If the initiative is fully implemented within five years as planned, students could expect changes including a summer school "jump start" reading program for incoming ninth-graders not reading at grade level and double doses of reading and math where required, but especially in ninth grade.

It could also mean being grouped with other ninth-graders and assigned to a team of teachers who could offer more focused attention and support so no one gets lost as they move from middle school to a bigger high school campus.

Also under consideration are creation of a personalized education plan for every student and a compulsory senior project or paper.

Many schools will even be offering a day or two of freshman orientation they may not have had in the past, to welcome students to their new school and answer their questions.

At schools where some of the changes were tried, student reaction has been positive.

Kimberly Canepa, an 18-year-old senior, said freshman and sophomore houses created as part of small learning communities at Kalani High have provided a powerful sense of bonding for those two classes, and she would like to see that extended to the junior and senior classes.

"You know where you belong," said Canepa. "The kids that I talk to love their houses because they're so together and they talk to the teacher like a friend."

That added closeness to teachers fostered by smaller learning groups is especially important, said Joy Yanazaki, student body president at Kalani.

"Even students who achieve, just to know they're doing well in their teacher's eyes will promote the learning even better," said Yanazaki.

Parents see the benefits, too.

Jeanine Oda said the health career pathway at Farrington High offered her son Kurt, a 16-year-old sophomore, the chance to pursue his interest in medicine, even though the boy had to get a district exception to attend and takes a 50-minute bus ride from his 'Aiea home each morning.

"At his age he's already getting a head-start on his career," said Oda. "Like any other teenager, he hates school. But at least this has a purpose. It keeps him motivated to be in school."

Oda said her son has been exposed to medical terminology and is asking her to buy him flashcards so he can study muscles and cells.

"Some schools are still struggling with the old model of high school education — go to class six periods and go home," said Farrington principal Catherine Payne, who began redesigning her school with career pathways several years ago.

"If we're going to build in career pathways and project-based learning, then we have to change our structure," she said. "And, yes, these things work. Especially for kids who need to know why they're in school and don't have parents at home saying 'You will study.' "

The plan is still being finalized by the principals before it can be submitted to the superintendent of schools for adoption. Costs are estimated at $10,000 per school for the first year of planning, rising to around $100,000 in the second year for teacher training.

The next steps include a workshop to gather input from students and a May principals' meeting to make final changes to the document and discuss funding with representatives of the central office. If things go forward as planned, the first of the changes at some schools could come this summer, while schools that have begun redesign will continue adding on.

The initiative has the support of the central administration and complex-area superintendents.

The Hawai'i High School Leadership Compact reflects the nationwide focus on redesigning middle and secondary schools to reinvigorate America's public education, stem the tide of dropouts and better prepare students for the future.

And the need in Hawai'i clearly is there.

Tenth-graders have struggled on the Hawai'i State Assessment, with 15 percent well below state standards in reading and 27 percent well below state standards in math last year.

About 15 of every 100 entering freshmen never graduate, a rate that has remained much the same for the past few years and closely tracks the national rate.

And the number of Hawai'i students who make it through the K-16 educational pipeline — graduating from college in an appropriate time — is among the bottom four of the 50 states.

A handful of Hawai'i's 47 regular public high schools have served as something of a laboratory for change.

For example, in addition to Kalani, 12 other schools are in various stages of implementing small learning communities under a $5 million federal grant.

In Kailua, Kalaheo High will start ninth-grade houses with team teaching this fall, said Schlosser, the principal.

Farrington established career pathways several years ago and a ninth-grade academy for the most at-risk students this year.

Campbell High, meanwhile, is seeing gains from many of the changes advocated by the principals' redesign plan, some of which have been in place or planned for two years.

Dropout rates have fallen to less than one-third what they were seven years ago, far fewer ninth-graders are having to repeat the year, and reading scores have jumped, said principal Gail Awakuni.

The changes are critical because research has shown students who are retained for one grade level have only a 2 percent chance of graduating, while those retained twice have virtually no chance of graduating.

"We have about 600 to 700 ninth-graders and about half were being retained when I came here five years ago," said Awakuni. That number has dropped to less than 65 in the past two years.

Since the changes were instituted at Campbell, "the teachers work in teams and the students move from one teacher to the next and the team shares the same students," said Awakuni. "It means they have common planning time and can meet and discuss the needs of each student. That's how we try to personalize the instruction. And when they talk about the different needs, they problem-solve together. It's been very good for us."

Parent Renee Cabebe, whose 14-year-old daughter, Chelsea, is just completing ninth grade at Campbell, lauds the changes. She sees more focus in her youngest child compared to her older kids who also went through Campbell.

"The classes are a little bit longer so they spend more time on the subject so they can get into it and focus more," said Cabebe, who has also noticed an extra level of caring in the teachers.

"I'm not saying my other kids didn't get that, but maybe she gets to know the teachers a little bit more," Cabebe said. "I'm not sure what, but there's something there that seems to be working. Times are changing and it's good to see the teaching style is changing along with them."

National consultant Jim Parsley from Washington state has been working with the principals, and so has University of Hawai'i school redesign specialist Gary Griffiths, who will host a two-day workshop soon with about 50 high school students to get their input for what they expect in redesigned high schools.

"Kids need to be connected to the school and they need to feel someone cares about them," said Griffiths. "In a large school setting it can be extremely impersonal. There's nothing worse than a student in a large setting not being connected to anything. That's the height of loneliness."

Ann Mahi, director of DOE's School and Community Leadership Branch, has been assigned to help the principals define the changes they want and begin putting the first pieces in place as early as this summer and fall. However, Mahi expects it will take five years to fully implement the entire initiative.

"This is really a roadmap for all high schools that will include an organizational structure that monitors implementation," she said.

"It's a clear, focused plan on where we're going and what we're doing. Many of the veteran principals are saying 'Finally, I can feel like there's hope,' " she said.

Reach Beverly Creamer at bcreamer@honoluluadvertiser.com.