The Baltimore Talent Development High School is a partnership between Johns Hopkins’ Center for Social Organization of Schools (CSOS) and the Baltimore City Public School System. It is an Innovation School within the city system, and follows CSOS’s Talent Development Model. Some of these have their own website, but we will try to give some basics below. Then we will try to answer some questions.

CSOS (link to site)

The Center for Social Organization of Schools (CSOS) was established in 1966 as an educational research and development center at Johns Hopkins University. The Center maintains a staff of full-time, highly productive sociologists, psychologists, social psychologists, and educators who conduct programmatic research to improve the education system, as well as full-time support staff engaged in developing curricula and providing technical assistance to help schools use the Center’s research.

The Talent Development High School Model is a comprehensive reform model for large high schools facing serious problems with student attendance, discipline, achievement scores, and dropout rates. The model includes organizational and management changes to establish a positive school climate; curricular and instructional innovations to prepare all students for high-level courses in math and English; parent and community involvement to encourage college awareness; and professional development to support the recommended reforms.

The new high school represents an exciting opportunity for Talent Development to begin from the beginning. This is the first time the Talent Development model is the structure for a beginning school. Talent Development has been around for ten years, working with existing schools that are focused on turning themselves and their students around.

Innovation Schools

The Innovation Schools are the result of Baltimore City’s Blueprint for High School Reform (http://www.bcps.k12.md.us/About/PDF/blue_print_102901.pdf). The Blueprint called for the breakup of Baltimore’s larger high schools and for the creation of a few Innovation High Schools that could help Baltimore explore the possibilities available to small schools. Baltimore City released a Request for Proposals, calling for education organizations around the country to submit plans for the creation of new small high schools. CSOS’s plan was approved to open BTDHS in September of 2004. There are three other Innovation Schools in Baltimore City operating in Baltimore City and soon there will be more.

 

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