|
SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM
When all stakeholders in a school system agree on and are committed to a mission and student learning goals, they will support and promote them. People from the school, school district, and community need to share leadership and continually engage in the process of educational improvement. Schools should provide equal opportunity and achieve equitable results for all students—regardless of ethnic group, socioeconomic status, and gender. Building consensus and commitment in setting student goals requires widespread involvement of stakeholders who represent the diverse perspectives and cultures of the community. The school system must ensure that core elements of the learning and teaching process—curriculum, instruction, and assessment—align with one another and with the mission and goals. The mission and student goals should be the prime consideration when human, financial, and other resources are allocated. Data and information about students, the school, and the community are necessary for decisions about the improvement effort. The system must have a structured process to facilitate data collection, analysis, and reporting for decisionmaking. The goal for the school system is to become a high-performing learning community in which students, staff, and stakeholders learn and grow continuously so that all students learn well. A cultural norm is established that supports continuous improvement, including high-quality professional development in research-based practices, so that each student succeeds. PROGRAM COMPONENTSOnward to Excellence IIOnward to Excellence II (OTE II) is a training and technical assistance program to improve school/district/community systems, engaging all stakeholders in efforts to increase student learning related to community-valued goals. Resources To Support School ImprovementPublications support the success of learners of all ages by familiarizing educators, parents, community members, and students with findings of educational research and examples of successful school improvement. School Improvement StudiesTo evaluate and learn from ongoing, long-term school improvement efforts, NWREL conducts impact studies of systemic improvement efforts; develops capacity of others (such as local research teams) to conduct such work; and conducts studies in collaboration with other organizations. Quality Teaching and LearningProducts and services are offered to help educators as they improve curriculum and instruction. Through an inquiry process, teams of teachers examine their practice; determine critical learning experiences to meet standards; apply research and theory on learning and teaching as they design lessons; and assess the impact of their designs on student learning. Re-Engineering Schools, Task 1Strategies, tools, and resources from the program assist schools and school districts to use educational research to reshape rules, roles, and relationships for the purpose of improving student performance. These include a process guide for establishing effective school improvement structures and a synthesis of the research and literature on smaller learning communities. Other products are being developed. National Leadership for Re-Engineering SchoolsLeadership is provided to establish and support collaborative work among orga nizations nationwide to develop, promote, and study efforts to re-engineer schools. MAJOR 2002 ACCOMPLISHMENTSAn article titled "Reforming Education From the Inside-Out: A Study of Community Engagement and Educational Reform in Rural Alaska" was published in the Journal of Research in Rural Education; an agreement was reached with the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) to publish a synthesis of research titled Principals of High Achieving Schools: What Research Says; and the Listening to Student Voices Self-Study Toolkit was included in the Products Catalog of the National Staff Development Council (NSDC). A national conference, Improving Quality and Equity in High Schools Through Smaller Learning Communities, was conducted through a partnership with the Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown, the Consortium for Policy Research in Education, the U.S. Office of Educational Research and Improvement, the National Clearinghouse for Comprehensive School Reform, the Council of Chief State School Officers, and the Houston Independent School District. Training in aligning state and local standards with curriculum and day-to-day teaching and learning has been delivered to many schools and districts with a goal of helping teachers teach to standards every day. Onward to Excellence II was chosen as their school reform model by 22 more schools. Short case studies of OTE II schools with substantial improvements in student achievement have been written and an evaluation is being conducted. Alternative certification for teachers was the focus of work begun in support of states, educational service districts, and universities. NWREL is providing management, organization, and training support to partnerships in Idaho, Washington, and Oregon to increase the number of qualified teachers, particularly in rural areas. Technical assistance was provided to 125 large high schools implementing smaller learning communities to improve student achievement. Regional meetings of key staff, assistance with self-study, and skill-building institutes were among the activities. |
he School Improvement Program builds the capacity of school systems-schools, school districts, and their communities-to work as high-performing learning communities so that all students achieve to high standards.
