Education Innovations With Proven Results for Urban High School Students
City Charter High School, Pittsburgh, PA (Established in 2002)
Structural Innovations
- Teachers Teaching the Same Students for 3 or More Years (Looping)
- Post-High School Planning (Internship and Transition for All)
- Adequate/Timely Wellness Center Services for All Students
- Competency-Based Teacher Promotion System
- Student-Faculty 4-Year Advisory Program
- Full Inclusion of 95-98% of All Special Education Students
- 1-to-1 Computing With Technology Infused Across the Curriculum
- Year-Round Calendar (13-Week Trimester Based)
- Longer School Day With Common Planning Time for Teachers
- Block Schedule of Classes That are 1 or 2 Hours in Length
- Casual Business Attire Student Dress Code and Professional Staff
Curriculum and Instruction Innovations
- Cultural Literacy Curriculum Integrates Social Studies and Language Arts
- Information Literacy Curriculum Graduation Project (4 Yr.)
- Career Curriculum (3 Yr.) With 130-Hr. Internship Graduation Requirement
- Scientific Literacy (4yr. Math and Science)
- Financial Literacy Curriculum (3yr.)
- Two Teaching Professionals in Most Classes/No Substitutes
- Technology Curriculum Based on Industry Standards
- Emerging Tech Ed. Career Pathways
- “C” Grade Is Passing With Equitable Supports, Not the Old “D”
- Improving as a Culturally Responsive and Equitable School Environment
Results/Education Outcomes for Students
- City High is the highest performing open enrollment high schools in Pittsburgh (65-70% low-income students, 52% African American Students).
- #1 School Performance Profile (SPP) Score Out of All Pittsburgh Public High Schools, Charter Schools, and Cyber Schools
- 14th SPP Out of All Allegheny County Public School and Pittsburgh Public Schools, and All Charters Schools and Cyber Schools—PA Dept. of Education
- 91.5% of CCHS students qualify to receive The Pittsburgh Promise Scholarship.
- 99% of the Class of 2018 completed an internship of 130+ hours in their career field of interest with a grade of C or above. 94% of internship hosts were Very or Extremely Satisfied with the performance of their City High intern.
- Graduates from the Class of 2018 left City High to enter the workplace or higher education with an average of 2.4 software certifications for Microsoft and Adobe productivity tools, valuable real world.
- The most recent official state graduation statistics, for the Class of 2017, show that City High’s graduation rate of 95.9% significantly exceeds that of the Pittsburgh Public Schools and the state as a whole. For African American and Special Education Students, City High’s graduation rate is a full 20% higher.
- Among CCHS graduates from 2012-2017 who enrolled in 4-year colleges, 73% have either received degrees or on track to graduate.
- 92% of City High parents give the school an overall grade of A or B, compared with 67% of public school parents nationally. 59% give CCHS an A, compared with just 26% of parents nationally.
- City High students experience effective instructional practices correlated with achievement growth at levels at or above the top quartile of classrooms nationally. For example, 95% of City High students agree that “Teachers want us to explain our answers- why we think what we think,” 12 percentage points above the national benchmark.
- 90% of parents, 88% of faculty, and 70% of students rated the student experience as Mostly or Completely in line with our core values, climate ratings that are at or above 10-year highs for all groups.
- City High students report equitable treatment based on race, gender, and identity at levels significantly higher than the national average.
