The chapters are written by veteran educators who have worked in these innovative schools, and illustrate how the Call to Action principles provide practical examples for developing personalized learning plans, student portfolios and student-led conferences; creating professional learning communities for teachers; and implementing authentic assessments that empower students to demonstrate what they know and are able to do far beyond high-stakes standardized tests.

Many of the chapters include vignettes written by students who have benefited from the innovative practices at the schools they have attended, providing testimony for the power of engaging students to take responsibility for their own learning. The Personalized High School is a powerful resource for teachers, administrators, district and state education officials, and community members to use in their journey to high school reform.

Please visit the Jossey-Bass website to order the new book!
 

The CSSR team has supported and provided training for the development of their advisory program over the past three years.  Thanks to the dedication of the Breaking Ranks team and the advisory leadership team, the program has thrived.

CSSR has provided support around school readiness,  change leadership and creating a peer supported professional conversation initiative in addition to advisory.  The first two years of CSSR support helped GRB be taken on the list of Schools in Need of Improvement in New York State.  

This year, to further support academic achievement of all students, district leadership asked CSSR to provide guidance to these teams for the development of student-led conferences for the entire school.   

Link to - “Listen to what Assistant Superintendent, Betsy Connors has to say about the student led conferences at GRB.”

 

Join Joe DiMartino’s ASCD
Edge Networking Community 

ASCD has expanded its Internet presence with the recent addition to its site of ASCD Edge, a professional networking community for educators.  Joe DiMartino would like you to join him in an on-line exchange of ideas through the newly created group on ASCD Edge, Secondary School Educators. This group's aim is to further discussion among educators.  We invite you to join in and bring your ideas, publications, insights, and any other information you can add to support secondary school redesign and personalized learning.

Respectively, Joe DiMartino and Bill Bryan present on Personalizing Learning that Supports 21^st Century Standards and Turnaround Principals in Action.

Click here for more information.

Breaking Ranks™ 2010 Secondary School Showcase
In Conjunction with
NASSP’s 2010 Annual Convention & Exposition
March 12–14, 2010; Phoenix, Arizona

Reston, VA – June 23, 2009 – The National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) and The Center for Secondary School Redesign (CSSR) are proud to announce the selected secondary schools scheduled to present at the Breaking Ranks 2010 Secondary School Showcase as part of NASSP’s 2010 Annual Convention & Exposition March 12–14, 2010 in Phoenix, Arizona.  NASSP and CSSR are excited to collaborate for a second time in offering this unique and highly informative national showcase featuring school leaders, teachers, and students from the nation’s top middle and high schools….

Read the full press release here.

For links to all 18 school websites, please click here.


 

CSSR Serves as Major Contributor to
New Publication
Breaking Ranks: A Field Guide to Change

NASSP has released its latest book in the series of Breaking Ranks publications.

This “how to” book provides the missing steps in the process to bring about change in middle and high schools. Based on the core areas of Breaking Ranks and Breaking Ranks in the Middle, this book gives school leadership teams tools to use and actions to take along with any school improvement plan that states and districts develop.

CSSR vice president, Bill Bryan, served as a lead contributor in both content and concept for the new book. Throughout the nine chapters, you will find various CSSR tools and concepts used to help create and sustain change within secondary school cultures.

The book is organized around a process circle that asks school teams to gather data, explore possible solutions, assess readiness, create a plan, implement the plan, as well as monitor and adjust the plan. All while viewing the process through the lens of real school improvement plans with their successes and failures.

With the publication of this book, NASSP continues its highly successful Breaking Ranks series and promises additional pieces in the future. To learn more about this exciting new book, to read the Executive Summary, or to place an order, please visit the NASSP website.

CSSR is proud to have once again collaborated with NASSP on the latest installment in the Breaking Ranks series.
ORDER NOW
 

Jean Campbell to Present at:

The National Educational Computing Conference (NECC) Presented by The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) 

Date:  June 28 – July 1, 2009
Location:  Washington, DC Convention Center

Session Overview:  The National Educational Computing Conference is the world’s largest educational technology conference for teachers and technology coordinators.  Jean’s presentation will focus on the successful development of senior projects in secondary schools across the country.  Throughout the conference, participants will learn strategies for using digital portfolios as graduation requirements, better understand how senior projects and portfolios lead to greater student independence, and how to develop and implement individual learning plans for all students. 

