University High Academy and Indiana University School of Education

Angelique LeVell, Academic Dean of University High Academy
Chris Sowar, Instructional Coach at University High Academy
Ted Collins, English Teacher at University High Academy
Tardy Uberlhor, English Teacher at University High Academy
Bob Lyon, Math Teacher at University High Academy
Kate Hughes, Inclusion Math Teacher at University High Academy
Connie Johnston, Math Teacher at University High Academy
Gretchen Wagner, Science Teacher at University High Academy
Georgeann Niarchos, Inclusion English Teacher at University High Academy
Joshua Smith, IU School of Education, Indianapolis
James Damico, IU School of Education, Bloomington
Jacqueline Blackwell, IU School of Education, Indianapolis
Kathleen Allspaw, IU School of Education, Indianapolis
Deborah Keller, IU School of Education, Indianapolis
Larry Mikulecky, IU School of Education, Bloomington

The University High Academy was created with the objective of providing students with twenty-first century skills and opportunities that previously had been unavailable to them. The University High Academy-Indiana University School of Education collaboration has focused on understanding the conditions affecting student achievement and identifying opportunities to align and modify current programs designed to address goals articulated in the School Improvement Plan. Faculty from IU School of Education at Indianapolis and Bloomington have participated in weekly professional learning communities, listening to the perspectives of teachers and establishing trusting relationships necessary to work together on a successful initiative.

In this project, a team will coordinate and supplement the current initiatives to deal with chronic absenteeism, give students a reason to come to school, and increase the amount of time students spend engaged in content literacy and numeracy. The Pathways collaborative combines the expert knowledge of high school teachers with university resources such as learning materials, curriculum support, mentoring and tutoring, and professional development in order to meet the three Pathways Initiative Goals to (a) increase student achievement and graduation rates, (b) increase participation in STEM, and (c) increase enrollments at IU or other colleges/universities.