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Carnegie Corporation: Rethinking school design to meet demands of new standards

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carnegieThe Carnegie Corporation of New York has committed $15 million to “catalyze district-based new school design work” that will focus on individualized learning.

To support this effort, they have also recently published a report, Opportunity by Design: New High School Models for Student Success. This report calls for a focus on how schools use teaching, time, technology, money, and other resources to bring all students to the much higher levels of achievement necessary to meet the demands of Common Core State Standards and, eventually, Next Generation Science Standards.

The report analyzes the impact of the daunting preparation shortfall many students face as they enter high school and argues that without a radical change in how school districts support high school design, it will be difficult for all students to graduate ready for college and career. As the new standards, which are designed to be “fewer, clearer, and higher” than existing state standards, are implemented, schools must hold all students to a significantly more challenging bar for graduation, while supporting and motivating students who may be further behind.

“Implementing the Common Core State Standards provides both a challenge and an opportunity to address the long-term problem of achieving both excellence and equity in public education,” said Michele Cahill, Vice President, National Program, and Program Director, Urban Education at Carnegie Corporation. “Taking on this challenge can be truly transformative if states and districts focus on the design of schools. We have enough knowledge, from both research and practical experience, about the conditions needed to enable teachers and students to reach the levels of achievement envisioned by the Common Core standards.  Especially for our high schools, it is urgent that we act on what we know and redesign for success.”

The report calls for schools to take an integrated and comprehensive approach to rethinking how resources are used to both meet students where they are and accelerate their learning to develop the necessary skills for college and career. In the face of the Common Core, the report says individual interventions such as adjusting curriculum, strengthening teacher preparation and professional development, or increasing quality learning time are important, but in isolation are not likely to produce strong enough outcomes to help all students meet the standards.

However, the report points out that there is evidence that it is possible to, at some scale, to raise standards and increase student achievement simultaneously through a comprehensive school design effort. Citing examples like the New York City Small Schools of Choice reforms and the expansion of North Carolina’s early college high schools, the authors argue that a focus on school design enables districts to reach a higher bar for all students.

“Schools are the place where the Common Core will provide transformative opportunity for American students,” said Leah J. Hamilton, Program Director, Urban Education at Carnegie Corporation and co-author of the report with Anne Mackinnon. “Powerful school designs can enable students to pursue individualized pathways towards college and career readiness while ensuring a focus on equity and quality for every student. Now is the time to build on successful efforts, while integrating new tools that can do even more to empower great teaching and accelerate student success.”

The report is a call to action for the field to create a concentration of effort around school design. It defines 10 design principles that reflect the research base in youth development and academic best practices, capture the input of successful educators, and explore the potential of emerging tools. These principles, when used in a design process that assesses student and district needs, should help produce a number of school models that can help all students grow to meet the challenge of the Common Core.

Carnegie Corporation of New York has committed $15 million in this first year to catalyze district-based new school design work, using the 10 design principles in the report as a starting point. In January, the Corporation also announced a grant to launch Springpoint, a new national school design institute that will catalyze this work and provide support to districts. Partnering with Springpoint, Carnegie Corporation will source a first cohort of select districts to participate in a school design development and launch process.

For the 10 Design Principles, see http://carnegie.org/fileadmin/Media/Programs/Opportunity_by_design/Carnegie_DesignPrinciples_a.pdf

To access the full report, see http://carnegie.org/programs/urban-and-higher-education/new-designs-innovation-in-classroom-school-college-and-system-design/opportunity-by-design-new-high-school-models-for-student-success/

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9 Model Ohio schools: Principals and Teachers are crucial to success

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Too often do we in the field of education policy end up discussing only the negatives: red tape, too little funding, changed programs, poor communication, lack of support, etc. In recent years, principals and teachers have often borne the brunt of the criticism, although research into successful schools consistently shows that good principals and teachers are doing the work each day that is necessary to create successful schools and students. A recent report, “Failure is not an Option,” from Public Agenda suggests some salient characteristics of successful schools, regardless of grade level or location.

Each of the nine schools was in the high-poverty and high-achieving bracket and faced such additional difficulties as tight budgets, sub-optimal parent participation, and ill preparation. So, in order to discern more about the reasons for success at these schools, Public Agenda asked the following questions of principals, teachers, students, and parents:

  • How do they define the keys to success?
  • What are some specific strategies and decisions that may contribute to their success?
  • How do they sustain success?
  • What helps them weather tough times?

Public Agenda found the following positive commonalities among the schools:

  1. Principals lead with a strong and clear vision for their school, engage staff in problem solving and decision making, and never lose sight of their school’s goals and outcomes.
  2. Teachers and administrators are dedicated to their school’s success and committed to making a difference in their students’ lives.
  3. School leaders provide genuine opportunities and incentives for teachers to collaborate and share best practices.
  4. Teachers regard student data as clarifying and helpful. They use it to inform instruction.
  5. Principals and teachers have high expectations for all students and reject any excuses for academic failure.
  6. School leaders and teachers set high expectations for school discipline and student behavior.
  7. Schools offer students nontraditional incentives for academic success and good behavior.
  8. Students feel valued, loved and challenged. They are confident that their teachers will help them succeed and be at their side if they hit a rough patch.
  9. Principals and teachers do not see the lack of parent and community support as an insurmountable barrier to student achievement and learning.
  10. School leaders and teachers seek continuous improvement for both their practices and student achievement. Today’s success is tomorrow’s starting point.
  11. Each school has its own story of change and improvement, yet some commonalities exist.