For More Information and to Register:
http://center.uoregon.edu/ISTE/NECC2009
 

CSSR Providing Technical Assistance to the NJDOE Pilot Program on Personalized Student Learning Plans 

CSSR will be providing technical assistance and professional development to the New Jersey Department of Education and the NJASCD as part of the personalized student learning plans pilot taking place in 16 selected NJ schools this fall.  Starting in the 2009-2010 school year, learning plans will be developed for all sixth and ninth graders in the chosen schools.  The individualized plans will address personal, academic, and career development, and will be used for those students the following year as well.  State Education Commissioner Lucille E. Davy announced that the findings will be analyzed to help education leaders decide whether personal plans should be put in place for all students beginning the sixth grade as part of the state’s high school curriculum design.

CSSR coaches Joe DiMartino and Keisha Taylor will work closely with representatives from the New Jersey Department of Education and the NJASCD in supporting the team in this project to develop strong purpose statements for the creation of PLP’s, and communication plans that will lead to gaining feedback and support for the project from all key stakeholders in their respective school communities.  Throughout the school year, professional development workshops will focus on ways to organize, the content to use, and the methods of assessment necessary to effectively accomplish that purpose.   CSSR will also focus on clearly identifying professional development and leadership needs to obtain faculty buy-in for the PLP program.

Visit the NJ Department of Education website to read the official press release, and to learn more about this exciting pilot program.

Joe DiMartino is president of CSSR and co-author of the book, Personalizing the High School Experience for Each Student, which was published by ASCD in October 2008.

Breaking Ranks Summer Institute in Fulton, NY
August 19-21, 2009
Granby Elementary School 

The Center for Secondary School Redesign and The National Association of Secondary School Principals are pleased to offer the Breaking Ranks Summer Institute to support schools implementing Breaking Ranks II and Breaking Ranks in the Middle. The Institute will be held at Granby Elementary School in North Fulton, NY.  NASSP has designated CSSR as the primary TA provider for schools and districts implementing BRII and BRIM.

The Institute offers three - one or two day workshops, each with intensive training in one of the following areas:

    ●    A Purposeful Advisory Program for 9th and 10th Grades:
          August 19-20, 2009

    ●   A Purposeful Advisory Program for 11th and 12th Grades:
         August 19-20, 2009

    ●   A New Look at Leadership in Breaking Ranks Schools:
         August 21, 2009

To learn more about this CSSR professional development opportunity to include registration costs, workshop descriptions, and facilitator bios, please download the institute brochure here.

TO REGISTER PLEASE CONTACT:

Please contact Sandi Squire, Director of Instructional Support Services for the Fulton City School District, at 315-593-5545 or via email at ssquires@fulton.cnyric.org

CSSR will NOT be accepting registrations for this workshop.  All interested educators must contact the Fulton School District directly.

This keynote presentation will focus on a new vision for high schools, a vision that puts students at the center of their own learning. Personalized high schools engage students by allowing them to plan and develop their own pathways through school based on their talents, interests, and aspirations. Joe will provide examples of how student-centered schools from across the country are putting in place initiatives that allow students to take charge of their own learning, and lead to challenging and relevant 21st century learning environments for both the students and adults. Joe will discuss the six promising practices that are emerging in high schools today.

Joe DiMartino is co-author of Personalizing the High School Experience for Each Student, published by ASCD

Click here for More Information and to Register, go to:
http://www.iod.unh.edu/events.html#apexsi
 

Bill Bryan and Tony Ferreira to Present at NMSA Annual Conference 

 Bill Bryan and Tony Ferreira have each been selected to present at the National Middle School Association Annual Conference on November 5-7, 2009 in Indianapolis, IN. Bill’s 75-minute concurrent session titled, The Power Of Positive Influence: A New Look at Leadership and Motivation, will help participants better understand the new role of leading and driving sustaining change, along with examining best practice techniques around ways to build leadership capacity within all secondary school learning environments.

Tony’s session titled, Middle School Advisory Focused on Academics and High School Transformation, will focus on the need for purposeful advisory programs that include academic, social, and emotional elements. The workshop will provide participants with an outline of how to develop a strong advisory program that will help students with academics and high school transition, strengthen home/school ties, and develop the whole child.

For More Information and to Register, go to: http://www.nmsa.org/annual

For More Information and to Register, go to:
http://www.nmsa.org/annual
 

Twitter with Joe DiMartino

It is the latest communication trend in the 21^st century!  Are you “tweeting” yet?  Do you know what Twitter is?  If not, no worries, you are not alone.  Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?

