Making Work of Art, Part 3
BLAZING ACADEMIC TRAILS

Musician Brian Rose teaches Hallie Williamson about the technical aspects of sound design. Photo by Samantha Moores.

The academy's innovative approach to education doesn't stop with the arts. Take Dr. James Winchell's integrated English-Humanities classes. His mixed-ages classes examine the history of human expression in all its forms-philosophy, literature, and fine arts -as well as the things that shape it-revolution, religion, science, industry, and so forth. With years of university teaching under his belt, including five years at Stanford, Winchell, 48, brings a tough reading list and high expectations to his classes. Rigorous discussions challenge students to think for themselves, articulate their opinions, and defend them. He wants his students to become "conceptual virtuosos," able to apply their knowledge to universal themes and historical significance instead of just downloading important dates or names of Renaissance painters.

"Educators-Howard Gardner first among them-are finding that kids are really good at filling in the blanks and really good at assessing problems that have been precompartmentalized. They are not so good at thinking of solutions 'outside the lines,'" says Winchell. "They need critical-thinking skills because, in life, questions don't come to you in a list of three alternatives from which you choose one. If the students don't get challenged to generate ideas, they aren't going to be able to face many challenges."

Student-generated assessments are the foundation of the academy's proficiency-based curricular structure. Instead of receiving letter grades or percentile rankings, students progress through sequential courses at their own pace, according to demonstrated knowledge and skills. Age and grade level are immaterial. Although all students must meet the same proficiencies, they can demonstrate their knowledge in unique ways. The school assesses students not just through state-required standardized tests, but also through student-driven projects, technological competence, and audio, video, or written work samples.

A proficiency-based approach is also the idea behind Oregon's Certificate of Initial Mastery and Certificate of Advanced Mastery. According to Folberg, "People at the Oregon Department of Education have been very supportive of what we are doing and very helpful. This whole state is supposedly moving toward proficiency-based education, and nobody really knows what that is going to look like manifested in a real building with real kids and real teachers."

If The Northwest Academy comes pretty close to the school Folberg dreamed of building all those years ago, there is one aspect she would like to change. Always looking forward, Folberg hopes that one day the school can operate in the public sector, where it would be more accessible to economically disadvantaged students. This is one of the reasons arts electives are open to part-time students from other schools. Two students are on full scholarship right now and several more receive partial awards, based on merit. Folberg's focus in the next few years will be bringing in grants for scholarships.

"We have a wonderful public school system in this state, and I'm a tried-and-true public school person, philosophically," Folberg stresses. "If we could run this school just as we run it-doing the same innovative things that we do, hiring the same kinds of people that we do-in the public sector, I would do it in a heartbeat."

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