Finally, Public Agenda sought to find what could be done to sustain success:

  • Plan for smooth principal transitions. Change is inevitable.
  • Engage teachers.
  • When hiring, make sure incoming teachers endorse the school’s vision and practices.
  • Leverage a great reputation.
  • Celebrate success.

The fact that one of the recommendations specifically mentions hiring is crucial; if it is so clear that good principals and teachers lead to successful schools, then that means that hiring good people takes a front seat in considerations of how to improve schools.

For an overview of the report and a link to the full report, please visit: http://www.publicagenda.org/pages/failure-is-not-an-option

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TNTP Releases “Teacher Talent Toolbox”

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TNTP has released its newest resource—the Teacher Talent Toolbox.  The Toolbox “is a repository of successful strategies and practical resources that schools, districts, and networks can draw on to create effective human capital policies, with the aim of creating sustained, scalable models for effective instruction.”  It is essentially an open-source library of resources that focus on recruiting, hiring, and retaining a highly effective teaching staff.

Tailored to the needs of schools serving high-poverty communities, the tools address six critical areas:

1. Recruitment & Hiring
2. Evaluation
3. Retaining High Performers
4. Performance Accountability
5. Teacher Development
6. Building a Professional Culture

Each area contains a presentation detailing the importance of the topic and best practices from around the country.  There are also embedded tools and examples as you proceed through the presentation.  For example, in Recruitment & Hiring, there are over 30 separate resources, tools, or case studies embedded or attached, such as Louisiana’s DOE candidate screening interview questions and YES Prep’s New Teacher Induction Program overview.

The Teacher Development section focuses almost exclusively on how to use observations (formal, informal, peer, administrator, etc.) for meaningful improvement of teaching practice.  Resources from the Sci Academy, North Star Academy, West Denver Prep, the Indiana DOE, and others are included to give administrators and district leaders models from which to build.

Overall, the Toolbox is a highly valuable resource for educators at all levels, as well as district and state leaders seeking to make fundamental changes in managing teacher talent.  To access the Toolbox, please visit www.tntp.org/toolbox

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Public Impact Seeks Five Sites to Extend the Reach of Excellent Teachers

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Public Impact has launched the implementation phase of its effort to bring excellent teachers to every classroom.  In this phase, the organization seeks to identify five “model” sites that can be used to extend the reach of these teachers beyond their own classrooms.  Seeking to create what it calls an “Opportunity Culture,” Public Impact wants to redesign teachers’ roles using new technologies to broadcast excellent teachers to more students, for more pay, but within existing state budgets.

Public Impact has posted over 20 brief models on their website that schools can use to tailor “reach extension” designs.  The models were developed in cooperation with teachers and education experts, along with Public Impact’s Opportunity Culture Advisory Team.  Each reach extension project must:

1. Reach more children successfully with excellent teachers. Teachers whose reach is extended are (and stay) in the top 25 percent based on student growth; other measures may supplement but not replace growth.

2. Pay excellent teachers more for reaching more children successfully, in approximate proportion to increased student reach.

3. Achieve permanent financial sustainability within budgets from per-pupil funding.

a. Changes are budget-neutral or positive (after planning/start-up costs).
b. Implementation is funded with usual, not temporary, sources. Costs funded with extra funds may include major facility changes, technology purchases, and consulting fees (and/or temporary change organizers on staff).

4. Include roles for other educators that enable solid performers both to learn from excellent peers and contribute to excellent outcomes for children.

5. Identify the adult who is accountable for each student’s outcomes, and clarify what people, technology, and other resources (s)he is empowered to choose and manage.

Public Impact has several characteristics it is looking for in potential model sites, but is specifically focused on a deep commitment to the project by educational leaders:

1. Leaders have already implemented a teacher evaluation system that includes individual teachers’ student growth. Top 20 to 25 percent teachers can be identified in all subjects in which excellent teachers’ reach will be extended.

2. Leaders make a “3X for All” commitment: to reach every child successfully with teaching as good as today’s top quartile in target subjects. Implementation may begin with prototype sites, but with the intention of implementing system-wide.

3. Superintendent/CEO commits to the initiative principles.

4. Board commits to the initiative principles.

5. Superintendent/CEO assigns a person to be fully accountable for implementation.

6. Principals in involved schools commit to initiative principles in writing.

Consultants can help, but school leaders must drive implementation and communicate with staff and parents.

To learn more, please visit http://www.opportunityculture.org

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NYC’s iZone

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Want to see some incredible models for true educational reform? New York City’s iZone is one to watch.

The iZone school designs are characterized by five core principles:
–Performance assessment & mastery-based grading
–Personalized learning plans
–Multiple learning modalities (e.g., a combination of independent student work, small group instruction, one-on-one instruction, student collaborative activities, online instruction)
–New staff and student roles
–Globally competitive standards

iZone schools fundamentally change their structures and employ cutting-edge technologies to support student needs.  The new designs employ technology to tailor teaching to meet the needs of individual students.

Launched in 2010, the Innovation Zone-iZone for short-is an ambitious program that expects to produce upwards of 100 schools in the next three years. The iZone schools are being asked to “reinvent” themselves by fully individualizing student learning in order to achieve student mastery of subject material, not just “basic skill proficiency.”

Now it’s easy to learn more about this exciting ititiative. New York City’s iZone is the focus of a new working paper from the Center on Reinventing Public Education (CRPE) at the University of Washington Bothell. Based on interviews and school visits in New York City, the report looks at the goals and challenges of the young initiative.

The report is available at http://www.crpe.org/cs/crpe/download/csr_files/WorkingPaper_2011_1.pdf
 
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