The free social networking and micro-blogging service enables its users to send and read other users’ updates known as tweets. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters in length, which are displayed on the user’s profile page and delivered to other users who have subscribed to them (known as followers).  To learn more, please visit www.twitter.com

Joe DiMartino is one of the first ASCD authors to have a Twitter account, and now you can follow Joe across the country as he works hard to redesign secondary education for every student.  Learn more about where Joe is speaking, the work that CSSR is doing, and upcoming professional development opportunities.  Follow Joe by visiting his Twitter page at http://twitter.com/joe_dimartino

Happy tweeting!
 

Larry Myatt Published in The Forum for Education and Democracy April Newsletter

Larry Myatt has a featured article in the April Newsletter, News and Views, located on The Forum for Education and Democracy website.  Myatt writes about how to view our dropout crisis as an opportunity to rethink how we support young people in schools.

Read, The Dropout Crisis as an Opportunity here.

Ryan Champeau: 2009 Wisconsin Principal of the Year

The Center for Secondary School Redesign would like to congratulate school change coach, Ryan Champeau, for being named 2009 Wisconsin Principal of the Year by State Superintendent, Elizabeth Burmaster.

With more than 30 years of experience as a school administrator, most of it at Waukesha North High School in Waukesha, WI, Ryan has proven to be a tireless innovator and a champion of personalized education. Champeau is a co-author of “Breaking Ranks II,” the high school reform guide by the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP).
 

DiMartino and Clarke write featured article in the April edition of the Virginia Journal of Education

Joe DiMartino and John Clarke have a featured article in the April 2009 edition of the Virginia Journal of Education, the official magazine of the Virginia Education Association.  “Get Personal” examines the seven aspects of personalized teaching, offering best practice suggestions that will result in increased engagement for all students.

The article can be found online by visiting the Virginia Journal of Education website.

Joe and John are co-authors of Personalizing the High School Experience for Each Student (ASCD, 2008).

Bryan, DiMartino, and Donegan to Present at the 2009 High School Summit & High Schools That Work Texas State Conference. 

The Center for Secondary School Redesign is proud to announce that Bill Bryan, Joe DiMartino, and Billie Donegan will serve as speaks at this years 2009 High School Summit & High Schools That Work State Conference in Austin, TX June 7-9, 2009.

The conference is designed to provide cutting-edge research-based examples in action and best practices administrators, counselors, and teachers for the Annual High Schools That Work State Conference, The Texas High School Redesign & Restructuring Grant Program, and all other educators interested in improving instruction for all students.

Bill Bryan will serve as a featured keynote speaker for the conference.  His presentation is titled, “Stimulating Change and Making it Stick.”  Joe DiMartino and Billie Donegan will conduct pre conference sessions focused on “Scheduling for Personalization” and “Redesigning the Freshman Year.”

For more information, please download the PDF conference brochures:

Link to Brochure PDF

Link to Presenters PDF

Link to free Adobe Acrobat PDF reader
(if needed)
 

Ryan Champeau interviewed for Pro Principal Cover Story

CSSR school change coach, Ryan Champeau, has been interviewed by the education publication Pro Principal for a cover story featured in the April 2009 edition.  The article titled, “Freshman Mentor Program Ramps Up Collaboration, Achievement” examines the freshman mentoring program currently in place at Waukesha North High School (Ryan just recently retired as principal from WNHS), and the efforts it has had on changing the culture of the entire school community and student achievement.

Ryan can be reached via email at ryanchampeau@aol.com

The Whole Child Podcast was recorded live at ASCD's Annual Conference on March 14, 2009. Host Molly McCloskey tasked the two guests, Joe DiMartino, founder and president of The Center for Secondary School Redesign (CSSR), and Tim Waters, president and CEO of Mid-Continent Research for Education and Learning, with providing advice on how to close the "believing, doing gap." In other words, how do we move from believing all children need to be healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged, to actually making that happen?

Joe DiMartino approached it from a high school redesign angle, and Tim Waters tackled Molly's challenge from an education leadership perspective. One powerful theme that emerged during the conversation was the fact that "time" should be a variable, while "learning" should be the constant.

The live audience asked a number of great questions, including:

• How can the Whole Child Initiative redefine success from achievement on math and reading tests to ensuring all kids are healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged?

• What do elementary schools need to change in order to better prepare their students for success in redesigned high schools?

• What is mastery and how can it be judged?

