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Florida Association of District School Superintendents

Task Force on High School Reform
Position Paper

The Florida Association of District School Superintendents has been proactive in recognizing the need for reform in our high schools to ensure success for every high school student. High school reform must incorporate not only graduating students with marketable skills to make a living and to contribute to the United States economy, but also to prepare educated citizens for our democratic way of life who can pursue their goals and dreams.

We recognize that high school reform must be system-wide and relate to preparation in elementary and middle school and to the successful student transition from elementary to middle and from middle to high. We subscribe to the fact that in order for high school reform to succeed it requires long-term support from high-level leaders, intensive technical assistance and, importantly, adequate resources.

FADSS welcomes engagement with federal and state policy makers to partner in efforts to set goals and develop an action plan for redesigning and upgrading high schools for the 21st century. Our FADSS Task Force on High School Reform strongly encourages the formation of a statewide Blue Ribbon Commission on High School Reform that would be charged with providing recommendations to the 2006 Florida Legislature.

A significant component of the work of the FADSS Task Force has focused on researching high school reform projects that have identified and demonstrated best practices for high school redesign. Three such reform efforts form the basis for the direction of the FADSS position on the underlying goals for effective high school reform. Central to FADSS position on high school reform is Dr. William Daggett's leadership in the International Center for Educational Leadership in Education, Successful Practice Network's eight major best practices. They are as follows: 1) Focus instruction around small learning communities, commonly academies, 2) High expectations for students with emphasis on literacy across the curriculum, 3) Use of data daily for instructional decisions of individual students, 4) Commitments of resources to ninth grade students, 5) Rigorous and relevant twelfth grade, 6) Quality instruction with focus on rigor, relevance, relationships and reflective thought, 7) Dedicated collaborative instructional leadership, and 8) Sustained and supported professional development.


The highly regarded Southern Regional Education Board research, High Schools that Work, highlights the following best practices of a network of 1,000 high schools in 31 states: 1) Small Learning Communities, 2) Academic rigor for all students, 3) Career concentration, and 4) Academic Support.

Another key reform project is the National Association of Secondary School Principals' Breaking Ranks II Promising Practices Recommendations. These recommendations focus on:

  1. Collaborative leadership/professional learning communities linked to content,
  2. Knowledge and instructional strategies,
  3. Personalizing the school environment to teaching and learning for all, and
  4. Curriculum, instruction, and assessment making connections to real life.

There are significant challenges and barriers to redesigning Florida high schools. Systemic high school reform will necessitate managing complex change, which initially will require developing an awareness of the why for the need to change and then true support for change from school administrators and teachers. The structure of high schools has not changed for 50 years and that model is no longer effective in serving our students and communities. According to Rick Dufour, “The most promising strategy for sustained, substantiated school improvement is building the capacity of school personnel to function as a professional learning community. The path to change in the classroom lies within and through professional learning communities.”

Time and resources for professional development is critical to the success of changing high schools, as is basing redesign on a model plan incorporating successful best practices. Bill Daggett has written that, “One key lesson we have learned is that districts and schools need a coherent and sustained plan of action and technical assistance if they are going to be successful in moving all students to higher performance levels.”

FADSS recommendations addressing Florida high school reform are as follows:

  • Strongly support the formation of a statewide Blue Ribbon Commission to prepare recommendations on Florida high school reform for consideration by the 2006 Legislature.
  • Integrate the state reading initiative into high school reform initiative, with an emphasis on reading in the content area.
  • Provide Legislative and Department of Education funding support for faculty professional development on best practices of high school reform, with consideration for adding professional development days to the school year calendar.
  • Encourage state to identify master list of effective strategies for high school redesign providing flexibility for high schools to select from identified strategies, rather than mandate strategies to be implemented.
  • Promote state support for the provision of ongoing technical assistance to school districts and schools through allocation of funds targeted for supporting teacher reform leaders, using expert consultants in planning and implementation and by building a capacity of trainers throughout the state.
  • Development of a regional Florida series of model high school best practice sharing sessions which highlight successful redesign efforts.
  • Address the importance of career and technical education as significant offerings for high school courses.
  • Consideration of state funding for lengthening the school year and/or the school day for students in order to increase instructional time.
  • Attention to initiatives for parent engagement in supporting and participating in their child's education.
  • Review and examine the Florida League of Middle Schools Position Statement on middle school reform, as well as studies on middle school student achievement best practices, with a focus on 6-12 secondary reform.