What we saw/heard that we liked:
· To change the school they had to change:
o Structure
o Instruction
o Culture
o Their planning process was quick. They didn’t try to figure everything out and do it perfect. They planned quick
· Strong leadership matters
· It begins with vision and beliefs
o ALL kids can learn, every kid can learn how to think and communicate
o Equity is not equality
o Expect all kids to behave well
o Buy-in by staff
o Buy-in by the community
· Equity is important
o Equity is not equality.
o Equity means giving kids what they need, not giving the same thing to everyone.
o You’re not going to be able to change the lives of at risk children unless we change the way adults work. Its not about us, its about kids.
· Master Scheduling is the key
o 4x4 blocks, taught every other day, but students stay with the same teachers all year long, except for electives/PE
o All students take the same DMD electives in grades 9, 10, 11, and 12.
o Make the master schedule based on student need with class names and slots held for common prep times for teams. Then figure out who’s going to teach each class.
o MS is the principals vision for the school, it defines your philosophy. You can’t hand that over to VPs or Counselors.
o It tells people what’s important.
o Here at DMD, they put extra resources into 9th grade English. They have classes with 15 students and 2 teachers if those students need it. At the same time, there are some 11th and 12th graders in classes of 35.
o Set up technology and elective classes to support what happens in core
· Project Based Learning
o 1 project per semester rather than project after project after project the way New Tech and High Tech High does it
o School-wide projects rather than individual projects expect senior year where they do individual projects
o Projects work like the “Apprentice” where they have a client that has to approve their project.
· It has to be data driven, based on student needs
· Money
o How people spend money reflects what they believe is important.
o “I don’t spend money on new furniture for my office because that’s not what’s important.”
o Pay teachers for their time. “If I ask them to work longer hours, I pay them.”
· Teaches matter most in getting kids to learn
o The teachers at this school make it happen. The principal wants to make them happy because she wants them to stay.
o “I don’t ask my teachers to do extra work without paying them.”
· “Winning Solves All Problems”
o The principal is able to some things differently because her school is posting record achievement gains.
What we need to keep in mind for Project SUCCEED:
· San Diego High School split into 6 small schools, with six separate principals. They had an IB program and kept that as one of the new High Schools. They also created an ESL school…..in other words, they had one school for the gifted, one for the low achievers and 4 in the middle.
· You have to be visionary about the future and think 3 years ahead and also be in the here and now and focus on today.