What we do

New Tech Network works nationwide with schools, districts, and communities to develop innovative high schools. We help schools fundamentally rethink teaching and learning, empowering students to become the creators, leaders, and producers of tomorrow.

Founded in Napa, California, in 1996, New Tech is made up of 41 schools in nine states serving more than 8,500 students.

How we are different

We provide learning environments centered on a strong culture of trust, respect, and ownership in which students and teachers are all equally responsible for success. New Tech schools graduate collaborative, critical thinkers who are capable of framing and solving the problems that will shape our collective future.

Three key elements set our schools apart and fuel our success:

1. A new instructional approach that engages learners. Project-based learning (PBL) is at the heart of our instructional approach. PBL uses technology and inquiry to engage students with issues and questions that are relevant to their lives. In New Tech classrooms, teachers design rigorous projects tied to state and district standards and customize them to their location and the interests of students. Students then work in teams to acquire and apply knowledge and skills to solve problems.

   New Tech’s approach to PBL fundamentally changes the role of teacher and student. Instead of traditional one-to-many instructors, teachers become facilitators and coaches who guide students to take charge of their own learning, invent their own solutions, and develop self-management techniques. New Tech invests deeply in process through ongoing training and support to ensure all teachers can become effective in this transformative approach to learning.

   Students become active learners and doers who take responsibility to complete projects. They learn to handle long, complex tasks and manage their time. They are assessed on their skill in working in teams and creating products such as presentations, designs, plays, short stories, and prototypes. Students acquire not only subject-matter knowledge, but also the skills they need to thrive in college, career and life.

2. A culture that empowers students and teachers. Trust, respect, and responsibility are the hallmarks of our culture. At New Tech schools, students and teachers alike have exceptional ownership of school administration and the learning experience.

   Students have a level of responsibility similar to what they might experience in a professional work environment. Working on projects and in teams, students become accountable to their peers, taking individual responsibility to get work done. In this trusted, respectful environment, students decide how to allocate their time, team roles, and how to collaborate, and even have a voice in campus leadership and policy. Traditional management tools such as hall passes and class bells are a thing of the past.

   Teachers model a team-based collaborative approach. In addition to helping set school administration and policy, they have flexibility to customize classrooms and projects to meet the needs of their students.

3. Integrated use of technology. Smart use of technology supports our innovative approaches to instruction and culture. All classrooms have a one-to-one computing ratio. With access to Web-enabled computers, every student becomes a self-directed learner who no longer needs to rely primarily on teachers or textbooks for knowledge. A proprietary Web-based system — the PeBL™ Collaborative Learning Environment — unifies students’ learning experiences, enabling them to share projects online, collaborate, and create new knowledge.

   PeBL™ facilitates a process for teachers to transform themselves into project-based coaches. It provides a structure for teachers to confidently manage a new approach to learning, while benefiting from and contributing to a shared resource of best practices.

Powerful results

Since its inception in 1996, Napa New Tech in Napa, California, has had tremendous student success.

• Ninety-eight percent of students graduate and an average of 95 percent of students enroll in post-secondary education, versus an average of less than 40 percent enrolling in post-secondary for other Napa Valley high schools.
• Forty percent of students graduate in science, technology, engineering, and math career paths, compared with 7 percent of high school graduates nationwide.

Results from across the national New Tech network in the 2007-8 school year were equally strong.

• Six New Tech schools in California outperformed comparison schools and/or respective district schools in 9th grade Reading.

• The Student Empowerment Academy at Jefferson High School in Los Angeles, California, had a 120 percent increase in student test scores on the California State Assessment in just one year. The majority of Academy students are first-generation Latinos who are English-language learners.
• Ninety-eight percent of students graduated from New Tech High School in Sacramento, California. This is the highest graduation rate of any high school in the city and one of the highest graduation rates in all of California, particularly for high-poverty schools.
• In North Carolina, seven New Tech schools had proficiency rates above 60 percent on the English 1 exam. Three schools — Anson, CamTech, and Warren — scored rates above 80 percent.
• Three New Tech schools in Texas had Reading pass rates of 90 percent or higher, surpassing comparison schools. Manor New Tech High School in Manor, Texas, was a particular standout, It scored significantly higher than district average on the statewide TAKS test — 14 percent higher in Social Studies, 15 percent higher in Reading/English Language Arts, 21 percent higher in Mathematics, and 26 percent higher in Science. Science scores at Manor rose 23 percent in one school year, from 2007 to 2008.