Everyone knows the education buzzwords: middle school reform, high school restructuring, curriculum guidelines, data-driven decision-making and, of course, “raising expectations.”
But what do they mean in practice? How does high school restructuring take place? How do administrators and teachers lift expectations ? day in and day out?
These are some of the questions roughly two dozen teams from local schools have been trying to solve with selected national experts since December. Tuesday and Wednesday, leaders from 13 of the high schools ? Arundel, Gaithersburg, Glen Burnie, Joppatowne, Meade, Milford Mill, North County, Parkville, Pikesville, Potomac, Randallstown, Seneca Valley and Woodlawn ? met in Timonium with their “content coaches,” as the experts from the Southern Regional Education Board are called, to focus on specific areas each school wanted to improve. The Schools That Work Institute offers programs in four areas ? From Data to Instruction, Creating a Culture of High Expectations, Implementing Smaller Learning Communities and SLC?s: From Structure to Action, From Action to Success.
Assistant Principal George Roberts said Woodlawn High has focused on creating high expectations. They?ve been working with Heather Boggs Sass, a nationally recognized staff development leader, to do this ? as it says in the program ? through “aligning written, taught, and graded curriculum through common course syllabi.”
For example, groups of 100 to 120 students at Woodlawn have been grouped with the same team of four core subject teachers, on the same floor, in the same vicinity, so the students can build better relationships with instructors ? a key to success, especially for low-income students, said Lynn Gilli of the Maryland State Department of Education. In turn, teachers develop similar criteria in terms of grading, homework and other classroom activity.
“Also, the parents know who to communicate with,” Roberts said. “They love it.”
Roberts added that in student surveys, the children like the system as well.
“What we?re trying to do is set the same expectation that all kids can succeed,” Sass said. “And we?re looking at the kids who struggle. Kids who do well, typically, know how to be successful, so we want to be clear in understanding howwe were going to support the kids who are failing.”
Support might include extra time after class or school with a student, or allowing students to redo assignments, Sass said.
“It makes the effort of students worthwhile,” Sass said. “And it?s practical. In life, at work, we often need to redo things until our boss is happy. It doesn?t allow students to quit, either, just because they failed the first time.”
