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

Minimum Standard for Seattle DOE, SLC Cohort Schools

(Cohort schools are encouraged to exceed this standard.)