about the project

Rethinking High School is a series that examines successful high schools nationwide and provides analyses of high school reforms in action.

The series is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and produced by the Innovation Studies program at WestEd.

The initial Rethinking High Schools study, conducted in 2004, analyzed outcome data and profiled five innovative and successful high schools funded by the Gates Foundation. The thoughtful and analytic approach of this study inspired the Foundation to commission more studies.

Since the initial study, Innovation Studies produced three additional reports in this series that highlight schools focused on keeping students in school and preparing all students to be college ready.

In 2008, Innovation Studies released a report highlighting success-prone schools and their approach to teaching mathematics.