ity of its students fail to meet proficiency levels in the core academic
areas of mathematics and English
language arts.
The Ar ts at
First Intervention
In 2002, Hope was identified as a
school that for three years or more
failed to improve student results,
which led to an intervention by
the Rhode Island Department
of Education. The school was
reorganized into three thematic,
small learning communities
(Arts, Information Technology,
and Leadership) within the build-
ing and was charged to
develop
plans for
site-based
manage-
ment.
Second
Intervention
In 2005, the Commissioner made an even
This is the
first of a series
of occasional
reports about
the opportunities and
challenges facing Hope
High School, an urban
public high school in
Providence, Rhode Island,
which is in the process of
enormous change. It presents a story
of a high school reform initiative in
which the arts are cast as a central
element in a journey of renewal.
A number of things make this
particular high school’s story compelling: ( 1.) the school’s reform
efforts were mandated by the State’s
Commissioner of Elementary and
Secondary Education. ( 2.) The arts
in this school have been identified as “the thread that binds the
content areas,” despite the fact
that Providence Public Schools has
recently seen a drastic reduction in
Reform at Hope High
Paul Sproll
arts programming in its schools. ( 3.)
parents and community partners are
recognized as being fully integrated
into decision-making.
A cluster of private schools,
Brown University, and the Rhode
Island School of Design (RISD) surround Hope High School in Providence’s most affluent neighborhood.
However, Hope contrasts greatly
with its immediate neighbors.
The student body is overwhelmingly composed of underprivelaged
minorities. The school’s record of
academic performance in statewide
assessments shows that the major-
more dramatic intervention in the
school; it retained its three small
learning communities, but with
three new principals. A “Special
Master” was also appointed as the
Commissioner’s representative in
the school. The corrective action
plan is structured within four nonnegotiable areas:
• three small learning communities
• personalization of learning
• professionalism of practice
• active parents/community partners
It has been a year since the last
intervention, and what has been
