CRESPAR Report #2: The Talent Development High School Early Evidence of Impact on School -- Climate, Attendance, and Student Promotion

Abstract

The first Talent Development High School was established in September 1995 at Patterson High School in Baltimore, Maryland. The model at Patterson, which features career-focused academies for the upper grades, a ninth grade academy with teams of teachers and students, and other key Talent Development components, was designed and developed by the school’s faculty and administration with the participation of Johns Hopkins’ CRESPAR staff as partners. Priorities set for the first year included improvements in school climate, student attendance, and student promotion rates. Early evidence after the first seven months of the 1995–96 school year indicates that, compared to previous years, there is dramatic improvement in overall school climate (student behavior and faculty collegial support), in student attendance, and in expected student promotion rates, especially from ninth grade to tenth grade.