Teaming Up to Create Change:
BASRC and NCRVE Win Grant for Ambitious Improvements to Local Schools

by Mary Carol Randall

High schools in six Bay Area counties now have additional help as they reform theirschools, thanks to a $500,000 grant from the Walter S. Johnson Foundation. The grant, which went into effect this spring, supports staff from The National Center for Research in Vocational Education (NCRVE) to work with the Bay Area School Reform Collaborative (BASRC).

BASRC: Trying to Make the Public School System Work for Every Child

BASRC began as the result of some thoughtful work by a group of foundation, education, business, and community leaders who had a keen sense of the importance and urgency of making the public school system work for every child. This initial working group eventually became known as BASRC; which was awarded $25 million from the Annenberg Foundation and another $25 million from the Hewlett Foundation, in May 1995. This money, which was intended to facilitate school reform in six Bay Area counties over a five-year period, may seem like a staggering sum. However, even $50 million would be far too little to have a significant impact if it were to be spread across all of the 1,200 schools and 740,000 students in the six-county region. Therefore, the Collaborative established three goals to make it possible for the Hewlett-Annenberg funds to have an impact across the entire region. The three steps were: Joining BASRC is a two-step process. Applying for membership does not involve writing a traditional grant application, but rather assembling a portfolio of work already accomplished or underway. Member schools can then go on and apply for funding as "leadership" institutions. Leadership schools are expected to share what they learn with other institutions, as well as participating in: research focused on improving teaching and learning; an annual review process; accountability processes, and decisions about the work activities, priorities and structures of the Collaborative Assembly. Leadership schools may share what they are learning within the district, within the Collaborative, or within a smaller group of schools.

NCRVE: Think Globally, Act Locally

NCRVE, a national organization headquartered in Berkeley, California, has long been interested in helping to connect fragmented reform efforts. NCRVE also has a long history with the nationwide Urban Schools Network, which has helped schools all across the country implement reform. With so many common interests and goals, it made sense for NCRVE to connect with BASRC. Together the two organizations applied for, and won, the grant from the Johnson Foundation. The Johnson grant, which took effect this spring, is making it possible for BASRC and NCRVE to coach selected schools as they work through the reform process, and to document the process and outcomes to share with the Bay Area region. In addition, these schools will work closely with others interested in school-to-career programs.

The following schools are currently at the leadership level in BASRC:

Concord High School, in Concord
Drake High School, in Marin
Homestead High School, in Cupertino
Independence High School, in East San Jose
International Studies Academy, in San Francisco
Irvington High School, in Fremont Liberty High School, near Pittsburg
Oceana High School, in Pacifica Redwood High School, in Corte Madera
Santa Theresa High School, in San Jose

NCRVE is working closely with five of these schools: Independence, Liberty, Concord, Drake, and North Campus. (One has received funding and the other four are in the final review process.) NCRVE has offered on-site weekly coaching, and has the following services "in the works:"

All five schools emphasize learning through a focus on careers. By combining academics, experiential learning, and a focus on work and community activities, school-to-career programs seek to make education more relevant for students and prepare them for a world where learning and work are increasingly intertwined.

Says NCRVE Director David Stern, "Many high schools across the country are working on whole-school change. However, the Bay Area schools receiving funding under this grant are probably the country's leading attempt to use the 'college and career' approach to implement schoolwide change. This project is really pushing the envelope ."

More information is available by contacting Erika Nielsen-Andrew, NCRVE, 2050 Addison Street, Suite 500, Berkeley, CA 94720-1674, (800) (old phone deleted), erikana@uclink.berkeley.edu.

Mary Carol Randall is NCRVE's publications coordinator, and the managing editor for CenterWork. This article was based, in part, upon informational materials from the Bay Area School Reform Collaborative.

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