• How can we advance the conversation about the purpose of education to create active and engaged citizens?

Listen to Joe DiMartino, and the entire March Whole Child Podcast today!
 

Learn more about the center’s work scope, and see the influence our school change coaches have across the country.  The CSSR website has a new interactive link that allows visitors to better understand the role we play in current SLC contracts and the technical assistance/professional development we provide to secondary schools and school districts throughout the country.  Educators will also be able to see the strategic partnerships and research that CSSR is involved in, along with information on all of our school change coaches.

To visit this new interactive map, go to the website navigation menu and click on “Clients and Strategic Partnerships.”

Joe DiMartino to Speak at Princeton University

Joe DiMartino will speak at the Reforming High Schools: Tools to Help Promote Change conference on Friday, April 24, 2009 on the campus of Princeton University.  Joe’s 90-minute discussion will focus on best practice around promoting collaborative work in secondary schools and school districts.

For more information, and a complete agenda, on this free professional development opportunity, please visit The Future of Children website.
 

CSSR to collaborate with the New Hampshire Department of Education 

CSSR will be collaborating with the New Hampshire Department of Education to provide technical assistance for school and district leadership about implementing Extended Learning Opportunities for students.  It is the state's initiative to provide support as schools and districts move away from Carnegie Units and towards demonstration of mastery of course competencies for the awarding of credit towards graduation.

CSSR to Provide Technical Assistance in Texas

CSSR has been selected as an approved external provider for Cycle V recipients of The Texas High School Redesign and Restructuring Grant Redesign Program.  The Texas High School Redesign and Restructuring Grant Program is a Texas Education Agency funded program overseen by the Texas Initiatives Division of ESC XIII in Austin Texas.

Ryan Champeau Presenting at NAREN Conference

CSSR school change coach, Ryan Champeau, has been selected to present at the National At-Risk Education Network (NAREN) National Conference, February 17-19, 2009 in Panama City, FL.

Ryan's presentation called, Freshman Transition: Engaging Students in Learning, will provide participants with active classroom strategies to engage freshman and enhance their achievement. Ryan will present on Wednesday, February 18, 2009 from 1:00p – 2:30p

To learn more about this presentation, or the best practice tools and strategies implemented by CSSR, please contact our office for more details.

The Center for Secondary School Redesign, Inc. was selected by the Duval County Public School District to perform a three-day needs assessment at six high schools within the district in January, helping the schools and district leadership move towards successful implementation of their Smaller Learning Communities (SLC) Grant.

Over the three day period, 15 CSSR school change coaches worked with school and district leadership, with teams of two assigned to each school. The work was guided by the vision for high schools that is embodied in Breaking Ranks II™, which the CSSR team was instrumental in creating in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals. Efforts were further guided by the organizational understanding of what it takes for organizations to successfully initiate and sustain change to become high performing organizations. CSSR has combined the recommendations included in Breaking Ranks II™ with proven change leadership strategies to develop the Breaking Ranks+ process for creating high performing high schools.

For more information regarding a needs assessment for your school or school district, please contact Jay Midwood via email at jaymidwood@cssr.us

CSSR is proud to announce the addition of two new school change coaches to our growing team. Larry Myatt and Joe Militello each bring 40 years of education experience and knowledge to the center. Both educators have served as administrators, redesign leaders, researchers, and national advocates for change within secondary education.

We are excited and honored to have these two educators working with us to better prepare secondary schools across the country. Their work is a critical element in the successful implementation of all secondary school redesign programs, and assuring that all students are prepared for post-secondary success.

The NEW College Readiness for All Toolbox now On-Line

On December 15-16, 2008 CSSR facilitators Jay Midwood and Jan Struebing conducted a “train the trainers institute” around the new College Readiness for All Toolbox at The Southeastern Regional Education Service Center (SERESC) in Bedford, NH.  16 educators from various New England organizations participated in the day and a half workshop.  The backgrounds of those in attendance varied from school guidance counselors to outreach professionals, and higher education college planners.

The College Readiness for All Toolbox is an effective set of well-researched tools, lessons learned, resources, and documents designed to do the following:

• Create a college ready culture for ALL students.
• Enhance student expectations, achievement, and access.
• Provide educators and outreach professionals with self-assessment
  and evaluation activities.

• Help students and educators collaborate on post secondary success.
• Provide an understanding of the change process.
• Create an easy to use roadmap for program implementation.

