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SHOWS WHY
HIGH SCHOOL ISNT ENOUGH
BY RANA FOROOHAR/CHICAGO
LEARNING EXERCISE
Chicagos Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy,
which offers a six-year education
S
sarah e. goode is the name of one of
the first African-American women ever
to be granted a U.S. patent, in 1885, for a
foldout bed that converted into a deska
prescient object that would fit right into a
modern-day Ikea catalog. Its also the name
of a new high school on Chicagos South
Side that is redefining what it means to be
educated in the 21stcentury.
Kids at the school, which launched a
year and a half ago, arent called students
but innovators. They receive a hardcore
focus on STEM skills (thats science, technology, engineering and math). And they
take six years to graduate instead of the
traditional four; the extra two years means
they walk away with an associates degree
on top of their high school diploma.
Theres one more thing they take with
them: a job. Every student at Sarah E.
Goode STEM Academy graduates with a
promise of a $40,000-plus opportunity at
IBM, the schools corporate partner and a
key developer of the curriculum. A place
in this school, which rises gleaming and
new in a neighborhood littered with dingy
bail-bond shops, check-cashing places and
fast-food joints, is very likely a ticket to the
middle class.
Stanley Litow, IBMs vice president of
corporate citizenship and corporate affairs, helped start this school and seven
others like it in New York and Chicago.
With 29 more such academies set to open
in two states over the next two years, hes
part of a mission to do nothing less than
reinvent American secondary education.
Litow launches into an orientation speech
for ninth-grade students as if he were talking to a valued client, thanking the kids
for choosing Sarah E. Goode. He tells them
that IBM has a big stake in their success
as does President Obama, who for two
years running has heralded such schools
as a model for the nation in his State of the
24
NEW VIEW
Vilma Smith, a 10th-grader at Sarah E. Goode,
dreams of studying screenwriting at UCLA
LEARNING TO EARN
S C H O OL S OLUT I ON
Seattle
T O M E E T TH E D EM AN D S O F AN EC O N O M Y
T H AT P RIZ ES C O M PU T ER AN D T EC H N I C AL
SKIL L S, T H E U . S . N EED S M O R E W O R K ER S
W IT H A P O S T S EC O N D ARY ED U C AT I O N
3.2%
BACHELORS
DEGREE
AND HIGHER
S.D.
ORE.
WHOS JOBLESS
IDAHO
SOME COLLEGE
OR ASSOCIATES
DEGREE
9.6%
16%
12%
BACHELORS
DEGREE
OR HIGHER
SOME
COLLEGE
40%
HIGH
SCHOOL
GRADUATE
32%
1973
35%
30%
24%
LESS
THAN HIGH
SCHOOL
VT.
LESS THAN
HIGH SCHOOL
DIPLOMA
UTAH
MICH.
San
Francisco
GLOBAL
COMPETITION
The U.S.
ranks 12th
of 35
countries in
high school
graduation
rates
among
25-to-34year-olds
Percentage
who
graduated,
2011
12%
2020*
98%
COLO.
KANS.
St. Louis
RUSSIA
92%
CANADA
89%
U.S.
87%
GERMANY
ALASKA
MISS.
LA.
Atlanta
ALA.
N.C.
S.C.
HAWAII
$3.5
CONN. R.I.
DOCTORATE
Miami
NATIONAL ACADEMY
FOUNDATION (NAF)
SCHOOLS
EARLY-COLLEGE
HIGH SCHOOL
(ECHS)
P-TECH
SCHOOLS
Students
simultaneously earn a
high school degree
and college credit,
which not only
reduces college costs
but also ups
graduation rates.
The three
programs are
collectively in about
100 schools between
the New York City
and Washington
metro areas
$2.8
MASTERS
$2.4
BACHELORS
(four-year)
$1.8
FLA.
600
$4.2
PROFESSIONAL+
MASS.
GA.
Houston
110
N.J.
MD.
ARK.
Dallas
N.Y.
DEL.
VA.
TENN.
N.M.
TEXAS
D.C.
W.VA.
OKLA.
Los Angeles
PA.
OHIO
KY.
CALIF.
IN MILLIONS
Columbus
S. KOREA
94%
Buffalo
MO.
Las
Vegas
MAP OF CHANGE
IND.
ILL.
Denver
Estimated
lifetime
earnings by
educational
achievement
N.H.
Milwaukee
NEB.
NEV.
MAINE
WIS.
MINN.
IOWA
6.0%
Eight P-Tech
schools are in
operation today.
Five of them are
in Chicago
WYO.
ARIZ.
N.D.
MONT.
WASH.
THE PAYOFF
ECHS
serves 80,000
students in more
than 280
schools
ASSOCIATES
(two-year)
More than
400 schools
across the country
20% in Florida
participate in NAF
programs
$1.4
$1.6
SOME
COLLEGE
HIGH SCHOOL
DIPLOMA
$0.9
LESS THAN
HIGH
SCHOOL
*Does not add to 100% due to rounding
+ Such as M.D. and J.D.
Sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics; Georgetown
University; U.S. Census; OECD; Jobs for the Future; IBM;
National Academy Foundation
NEXT STEPS
WHY IT WORKS
2
The skills: Employers help
craft the curriculum so
graduates are ready for
goodjobs
3
The payoff: A promise of a
job at graduation