Minnesota’s Lighthouse High Schools

1. Minnesota’s Lighthouse High Schools Connecting Action and Research

2. Building the Foundation: Data retreats

3. Building the Foundation: Data retreats Taskforce

4. Building the Foundation: Data Retreats Taskforce Breaking Ranks

5. Foundational Pieces: Data Retreats Taskforce Breaking Ranks Newmann Framework

6. A Unifying Framework for School Improvement Based on the research of Fred Newmann The key is to integrate cultural and structural conditions to focus on intellectual quality and professional community in a sustained way. • Cultural Conditions • Primary concern for the intellectual quality of student learning • Commitment to high expectations for all students, regardless of individual differences • Support for innovation, debate, inquiry, & seeking new professional knowledge • Ethos of caring, sharing, & mutual help among staff, & between staff & students, based on respect, trust, & shared power relations among staff • Strong, mutually influential relationship between the school & the parents & community (Fullan). • School Capacity • Teachers’ Individual • Knowledge, Skills • & Dispositions • Professional Community • Program Coherence • Technical Resources • Principal Leadership • Professional development is more • likely to enhance capacity when it • addresses several aspects of • capacity instead of focusing only • on teachers’ knowledge, skills • & dispositions. Instructional Quality Instruction & Assessment Student Achievement • School Structures • Policies & Programs (e.g., homework policy, prof. development program, length of school day & class periods, etc.) that provide— • Sustained time for instruction, planning, staff development, & student advising • Interdependent work structures for staff, esp. teaching teams & committees for schoolwide decision making • School autonomy from regulatory constraints • Small size for school & instructional units • State & district level policies and programs also affect school level structures (Fullan). • Teachers’ Individual Knowledge, Skills & Dispositions • Staff are competent in instruction & assessment which is centered on curriculum appropriate for their particular students • Staff hold high expectations for all students’ learning • Professional Community • Clear shared goals for student learning • Collective & collaborative responsibility among staff • Reflective professional inquiry among staff • Opportunities for staff to influence school’s activities & policies Program Coherence Programs for student & staff learning are coordinated, focused on clear learning goals, & sustained over a period of time. Technical Resources High quality standards & assessments, curriculum, books & other instructional materials, lab equipment, computers, adequate workspace, remodeled physical facilities, etc. • Principal Leadership • Principal is very influential in life of the school & is a critical force in the school’s capacity. • Principal has primary legal authority to positively affect each aspect of school capacity. • Sources • Fullan, M., Rolheiser, C., Mascall, B. & K. Edge (2001). Accomplishing large-scale reform: A tri-level proposition. Retrieved from http://sustainability2002.terc.edu/invoke.cfm/page/70/show/print. • Newmann, F. et al (2000). Professional development that addresses school capacity. Paper presented at the American Education Research Association annual meeting, New Orleans. • Newmann, F. & Associates (1996). Authentic achievement: Restructuring schools for intellectual quality. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. B. Aune, MDE 6/16/05

7. Broad Goals: • Build SEA capacity to facilitate high school redesign • Support systemic high school redesign through action research

8. Finding the Schools: • Site leadership team • Data collection and analysis • School improvement plan development and refinement • Evaluation of grant activities • Public reporting of results

9. Building SEA Capacity • Facilitators partnered with school teams • Periodic training and work sessions • Site visits and team retreats

10. Working with Data: • From reporting outcomes to documenting implementation • From sharing practice to sharing knowledge