Educators, guidance counselors, outreach professionals, and policy makers will find the tools easy to use, and adaptable to meet the unique needs of all learning environments.

The toolbox has proven to be an effective set of strategies and tools capable of meeting the needs of many stakeholders within the secondary school environment.  Users of the toolbox are guided through steps that manage the change process when implementing initiatives designed to enhance college-ready expectations, achievement, and access.

The toolbox consists of well researched educational and change leadership best practices. Users will find the blending of the program content best practices (the what) with implementation process best practices (the how) a successful formula for program development leading to post secondary success for ALL students.

The toolbox, and its content, is free to use and now available on-line by visiting http://toolbox.pathwaystocollege.net

For more information regarding the College Readiness for All Toolbox, any of the tools/documents, philosophy, or possible training, please contact Jay Midwood at jaymidwood@cssr.us

National Academy Foundation
2008 Leadership Summit
Santa Fe, New Mexico
November 13-15, 2008

CSSR V.P Bill Bryan, with assistance from director of communications and student involvement Jay Midwood, recently served as a highlighted presenter at the National Academy Foundation’s (NAF) Leadership Summit in Santa Fe, MN on November 15, 2008.
Bill’s interactive and energized session titled, The Power of Positive Influence, motivated an audience of 400 academy leaders (which includes directors, teachers, coordinators, administrators, and other members who take leadership roles in their academy) from the NAF organization.

This fast-paced three-hour workshop was designed to introduce trends and strategies around leadership development and influence, so that each academy leader was able to:

• Enhance their own influence skills to inspire, motivate, and help create buy-in for goals and plans.
• Build leadership capacity.
• Have an enhanced understanding of personal influence capabilities.
• Walk away with a plan for meeting a pressing influence challenge.

Bill and Jay received very positive feedback after the presentation, and feel confident that all NAF leaders are now better positioned to meet the challenges they face in leadership roles each and every day. CSSR looks forward to continuing our collaboration with NAF and its members in near future. 

For more information on this presentation, or materials used,  please contact Jay Midwood at jaymidwood@cssr.us or 401-474-0085.

Bill Bryan

Jay Midwood

NASSP/CSSR Secondary School Showcase Blog  

Share your thoughts and ideas with educators across the country!  The NASSP Convention and CSSR/NASSP Showcase blog is now up and running.  Leave your comments around high school redesign initiatives, past showcase experiences, and student-centered activities.  Start the interactive conversation NOW, and get ready to continue it in San Diego this coming February.

Link to the blog

Joe DiMartino published in November edition of Principal Leadership

Joe DiMartino and John Clarke have co-authored a new article featured in the November issue of Principal Leadership.  The Heart of School examines the key elements for a successful Advisory Program, and how Granger High School in Washington State provides an example of success with increased student achievement and nearly perfect parent involvement.

The November issue is now available, and interested educators can visit the Principal Leadership website to read the article.

Association of Wisconsin School Administrators Honors
30-year Member

MADISON, WISCONSIN September 24, 2008;
The Association of Wisconsin School Administrators (AWSA) is proud to recognize, Ryan Champeau, principal at Waukesha North High School, for his 30 years of service as a member of AWSA and his many years of dedication to the students, staff, families and communities of Wisconsin. The work he has done as an educational leader is commendable. The commitment he has shown to teaching, learning, and leadership is outstanding and we greatly appreciate the contributions he has made to the field of education. AWSA is the state’s professional organization for school principals, associate principals and administrative leaders. The association’s mission is to strengthen school leadership for Wisconsin students—Because Leadership Matters!

CSSR is proud of Ryan’s accomplishments over the past 30 years, and looks forward to his positive contribution to secondary school redesign in the future.
 

    * Napa Valley Unified School District
    * The School District of Palm Beach County
    * School District of Philadelphia
    * New Brunswick Board of Education
    * The Plymouth School District

CSSR has worked closely with members from each of these school districts for more than a year now, facilitating grant writing workshops, assisting with grant revisions, explaining the importance of the CSSR change leadership/redesign model, and providing strong research and methods around instructional best practices.  CSSR is honored to be included as the primary technical assistance provider in Philadelphia, New Brunswick, Plymouth, and Napa.
 

CSSR working with The Pathways to College Network

CSSR is excited to continue its work with the Pathways to College Network this fall.  Bill Bryan, Jay Midwood, and Jane Struebing are working to update and integrate the contents of the College Readiness for All Toolbox so that technical assistant providers, and school leaders, can easily navigate the on-line toolbox and use these VERY effective school redesign materials.  To check out the current toolbox, please click here.

