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Background
In 2003 Seattle Public Schools was awarded a
grant from the U.S. Department of Education to work with four large
high schools (Franklin, Nathan Hale, Roosevelt and West Seattle) to
help them create small learning communities. The main goal of the
work is to create whole school change that will transform teacher
practice and increase student achievement. In order to realize this
goal, school communities (administration, teachers, students,
parents and community) must collaborate in new ways, using data,
knowledge of best practices and research to refine the
organizational, structural, and cultural processes of the school to
align with the desired outcomes.
Since the original
grant was awarded, Seattle Public Schools has embraced the idea of
creating Small Learning Communities in all comprehensive high
schools. This commitment has been documented in the Five Year Plan,
High School Master Plan and Academic Actions. There are a number of
structures and strategies that can be employed to create Small
Learning Communities, and there is widespread acknowledgement that
unless personalization and improved teacher practice are at the
forefront of these reforms, they will have minimal impact on
student achievement.
Small Learning Communities - What they
are.
- Small groups of
students, often together for at least half of the school
day
- Teams of teachers who share the same students
so that they can collaborate and better meet the instructional
needs of all students
- Rigorous, relevant curriculum that engages
students in their learning so that intrinsic motivation and
academic achievement increase
- A culture of continuous improvement that allows
teachers to reflect on their practice and examine student work to
determine if desired outcomes are being met
- Authentic personal relationships between and
among students and teachers
- Heterogeneous groups of
students
- Flexible structures that allow for innovation
in practice
- Family outreach and school-family
partnerships
- A community that shares accountability for the
success of all members
- A community driven by a common
vision.
Small Learning Communities - What they
are not.
- Groups of students
who are placed, based on pre-requisites or testing, into a
specialized program (i.e. ELL, credit retrieval, special ed,
etc.)
- Groups of students that inadvertently end up
with the same classes because of scheduling of similar choices
(i.e. art or music electives, AP classes, etc.)
- Blocking of two classes together within a six
period day (i.e. Language Arts/Social Studies,
Math/Science)
Small
learning communities - what a school looks like when it has
them?
Schools typically employ multiple strategies
within the building to gain maximum personalization of the learning
environment.
Examples of
structures
- Academies (typically
thematic)
- Houses (typically general studies - either
across or by grade level)
- Career Clusters
Examples of school-wide
strategies
- Incoming student
orientation programs
- Looping (A group of students and teachers
staying together for two or more years.)
- Alternative Scheduling
- Advisories
- Community Based Learning
Examples of classroom
practices
- Integrated
curriculum
- Performance based assessment
- Project based learning
- Differentiated instruction
- Active inquiry
Each school determines the set of structures,
strategies, and practices that it believes will have the greatest
positive impact on its student population. Rigorous SLC
implementation often leads to a need for increased autonomy in
scheduling, resource allocation and staffing. |
