Virginias NGA Honor School Symposium

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Virginias NGA Honor School Symposium
Nine Characteristics of Highly Successful High
Schools
Raymond McNulty, Executive Director
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Stop asking me if were almost there! Were
nomads, for crying out loud!
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Keep in Mind . . .

• Class of 2015
• Children Achieving Their Dreams The Children We
  Have.
• Success to Significance

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9 Characteristics of Successful Schools
Dreams of the children we have

• Small Learning Communities
• High Expectations
• 9th Grade
• 12th Grade
• Data
• Curriculum
• Relationships / Reflective Thought
• Professional Development
• Leadership

Class of 2017
Success to Significance
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Characteristics

• Small Learning Communities

2. High Expectations
3. 9th Grade
4. 12th Grade
5. Data
6. Curriculum
7. Relationships / Reflective Thought
8. Professional Development
9. Leadership
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Rigor/Relevance - All
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Schools DoMake aDifference
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Characteristics

• Small Learning Communities

2. High Expectations
3. 9th Grade
4. 12th Grade
5. Data
6. Curriculum
7. Relationships / Reflective Thought
8. Professional Development
9. Leadership
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Characteristics

• Small Learning Communities
• (Actually characteristics of small)

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Characteristics

• Small Learning Communities

• 2. High Expectations
• Especially in Literacy

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African American and Latino 17 Year Olds Read at
Same Levels as White 13 Year Olds
Source Source NAEP 1999 Long Term Trends
Summary Tables (online)
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2005 NAEP READING RESULTS
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Characteristics

• Small Learning Communities

2. High Expectations
3. 9th Grade
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Characteristics

• Small Learning Communities

2. High Expectations
3. 9th Grade
4. 12th Grade
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What does it take to graduate?
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Characteristics

• Small Learning Communities

2. High Expectations
3. 9th Grade
4. 12th Grade
5. Data
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Data

• Clear unwavering focus on curriculum priorities,
  essential, nice to know and not necessary.
• To support the direction you are going.
• Guide instruction.

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• Achievement Declines as Students Move through
  Education System
• U.S. student achievement declines relative to
  that of international counterparts in the upper
  grades

U.S. Student Relative Performance out of 41
Countries Taking TIMSS (1999)



Science

Math




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In the last 30 years, jobs have been
redistributed employment share and earnings have
shrunk for high school drop outs

• Until the 1970s the United States economic
  dominance rested on a solid agricultural and
  manufacturing base where workers with high school
  or less could provide a comfortable living for
  their families
• Today, ideas rather than natural resources
  comprise an increasing share in GDP growth

1973
Employment share Earnings
32 25,900
40 32,000
9 51,000
12 40,000
7 57,700
High school drop outs
High school graduates
Some college, no degree
Associate degree
Bachelors degree
Graduate degree
2001
18 35,800
10 37,100
9 20,700
31 29,600
21 52,600
11 68,200
Employment share Earnings
Source Autor, Levy, Murnane, 2003 Carnavale
(ETS), 2003
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Characteristics

• Small Learning Communities

2. High Expectations
3. 9th Grade
4. 12th Grade
5. Data
6. Curriculum
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Curriculum

• The National Education Association addressed this
  issue by appointing a Committee of Ten in 1892 to
  establish a standard curriculum.
• The goal of high school was to prepare all
  students to do well in life, contributing to
  their own well-being and society's good, and to
  prepare some students for college.

