High Expectations Ninth-Grade Academy Extended Class Periods TD Specific Courses Extra Help Career Academies for the Upper Grades Professional Development Teaming Family and Community Involvement Alternative Programs (Twilight School)
Based on the belief that every person has his or her own talents, and committed to developing those talents, Talent Development High Schools does not track students. Instead, it requires basic college preparatory courses for all students over four years. TDHS does provide transition courses and extra help for students who are not prepared for high school work or who struggle along the way (See Below). A ninth-grade academy is a self-contained school-within-a-school with interdisciplinary teacher teams designed to provide ninth-graders a smooth transition to high school and a caring, respectful environment in which to begin their high school careers. The schedule is made up of four classes a day of 80-to 90 minutes each. This allows teachers the time to teach in depth and to use a variety of instructional strategies that meet the needs of different kinds of learners. With this arrangement, students complete a year’s worth of coursework in one semester, allowing them time for extra-help courses if they need them. Ninth, tenth, and eleventh grades in Talent Development High Schools offer courses designed by researchers and curriculum developers for students performing below grade level. Taken in the first semester of these three grades, the Talent Development courses prepare students for the district’s regular academic subjects, which they take during the second semester, In English, the courses are Strategic Reading (9th), Reading and Writing in Your Career (10), and College Prep Reading and Writing (11). The Talent Development mathematics courses are Transition to Advanced Math (9th), Geometry Foundations (10) and Algebra II Foundations (11). In addition, Freshman Seminar is a first-semester ninth-grade course that stresses study skills, goal setting and peer relations. Science courses and lessons in writing and technology use are under development. In addition to these specific courses, the Talent Development model offers after-hours credit recovery programs, an alternative program, called Twilight School, and other summer and weekend activities for making up or catching up. Computer-assisted lab courses in English and mathematics can also be built into the schedule to provide a “triple dose” of these subjects for needy students. Career academies are self-contained small learning communities of 250 to 350 students each for students in grades 10 through 12. There are typically three career academies in a school, depending on its size, each with a career focus in core subjects, as well as elective courses. Examples of such academy theme are: performing arts, communications, math, science and medical, business and technology. Though the career focus certainly does not lock students into a choice for future education and work, it does add relevance to the high school curriculum and appeal to individuals’ interests. Extensive and on-going Professional Development is one of the hallmarks of the model. Not only are there group training sessions and workshops at the beginning, and throughout, the school year; there is also a coaching system that brings assistance into an individual’s classroom on a regular basis. These curriculum coaches are usually veteran teachers on special assignment to work with classroom teachers regularly to help them handle recurring problems, expand the lessons and use the TD strategies to their full potential. Curriculum coaches do not evaluate teachers. Their role is collegial. Working in teams is an important aspect of Talent Development. The ninth-grade academy, for instance, is organized into several teams of four teachers and approximately 100 students each. Upper-grade academies, likewise, have interdisciplinary teams of teachers assigned to a group of students. This allows teachers and students to know one another and respect one another. Students realize that their teachers know them and care about them. Common planning time is another aspect of teaming, so that teachers can not only plan integrated lessons, but also share information about the needs and performance of their students. Talent Development High Schools is also organized into regional teams of facilitators, employed by Johns Hopkins, who visit schools throughout the year, as scheduled by each school or district. These facilitators assist coaches, teachers and administrators with the details of Talent Development and help them meet the challenges of their individual schools. Research show that students achieve more and at higher levels when their families are involved in their schools. Talent Developments encourages such involvement, as well as community partners, especially through the National Network of Partnership Schools, which is also part of the Center for Social Organization of Schools. The network supports schools in forming Action Teams for Partnership, consisting of parents, teachers, administrators and community members, to plan activities and strategies that focus on school goals and school improvement plans. The model includes opportunities outside the typical school day for students who are not succeeding in traditional classrooms or for those with special scheduling needs, such as. teen parents, students who work and students returning from suspension and incarceration. Flex-school, Saturday school and Twilight School are alternative programs operating within the comprehensive high school. The programs take different forms: some meet for three or four hours after school; others meet during the school day, but on a schedule separate from the rest of the school and in a dedicated space. The primary goals are credit completion and recovery for struggling and non-traditional students; the programs often incorporate counseling and social services as well. | 
