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School Profile
The ISUS Trade & Technology Prep Community School (referred to hereafter as ISUS) is an ungraded charter school located in Dayton, Ohio, that serves approximately 160 students ages 16-21. It opened in the fall of 1999, and is chartered by the Ohio State Board of Education. The acronym ISUS stands for Improved Solutions to Urban Systems, which is a non-profit corporation located in Dayton that is authorized by the state of Ohio to operate six charter schools (only two of which currently exist—one in Dayton and the other in Cincinnati).
The corporation at its inception provided various services to persons
aged 16-21 who were chronic truants, dropouts, or had behavioral problems
or experience with juvenile detention. Its charter schools were founded
as a means of educating young people with problematic academic and personal
histories. The original intent was to work with the Dayton public schools
to meet the needs of these young people. This occurred for nearly eight
years, but the school's leadership grew frustrated with the system and
saw charter schools as a way of continuing their mission. ISUS originally
offered a construction program with students rehabilitating homes in
the central neighborhoods of Dayton and a GED program for those no longer
enrolled in school. Its Dayton charter school opened in 1999 in a Dayton
plumbing warehouse refurbished by enrolled students.
As indicated above, the primary motivation for the establishment of ISUS was to provide an educational alternative and training program for persons ages 16-21 whose experience in traditional public schools had been negative, typically resulting in dropouts. In the words of its lead administrator, the motivating factor was "staggering numbers of at-risk young people and dropouts in the city and the need to create an effective education and training opportunity for them." PHILOSOPHY AND VALUED OUTCOMES The core philosophy and mission of ISUS, according to its administrator, is to help individuals become "transcenders" or "people who rise above the odds." The school provides "…a nurturing and caring educational environment with small classes and individual attention by teachers and life-change counselors." A second component of its mission is "…to prepare students for the workplace with an extended school day and hands-on, worksite experience." As described previously, many ISUS students "…are youth who previously did not attend school regularly because they were truants or dropouts, afraid to attend school, suspended or expelled, or in need of help to be reintegrated into the mainstream schools from juvenile detention and correctional settings." Outcomes that are valued by ISUS include having the majority of students
leave with a high school diploma, a skill, and a conviction that they
can rise above any barriers they may encounter. More specifically, the
school's administrator identified the following valued outcomes for
students:
Groups that were prominently involved in the planning and development
phases of ISUS included the following (note: the program survey did
not investigate how the amount and nature of involvement on the part
of various stakeholders might differ):
Those responsible for influencing curriculum and instruction at ISUS include the principal/director, teachers, business/industry/trade/nonprofit employers, elected officials or staff of government agencies, community advocates, and counselors. Prominent decisionmakers in terms of setting policies and the school's organizational mission and direction include the principal/director, teachers, business/industry/trade/nonprofit employers, and elected officials or staff of government agencies. ISUS's governing board is described as being "influential in all
matters except curriculum and instruction," while parents and employers
play important roles ranging from governance to curriculum planning
and development and providers of learning opportunities outside the
school. The school also has a number of organizations, including the
Rotary Club of Dayton and the Ohio Community Service Council (AmeriCorps),
with which it has partnerships of some type. The emphasis of the ISUS curriculum is described as "high school plus," where plus means college-level technical training in the student's chosen career field (presently construction and computer technology). The curriculum is unique in terms of its organization in that ISUS is a non-graded high school that is a hands-on, active learning environment; administrators describe it as "very different" from that in a traditional public high school. The curriculum is organized around competencies related to a career, job, career pathway or occupational cluster, and it is defined "somewhat precisely" for teachers. It is revised annually, and the school's lead administrator notes that "each year we stop doing anything that doesn't work." In terms of intended goals that result from the curriculum, it is described as "very important" that ISUS students be prepared for a particular career, career cluster, or occupational cluster, and also "very important" that they understand links between academic subjects and adult life in the real world. The most common instructional methods within the ISUS curriculum include student-led debate and discussion, student work in small groups or teams, community projects, hands-on activities and computer simulations, and exhibitions of student work.
Administrators at ISUS state that the school places a "strong
emphasis" on attempts to provide students with real-world learning
opportunities, and note that all of its students are engaged in learning
that is based upon this principle. Specific forms of real-world practices
that are available to ISUS students include the following:
The major challenges encountered by ISUS have involved funding and
facilities. The school's lead administrator notes, "…The (Ohio)
State Department of Education would not provide sufficient financial
support. Other sources had to be identified: public and private sources.
The Board Chair and retired businessman led the effort." Additional
challenges described by administrators include each of the following:
ISUS Trade and Technology Prep School
140 North Keowee Street Dayton, OH 45402
Tel: 937-223-2323
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