ASCD Conference on Teaching and Learning, October 2007

Session 2206T and 2307T: What Leaders Can Do to Redesign High Schools to Educate All Youth.

Presented by:   Joe DiMartino, President, Center for Secondary School Redesign

This two-hour program will assist leaders to begin to change high schools to become more personalized so that students are prepared to meet the needs of the 21^st Century. The interactive session is designed to introduce school leaders to numerous ways in which high schools can be redesigned to meet the needs of all students.  Through examining how change occurred in a number of other settings, participants will gain a vision of innovative instructional practices to include group activities, project- and problem-based learning, reflective writing, integrated curricular units, senior projects, exhibitions, and portfolios as strategies to engage all students in the classroom. Participants will see how high schools can be more attentive to individual students through the implementation of advisory programs, personal learning plans, and student-led conferences. They will also learn how to involve students in the community and bring community members into the schools as a strategy to help students connect learning to real world experiences.  School leaders will consider the possibilities for their schools through video presentations of truly exemplary high schools have been able to allow all their students to demonstrate remarkable achievement.

                Participants will be exposed to an overview of current innovations in classroom instruction, self-directed learning, and community-connected learning for all high-school-aged youth.  And, they will reflect on the need to provide instructional experiences that are different from the norm in high schools.  Through the ASCD video, High School At Work, participants will observe some practices being used in high schools that vary instruction to meet the needs of students.

Link to PDF of conference brochure

CSSR to administer Smaller Learning Communities Grant Writing Workshops this spring                                                        (link to flyer)

The Center for Secondary School Redesign, in partnership with NASSP and the UCLA School Management Program is excited to announce the 2007 SLC Grant Writing Workshop Series.  The FREE day long workshops will take place sometime in May in Providence, RI; Reston, VA; and the campus of UCLA.  Each workshop will provide participants with information about the U.S. Department of Education RFP for SLC grants, including an analysis of the RFP to completely understand all key elements.  Our educational and grant writing experts on hand will work with you to develop a more effective strategy towards grant writing, and ways that Breaking Ranks can be used as a vehicle to implementing the objectives of the SLC grant. In 2006 25% of the districts that attended one or more of our SLC grant writing workshops wrote successful grants, which is much higher than the national pool!

We encourage any district grant writer, principal, or superintendent who wants to gain a thorough understanding of the RFP, and successful strategies for responding to the RFP attend one or more of the workshops.  There is no charge for attendance or materials.  Participants are responsible to cover their own travel costs and parking fees.  Lunch and refreshments will be provided. 

As soon as the RFP is released this Spring we will then move forward with announcing specific workshop dates and times.  Please direct all inquiries to Jay Midwood, V.P. of Communications for CSSR, or Joe DiMartino, President of CSSR.  Both can be reached via e-mail at jaymidwood@cssr.us or joedimartino@cssr.us.
 

CSSR Serves as Site Coordinator for New England Chapter of EPFP

The Education Policy Fellowship Program (EPFP), a program of the Institute for Educational Leadership (IEL), is a fast growing collaborative, currently at 12 state sites, that focuses on individual professional growth and development, leadership skill refinement, network building, and
organizational improvement and change. EPFP identifies and engages a diverse range of current and prospective education, foundation, and business leaders to:

• Gain access to the people processes and systems that shape educational policy on behalf of  
  children and youth
• Develop and refine their leadership voice
• Understand, identify and expand their power
• Join a state and national network of diverse policymakers, decision makers, and practitioners

Participants use their work settings as the context for examining important leadership and policy issues in their states and in the nation.

This is a ten-month, in-service leadership program that brings together diverse leaders (Fellows) and provides them with a forum for understanding and discussing policy formation and issues. CSSR will be one of the new site coordinators for a program that encompasses RI, ME, NH, and VT. Identification and sign-up of sponsors and fellows will commence in March of '07. Anyone interested in participating should call Bill Bryan, CSSR VP for Strategic Planning and Development (billbryan@cssr.us 401-965-8345).
 

January 28, 2007

CSSR supporting Anne Arundel County (MD) High School
Redesign efforts

Urging the audience of 350 educators, students, parents and community members to think differently about the basic design of their high schools, Joe DiMartino kicked off the Anne Arundel County, Maryland, High School Summit on January 27 at Annapolis High School. “Many have concluded that the American high school is not broken, as some contend, but rather, it’s obsolete,” said DiMartino, president of the Center for Secondary School Redesign (CSSR) in West Warwick, Rhode Island.

