Attending a new public high school that promised long hours in the classroom with intense focus on math and science sounded challenging to Alyssa Steed. "It was difficult at first because we are going through the material so much faster than at a regular high school," said Steed, 15, a freshman at Metro High School, which opened last fall on the campus of Ohio State University. "But it became easier once I got the mind-set that I just had to work harder." The school is one of several science and technology academies in Ohio whose success is a key to providing the highly skilled workers needed to help the state's economy, lawmakers and some education reform advocates say.

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