Dive Brief:
- A recent EWA blog post details the success of USC Hybrid High College Prep, a non-selective charter high school run by the storied institution, which aims to guarantee 100% college admission for all of its graduating seniors every year.
- School officials credit individualized attention from teachers, weekly office hours, and daily advisory periods for the students' success, in addition to a rigorous curriculum and a focus on self-guided thesis study, bringing a higher ed model into the high school classroom.
- The dean of USC's Rossier School of Education also serves as head of Ednovate, Inc., the parent nonprofit group responsible for USC Hybrid High, ensuring close collaboration between the two schools.
Dive Insight:
There is no question that there's a need for greater collaboration between higher education and K-12 schools, and certainly having a university-run primary or secondary school is one way to achieve this end. Not only does such collaboration help to close the preparation gap for students entering into their postsecondary careers — which saves the colleges and the students money in the form of remediation and additional supports to get students prepared for college after they're already there — it helps to build institutional loyalty and provides a definite pool of qualified students from which to recruit.
The Trump administration has made it abundantly clear that funding for charter schools and other alternative school models will be a priority, which could provide an opportunity for institutions of higher education interested in operating a school to secure federal dollars to advance that goal. In comments at the Brookings Institute made Wednesday, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos likened school choice to taking Uber versus a taxi. “Just as the traditional taxi systems revolted against ridesharing, so too does the education establishment feel threatened by the rise of school choice. In both cases, the entrenched status quo has resisted models that empower individuals," she told the crowd.