High schools are out-of-date because the so-called modern high school was designed over a century ago with the introduction of the “Carnegie Unit” as the criteria for earning credit for courses. The Carnegie unit defines learning as 120 hours of classroom instruction over the course of a school year. 

“The world is much different from the one that found classroom hours as an adequate definition of learning,” said DiMartino. “Indeed, a century ago, most students dropped out after completing the fourth grade and went to work in farms and factories. With the current expectation of a rigorous education for all youth, we need to question what aspects of the basic design can remain and what should be changed.”

Quoting from the National Association of Secondary School Principals’ guide, Breaking Ranks: Changing an American Institution, DiMartino stated that “The school of the 21^st century must be much more student-centered and above all much more personalized in programs, support services and intellectual rigor.”

He went on to point out the National High School Alliance identified six core principles that must be addressed if our high schools are to prepare students for college, careers, and active civic participation. These six areas include: personalized learning environments; empowered educators; accountable leaders; academic engagement of all students; engaged community and youth; and an integrated system of high standards, curriculum, instruction, assessment and supports.

CSSR is in the process of facilitating the high school task force for the county, which is charged with submitting a plan for creating high performing Breaking Ranks high schools to the Anne Arundel County Board of Education in June of this year.

CSSR and NASSP Announce Keynote Address Speakers at the Breaking Ranks™ 2007 Urban Secondary School Showcase in Chicago, IL

Participants who attend the Breaking Ranks 2007 Urban Secondary School Showcase in Chicago, IL will hear from two of the nations top experts in secondary school redesign.  On Monday, April 23, 2007 Dr. Michael Klonsky professor of Education at Nova Southeastern University’s Fischler School of Education, and director of the Small Schools Workshop will deliver his keynote address at 9:00am.  On Tuesday, April 24, 2007 Dr. Nancy Doda, professor at National-Louis University, and a highly regarded middle school consultant, will keynote at 8:00am  -

Dr. Michael Klonsky Professor of Education at Nova Southeastern University's Fischler School of Education, and Director of the Small Schools Workshop located in Chicago, IL

Dr. Nancy Doda Professor at National-Louis University, and National Middle School Education Consultant

NASSP Presents Joe DiMartino with Distinguished Service to Education Award

At the Annual Convention in Reno, Nevada in March, 2006, NASSP presented CSSR President Joe DiMartino with the Distinguished Service to Education Award for his work toward the improvement of education for thousands of secondary school students—especially poor and minority students—throughout the United States. Mr. DiMartino tirelessly pursues opportunities to provide assistance to schools and school leaders who are in the process of improving education for all of their students.

Over the past eight years, he has used the concepts in Breaking Ranks™ to further the personalization of education by developing and delivering workshops and technical assistance to schools and by influencing school accreditation processes to ensure that recommendations from Breaking Ranks are the focus of school improvement.

In 2004, he led the contributions in the writing of Breaking Ranks II™ and provided his expertise to many states as they held summits that focused on high school. For the past three years, he has served as the chair of the National High School Alliance, which brings 43 national organizations together to spotlight high school improvement and strong programs for high-school-age youth throughout the country.

Mr. DiMartino and his team have also worked with NASSP to develop Breaking Ranks in the Middle,™ which focuses on curriculum, instruction and assessment, collaborative leadership, and personalization as the core areas of education for young adolescents.

New Hampshire Department of Education Selects CSSR to Lead Demonstration of Mastery Program

The Center for Secondary School Redesign is providing the New Hampshire
Department of Education with coaching and technical assistance, objective evaluation tools, and articles on their Demonstration of Mastery Program for national publications, developing an archival manual/binder of artifacts of this effort, and creating a High School Competencies and Assessment webpage for inclusion on the Department of Education website.

This work also includes technical assistance in identifying and developing models for local implementation, professional development, and collaborative technical assistance with the High School Task Force. 

CSSR is bringing its knowledge and experience in support of the New Hampshire competency assessment work using products developed with CSSR input (e.g., Breaking Ranks II ™, the NEASC website, and the RIDE website on performance graduation requirements). In support of the groundbreaking efforts taking place throughout the state, CSSR will work with the NHDOE leadership in planning for meetings of the high school network for the successful development and implementation of a course-level, competency assessment framework.