High Schools That Work is the largest and oldest of the Southern Regional Education Board’s school improvement initiatives for high school and middle grades leaders and teachers. More than 1,200 HSTW sites in 32 states are using the framework of HSTW Goals and Key Practices to raise student achievement.

The other SREB school improvement initiatives are:

• Making Middle Grades Work
• HSTW / CSR
• Project Lead the Way
• HSTW/Urban Initiative
• Learning-Centered  Leadership Program

All of these initiatives are joined in their goal to prepare students for careers and further education by improving curriculum and instruction in high schools and middle grades. SREB and an initial group of state partners launched High Schools That Work in 1987. Through the years, the work has taken on new dimensions as needs have arisen in the areas of middle grades education, transition from middle grades to high school, raising performance in low-performing and urban high schools, and raising standards in career/technical education. Recently, SREB received funding to work with states and institutions of higher education to improve the preparation of new and emerging school leaders.

Key Practices for Accelerating Student Achievement

1. Setting higher expectations and getting career-bound students to meet them.
2. Increasing access to challenging vocational and technical studies with a major emphasis on using high-level mathematics, science, language arts, and problem-solving skills in the context of modern workplace practices and in preparation for continued learning.
3. Increasing access to academic studies that teach the essential concepts from the college preparatory curriculum through functional and applied strategies that enable students to see the relationship between course content and future roles they envision for themselves.
4. Having students complete a challenging program of study with an upgraded academic core and a concentration area. An upgraded academic core includes at least four years of college preparatory English and three years each of mathematics and science with at least two years in each area equivalent in content to courses offered in the college preparatory program. The concentration area includes at least four Carnegie units in a career or academic focus and two Carnegie units in related technical core courses.
5. Providing students access to a structured system of work-based and high-status school-based learning (high school and postsecondary) collaboratively planned by educators, employers, and workers and resulting in an industry-recognized credential and employment.
6. Having an organizational structure and schedule enabling academic and vocational teachers to have the time to plan and provide integrated instruction aimed at teaching high-status academic and technical content.
7. Having each student actively engaged in the learning process.
8. Involving each student and his/her parent(s) in a career guidance and individualized advising system aimed at ensuring the completion of an accelerated program of study with a career or academic focus.
9. Providing a structured system of extra help to enable career-bound students to successfully complete an accelerated program of study that includes high-level academic content and a concentration area.
10. Using student assessment and program evaluation data to continuously improve curriculum, instruction, school climate, organization, and management to advance student learning.