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School Profile
The Henry Ford Academy (HFA) is a charter high school located in Dearborn, Michigan, that is chartered by the Wayne County Regional Educational Service Agency (RESA). The school's Web site (http://www.hfacademy.org/) describes it as "the nation's first charter school developed jointly by a global corporation, public education, and a world-renowned cultural institution." The global corporation is the Ford Motor Company and the world-renowned cultural institution is the Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield Village. HFA opened in the fall of 1997, and currently enrolls approximately 400 students in grades 9-12 who come primarily from the Detroit and Dearborn school districts. The school's mission is "…dedicated to developing self-initiated learners and critical thinkers who function as responsible citizens in a global community. Through use of best educational practices, responsible innovation, our partners, and other community resources, the Academy will provide a caring, nurturing, and uniquely stimulating educational environment, rich in math, science, and technology." As described by one of its lead administrators, the most important issue that prompted the formation of HFA was "educating students outside the traditional classroom setting using community resources." More specifically, the school views itself as providing students with both real-world experiences and an advanced curriculum, both of which prepare students for life after high school. It does this by offering a small learning environment with challenging academic standards and learning experiences in the community.
The core philosophy of HFA is that "…all students are capable
of educational excellence." This philosophy is operationalized
by "bringing the real world into the classroom" through the
Senior Mastery Process (which involves a 10-week workplace experience)
and high standards for attendance, retention, and academic content.
Student attendance is described as 96%, a figure that indicates to the
school "our students have made the choice to come to school to
learn."
INVOLVED GROUPS AND DECISIONMAKERS Groups that were prominently involved in the planning and development
phases of the Academy 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):
Prominent decisionmakers at HFA in terms of setting its curriculum
include the principal/director, teachers, business/industry/trade/nonprofit
employers, and the school's founding partners (the Ford Motor Company
and Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield Village). These same four stakeholders,
in addition to other high school staff, parents, and students, are described
as influential in terms of the school's policies, organizational direction,
and mission. The governing board at HFA is described as being "influential in all matters including curriculum and instruction," while parents and employers play a number of important roles ranging from governance to curriculum planning and development to providing learning opportunities outside the school. The school also has a number of businesses, postsecondary institutions, and governmental entities, including the Ford Motor Company, the University of Michigan-Dearborn, and the City of Dearborn, with which it has partnerships of some type.
The curriculum at HFA is described as "somewhat different" from that in a traditional public high school, with the most notable difference identified by a lead administrator is as follows: "…Community resources are infused into our curriculum at every level." The curriculum is organized around themes, topics or problems that cross grade levels or age groups, and it is defined "very precisely" for teachers. The primary way in which the curriculum has changed is that it has been made more academically rigorous each year. In terms of goals that result from the curriculum, it is not important for students to be prepared for a particular career, career cluster or occupational cluster, but "very important" that they understand links between academic subjects and adult life in the real world. Instructional methods that form the basis of the HFA curriculum include a variety of practices that de-emphasize the use of workbook exercises and lessons based on textbooks. REAL-WORLD PRACTICESHFA administrators 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 HFA students include the following:
One of the major challenges faced by HFA to date has involved the development
of appropriate measures for assessing student achievement, especially
in math. According to administrators, this challenge is being addressed
through "…intense remediation for the students and professional
development for the staff." Additional challenges described by
administrators include each of the following:
Henry Ford Academy Tel: (313) 982-6200
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