Comprehensive Reform for Urban High Schools: A Talent Development Approach

This book offers an alternative to current reform efforts, the Talent Development approach, detailing organizational, curricular, and instructional strategies that provide practitioners with a blueprint for whole school reform. The book presents the story of what happened in urban high schools when this approach was implemented. There are eight chapters in three parts. Part 1, "What Must (and Can) be Done: Restructuring Urban High Schools," includes: (1) "Introduction: The Challenge"; and (2) "The Talent Development Response." Part 2, "Whole-School High School Restructuring in Baltimore," includes: (3) "Context and Planning for Reform"; and (4) "'This is a Real School Now': Effects of Talent Development Reforms at Patterson High School." Part 3, "Challenges to Creating Talent Development High Schools," includes: (5) "The Devil's in the Details: Lessons Learned from Implementing Talent Development High School Reforms"; (6) "The Story Continues: Early Scale-Up Efforts in Baltimore and Philadelphia"; (7) "Lessons Applied: Replicating and Extending the Talent Development High School Model in Philadelphia"; and (8) "Hope for the Future of Comprehensive High School Reform."