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What does it take to graduate?
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To Deliver 21st Century Skills Content The
Common Core

• Ready for Work
• Youth Employment Outcomes

Ready for College Academic Outcomes
21st Century Skills Content Information
Media Literacy Communication Critical Systems
Thinking Problem Solving Creativity, Intellectual
Curiosity Interpersonal Skills Self-Direction Acco
untability and Adaptability Social
Responsibility Financial Literacy Global
Awareness Civic Literacy
Specific Vocational Knowledge Skills
Subject Matter Knowledge
Community partners are calling for and
contributing to the development of broader skills
and knowledge.
Cultural, Physical Behavioral Health Knowledge
Skills
Ready for Life Youth Development Outcomes
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Rigor/Relevance Framework
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Knowledge Taxonomy

• 1. Awareness
• 2. Comprehension
• 3. Application
• 4. Analysis
• 5. Synthesis
• 6. Evaluation

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Application Model

• 1. Knowledge in one discipline
• 2. Application within discipline
• 3. Application across disciplines
• 4. Application to real-world predictable
  situations
• 5. Application to real-world unpredictable
  situations

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Rigor/Relevance Framework
Knowledge
Application
1
2
3
4
5
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Levels
Blooms
C D A B
6
5
4
3
2
1 2 3 4 5
1
Application
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Rigor/Relevance Framework
Teacher/Student Roles
KNOWLEDGE
D
C
Student Think
Student Think Work
B
A
Teacher Work
Student Work
A P P L I C A T I O N
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Characteristics

• Small Learning Communities

2. High Expectations
3. 9th Grade
4. 12th Grade
5. Data
6. Curriculum
7. Relationships / Reflective Thought
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You cant teach kids you dont know.
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Characteristics

• Small Learning Communities

2. High Expectations
3. 9th Grade
4. 12th Grade
5. Data
6. Curriculum
7. Relationships / Reflective Thought
8. Professional Development
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THINK ABOUT IT..

• Profession that eats its young.
• Focus on school and system wide work.
• Learning speed of the slowest many , not the
  fastest few.

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TEACHER VIDEO
Tchr.mov
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Characteristics

• Small Learning Communities

2. High Expectations
3. 9th Grade
4. 12th Grade
5. Data
6. Curriculum
7. Relationships / Reflective Thought

• Professional Development
• Leadership

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Culture

• Create a culture that embraces the belief that
  all students need a rigorous and relevant
  curriculum and all children can learn.
• But theres more to this..

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• the traditional boundaries between the public
  school systems responsibilities and those of
  other community agencies are themselves part of
  the educational problem the strategy opens new
  options for education, asking
• How can this community use all its assets to
  provide the best education for all our children?
• Hill et al., It Takes a City, 2000

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Blurring the Lines for Learning

• The question isnt whether learning opportunities
  outside of the traditional classroom and school
  day help students prepare for and engage in life,
  work, and further learning.The question is why
  these opportunities are considered beyond or even
  peripheral to school reform.

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The Facts

• Critical learning can and does happen outside of
  schools for every kind of student.
• Not all students who need to learn are in school
  (nationally,32 do not graduate).
• Those in school are frequently not absorbed in
  learning because teachers have not had to master
  the art of creating youth-centered learning
  environments.

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Structured, voluntary programs get and keep
students attention
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• The point is that high-yield learning
  environments can be found or created in school
  and out

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Culture

• Create a culture that embraces the belief that
  each and every student needs a rigorous and
  relevant curriculum and each and every child can
  learn.
• Anytime. Anywhere

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The Invisible Difference
Passion
Commitment
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THE OTHER SIDE OF THE DOOR On the other side of
the door I can be a different me, As smart and as
brave and as funny or strong As a person could
want to be. There's nothing too hard for me to
do, There's no place I can't explore Because
everything could happen On the other side of the
door   On the other side of the door I don't have
to go alone. If you come, too, we can sail tall
ships And fly where the wind has flown. And
wherever we go, it is almost sure We'll find what
we're looking for Because everything could
happen On the other side of the door. Jeff
Moss
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9 Characteristics of Successful Schools
Dreams of the children we have

• Small Learning Communities
• High Expectations
• 9th Grade
• 12th Grade
• Data
• Curriculum
• Relationships / Reflective Thought
• Professional Development
• Leadership

Class of 2017
Success to Significance
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Virginias NGA Honor School Symposium
Nine Characteristics of Highly Successful High
Schools
Raymond McNulty, Executive Director