The Challenge
When Rudy Ramirez was hired as principal of Indio High School fourteen years ago, he inherited a chaotic school besieged by violence, gang warfare, and frightened teachers who locked themselves in their classrooms during lunch hour. To establish a viable academic climate for learning, Ramirez closed the campus, suspended problematic students, and invoked a zero tolerance policy for drugs and alcohol. Through strict enforcement of school rules and rewards for improved student conduct, Ramirez readily transformed the school into a safe place to learn.

Despite the secure environment, students continued to struggle academically—the overwhelming majority of students left Indio High School with no intention of enrolling in college. To reverse that trend, Ramirez implemented an academic reform program to put students on a college-bound track. "It was imperative to focus on curricula and testing to get our students on the right track," said Ramirez. "I was determined to create a foundation that encouraged all of our students to attend college."

About Indio High School
Indio High School is a Title I school that educates 2,750 students in grades 9–12. The student body comprises 90 percent Hispanic; 13 percent American Indian, Asian, and Filipino; 6 percent Caucasian; and 2 percent African American. More than 90 percent of students qualify for free or reduced-priced lunches.

First Step: Change the Curricula and Create One College Preparatory Track
To launch his academic reform program, Ramirez hired an independent company to evaluate student work samples and compare them with California state standards. The company quickly determined that Indio High School needed curricula upgrades to better prepare students for state mandated tests and future college studies. Based on their assessment, Ramirez gathered math, language arts, and social studies teachers to work together to select uniform college preparatory curricula aligned with state standards. 

Once the teachers were on board with curricula, instruction, and assessment protocols, Ramirez transformed Indio High School from a two-track school that prepared students to graduate from high school or go on to college, to a one-track, college preparatory school. For example, prior to Ramirez's tenure, Indio High School freshmen had the option of taking general math or pre-Algebra. With Ramirez's academic reform program, freshmen were only given the more challenging choice of Algebra I or Geometry. Indio High School math teachers initiated meetings with feeder middle school math teachers twice a year to support higher expectations of students. They discussed challenges middle school students were facing, brainstormed possible solutions, and coordinated textbook curriculum to promote a smooth transition into high school math. As a result, Indio High School's incoming freshmen students were better prepared and more confident in their studies. Indio High School language arts and social studies teachers followed the same guidelines as their math counterparts to help students excel in a more academically demanding culture.

Second Step: Test Preparation Strategies
To help students showcase their new understanding of core subjects and overcome testing anxiety, Indio High School brought in more consultants to review various test-taking strategies and methods of teaching students how to take standardized exams. For the past three years, consultants have closely monitored students' progress and provided valuable feedback to help boost confidence in students' testing abilities. School wide, the second period was extended by fifteen minutes every day to allow students the opportunity to practice test taking and keep them engaged in the learning process.

Additionally, an extra period class for English language learners (ELL) was added to help them pass the California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE). While the implementation helped Indio High School meet its overall adequate yearly progress (AYP) goals, the ELL subgroup's scores were still lagging. To further improve ELL students' performance, Ramirez launched a pilot program to give every tenth grader a pre-CAHSEE exam. If a student scored below 70 percent, they were placed in a comprehensive sixty-day pre-CAHSEE program to improve their scores.

Results
By streamlining the academic program into a college preparatory track with rigor, addressing testing issues, and raising the bar for students, Indio High School has made significant progress, including:

• seventy-five percent of Indio High School graduates continue their education at community or four-year colleges, up from just 23 percent
• a 128-point increase in AYP scores
• ELL students doubled their CAHSEE exam scores—34 percent are now proficient, up from 17 percent one year ago. Based on their rapid gains, Ramirez plans on expanding the pilot pre-CHASEE program to include all students in need of intervention.

Conclusion
Utilizing a multifaceted approach, Rudy Ramirez has systematically transformed a once-ailing high school into one that promotes higher learning. "We're always discovering new ways to do things differently and more effectively," said Ramirez. "Our goal is for Indio High School to provide an avenue for our students to go on to college and to pursue their dreams."