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Key Elements of Smaller Learning Communities:
Autonomy – Smaller learning communities maintain as much control as reasonable over space, schedule, budget, curriculum, instruction, and personnel.
- Separateness – Students and teachers within each restructured SLC share unique physical and psychological boundaries.
- Flexible Scheduling – SLCs have the ability to alter the schedule in response to student needs or a desire to create varied learning opportunities.
- Support from Stakeholders – The SLCs have secured buy-in and support from all internal and external stakeholders including teachers, students, staff, site-based and district administrators, school boards, and legislatures.
- Shared Leadership and Decision-Making – Decision-making and leadership are shared among all stakeholders; decisions are based upon school data and current research.
Identity – The community of adults and students within each SLC has established goals that drive all decisions and create conditions unique to each SLC.
- Vision/Mission – The community has established goals based on an assessment of students' needs. As a result, each SLC has unique attributes and characteristics, determined by its community, which set it apart from other SLCs.
- Thematic Focus – SLCs are organized around a curricular area, instructional approach, topical area, or any combination of them.
- Self-Selection of Teachers and Students – The identity of each SLC will attract participants based upon their interests. The choices of teachers and students are honored, to the extent possible, while maintaining heterogeneity of groupings.
Personalization – The smaller learning communities implement strategies that take advantage of downsized environments and facilitate all students being known well.
- Student Involvement – SLCs create opportunities for all students to become involved in their communities, taking advantage of co-curricular and extracurricular activities.
- Teacher Involvement – Teachers follow groups of students for multiple years or teams of teachers share common groups of students in order to know students better and create more personalized learning experiences for them. Examples of such strategies include looping, teaming, teacher led advisories, and mentoring activities.
- Parent and Community Involvement – Parents and community members participate in instructional support, governance, and academic enhancement. The SLC leaders work to involve parents in the activities of the SLCs.
Instructional Focus – Each SLC emphasizes the importance of instruction geared toward improved academic achievement for all students.
- Focus on Student Learning – Instruction is geared toward high expectations and improved academic outcomes for students.
- Heterogeneity – SLCs establish heterogeneous groupings of students in order to serve all students equally well.
- Professional Development and Collaboration – Professional development is teacher designed, site specific, and aligned with the needs assessment and goals of the SLCs; time is provided for collaboration.
- Integrated Curriculum/Teaching Teams – Traditional subject area boundaries are permeable, curricula may be organized around thematic foci and aligned across grade levels.
- Large Repertoire of Instructional Strategies – Instruction is research-based and tailored to student interests and needs as well as the goals of the SLC.
Accountability – Students in SLCs demonstrate progress on State, local, and school wide assessments as well as progress toward established SLC goals, both academic and affective.
- Detailed Planning – Each SLC has engaged in a planning process that involves internal and external stakeholders. The plan is amended based upon ongoing needs assessment and evaluation of student progress.
- Multiple Forms of Assessment – SLCs use assessments that reflect personalized learning, where students demonstrate knowledge and skills; they may involve parents and community.
- Thorough Implementation – The SLCs implement as many of the key elements as possible, as quickly as possible, and at least in accordance with the school wide goals, showing progress toward established SLC goals.
- Networking with Other Small Learning Communities – Staff will connect with other SLCs in order to promote continuous progress.
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