CSSR technical assistance is based on educational best practices that provide every child with the opportunity to achieve in math and literacy, and that advance social, civic, and emotional growth as part of the middle or secondary school experience. These practices are embodied in services and tools supporting personalized education, which enables every child to be known well by his/her teachers, administrators, and school staff personnel and to be truly treated as an individual of value.

These practices also reflect the belief that every child deserves to graduate from high school with a clear picture of his/her capabilities and the competence to succeed at work or in further education.

Read more

CSSR and NASSP to Collaborate on Implementation Guide

CSSR has been engaged by NASSP to be the lead in creating a Breaking Ranks II and Breaking Ranks in the Middle implementation guide.  The guide will feature the unique change leadership process created by CSSR, and will be illustrated by transcript excerpts of top performing principals.  Bill Bryan is in the process of interviewing top performing principals employing his highly effective Success Factor Inquiry (SFI) technique.

2009 NASSP Convention Presenters

The Center for Secondary School Redesign is proud to announce that NASSP has accepted the following CSSR proposals for presentation at the 2009 Annual NASSP Convention and Exposition in San Diego, CA.  The presentations will be scheduled on one of the Convention’s three programming dates:  Friday, February 27; Saturday, February 28; or Sunday, March 1, 2009.

CSSR Presenter:  Joe DiMartino, President

Session Title:  Promoting Student Success Through Authentic Assessment

CSSR Presenter:  Bill Bryan, VP for Leadership and Organization Development

Session Title:  A New Look at Leadership in Breaking Ranks Schools

CSSR Presenter:  Billie Donegan, Director of Instructional Best Practices

Session Title:  Grading Malpractice: Why We Must Make the Shift to Align with Assessment Research

CSSR Presenter:  Tony Ferreira, School Change Coach

Session Title:  Capacity Building for Implementing and Sustaining Breaking Ranks Strategies

If you have any questions please contact the CSSR office by calling 401-828-0077, or you can email the presenters.  For more information regarding the NASSP Convention, please visit www.nasspconvention.org

BE SURE TO REGISTER FOR THE 2009 SECONDARY SCHOOL SHOWCASE, AS PART OF THE NASSP ANNUAL CONVENTION!
Link to the convention home page and link to registration info on the left hand navigation bar.

Click Here for More Information about the showcase.

ASCD Educational Leadership, May 2008.  The Linchpin Year.  Volume 65, #8.  Pages 54-57 

Billie Donegan, senior school change coach for CSSR specializing in 9th grade, asserts that when it comes to truly changing the freshman year, words abound but actions are few. Although everyone involved in the "high school conversation" agrees that the first year of high school is pivotal to success, few schools take on the challenge of truly reshaping 9th grade—beyond holding glitzy orientation events or biweekly advisories. One reason is that deep reform requires a fundamental reshaping of school culture, which means stepping on a few toes and threatening harmony among teachers. Schools should start by reversing the trend of placing a school's top teachers with upperclassman while assigning struggling first-year teachers to freshmen. Donegan suggests concrete strategies, based on her work schools seeking reform, for bringing productive changes to the freshman year. 

To read Billie’s article titled “The Linchpin Year” in the latest edition of ASCD’s Educational Leadership visit the ASCD website at www.ascd.org. 

To learn more about the 9^th grade transition join Billie and the rest of the CSSR team for a weeklong professional development opportunity during The Breaking Ranks Summer Institutes this June in Conyers, GA and in August at Salem State College.

Billie can be reached via email at billiedonegan@yahoo.com 
 

United States Department of Education

Office of Elementary and Secondary Education – Technical Working Group to Support SLC Implementation.

CSSR is proud to announce that Joe DiMartino has been invited by the United States Department of Education to participate on a Technical Working Group (TWG) that will convene in the Washington DC metropolitan area on January 24-25, 2008.  The TWG is in support of large high schools that have received federal grants to support the implementation of smaller learning communities to improve student academic achievement. 

The individuals selected to participate in this TWG have extensive knowledge and experience delivering technical assistance around topics from researching literacy to college readiness for all students, especially low-income students.  The role of the TWG members will be to lend their collective expertise around timely supports, emergent practices, and research that are relevant to SLC grantees, with particular emphasis on elements relevant to SLC program priorities.

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).

Link to National Education Policy Fellowship Program

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.

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. 

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