The initiative provided school and district leaders with planning resources to convert from comprehensive high schools into small schools and to launch new small schools.
Why
Topics: Oregon Small Schools Initiative
Over the past two decades, Oregon students have made significant achievement gains in the lower grades, but improving high school achievement has been particularly challenging. The Manhattan Institute for Policy Research gave Oregon a "lowest-in-the-nation" score for high school graduation (along with 11 other states) because only a third of Oregon students earn a high school diploma in four years.
What
Topics: Oregon Small Schools Initiative
The Oregon Small Schools Initiative was a seven-year, $28 million high school reform effort funded by MMT and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The initiative sought to raise academic standards, close the achievement gap and improve graduation rates through "rigor, relevance and relationships" in autonomous high schools of not more than 400 students.
