The results of our needs assessment have led us to plan, develop, and implement a number of new instructional strategies and program designs for the coming year. The nature of our student body, either former dropouts or newly arrived immigrants, dictates that we constantly refine our program to meet the ever growing needs of our students. Thus in the coming year our program will be enriched by a strengthened orientation process, so that from the very first encounter a student has with the program, he or she will be better equipped to succeed with us. A strong study skills component will be added to orientation and more parent involvement will be required from the very beginning of a student's entry into our program. This will be piloted in at least one of our six sites next year. Our goal with this initiative is to make our students more "education ready" so that they are less likely to dropout again and more likely to achieve a high school diploma with us.

Since many of our students come to us so ill prepared to succeed on a high school level and with a legacy of failure in their previous high school experience we have decided to create a "Rite of Passage" curriculum. This will not only equip them with the study skills needed to succeed but will also challenge them to rededicate themselves to taking ownership of their education. Although the course is being piloted next year it is our goal to make it a requirement for all new students.

We have designed a special education program which maximizes the inclusion of special education students in regular education classes. All special education students are placed in mainstream classes. These students, along with the regular education students, are provided with the services of a support teacher who assists them all in mastering submatter in all classes. Our goal is to build in enough support so that our special education students can succeed at the same rate as all of our students.

Curriculum integration will be a major goal of the program in the coming year. Interdisciplinary initiatives will take three different shapes. In one center, in order to more effectively address the academic deficits of students who have earned fewer than twenty credits, we will create an interdisciplinary' house which will encourage the teachers of these students to develop a thematically' driven interdisciplinary curriculum. Staff development and common planning time will be provided to participating teachers. The goal of this effort is to build student skills to the point where they can succeed in Regents level course.

For our limited English proficiency (LEP) students, we have planned an interdisciplinary ESL program which will incorporate ESL methodologies within subject area curricula. Teachers will incorporate alternative assessments and group projects into the curriculum. In addition, students will participate in thematically interdisciplinary cooperative learning projects. Students will be blocked into one of three levels based on their linguistic ability. Staff development and common planning time will be provided to participating teachers. Our goal with this project is to provide the students with sufficient English skills so that they can cope with college courses taught in English as quickly as possible or be able to function in the English speaking job market.

We also aim to increase the number of LEP students who take mainstream courses. To that end we plan to place a bi-lingual paraprofessional in classes receiving LEP students so that they have the linguistic support necessary to succeed in English speaking classes.

An interdisciplinary English/Social Studies course will be offered to students who have passed all their RCT's in those disciplines. This course will offer an enriched curriculum which will enable teachers, who will be provided with common planning time, to create a course which will give students the challenge of a college level course while in high school. This course will utilize portfolio assessment as part of the process for student evaluation. The goal of this course is to better prepare students for the more challenging requirements of college courses in English and history.

Since our students often come to us after an educational hiatus, they find the RCT Global exam, which tests competency in four terms of material, especially difficult. We spend the coming year reshaping the curriculum so that it more effectively addresses the needs of our students.

As a result of the increased curricular and credit requirements in math we have redesigned our course offerings in mathematics. Thus students who would not be able to master the new math curriculum under normal conditions are being given a second math period so that the same teacher or a member of a two person team will cover the foundations or sequential math curriculum in greater depth.

Although a significant number of our students are able to pass all of the required RCT's and graduate, it is clear that many of them have a great deal of difficulty in coping with the writing requirements of college. To address this issue we have designed a sequential course of study for our English classes which will require that students demonstrate increased mastery of written English before they are passed on to a higher level English class. Our goal with this initiative is to insure that not only can our students pass the required RCT reading and writing tests but also that they are equipped to write on a freshman college level or, if they choose or must work after graduation, perform basic writing tasks in the work place.

Although a significant number of our students enter the workforce upon graduation, they are often not equipped with the skills needed to succeed in that environment. Therefore, we have decided to pilot a career program in which students will be provided with internships where they can practice the work and people skills the' will be learning in interdisciplinary classroom experiences. Staff will need common planning time and individual staff will need to be provided with the time needed to develop linkages with the business world, community based organizations, as well as the time required to monitor student progress in their internships. Our goal with this project is to be equip our students for success in the work place.

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