Ladera Del Norte Elementary School Farmington, New Mexico Overcoming Challenges to Close the Achievement Gap. Like many schools, educators at Ladera Del Norte Elementary school were committed to supporting the success of all students, but they needed to strategically overcome a number of challenges in their mission to close achievement gaps. In this audio profile,… Continue Reading Audio: Overcoming Challenges to Close the Achievement Gap
Barret Traditional Middle School Louisville, KY Advancing Racial Equity Through Culturally Responsive Teaching. Like many schools across the nation, school leaders at Barret Traditional Middle School realized that they faced academic achievement gaps among students by race. With support from their district, and through the work of committed educators willing to address this difficult topic,… Continue Reading Audio: Advancing Racial Equity Through Culturally Responsive Teaching
Turning around a low-performing school is no easy task – and sustaining that turnaround over the years to come can be just as challenging. In this video, teachers and school leaders from Evergreen Elementary School in Spanaway, Washington explain how the implementation of a “No Excuses” model helped them improve and sustain their success over… Continue Reading No Excuses: Sustaining Success at a Former Turnaround School
Village Oaks Elementary School Novi, Michigan Building School Culture by Leading with HEART. One of the most challenging tasks for any new principal is creating school culture, particularly when a strong culture already exists. This podcast walks you through the process Principal Alexander Ofili used at Village Oaks Elementary School in Novi, MI, to do… Continue Reading Audio: Building School Culture by Leading with HEART
Sierra Expeditionary Learning School Truckee, CA In 2008, in a small town in northern California, a dozen or so parents of preschoolers started dreaming about a different kind of elementary school and chartered SELS—the Sierra Expeditionary Learning School, in Truckee, California in March 2010. This podcast features Kim Bradley, a founding parent and current board… Continue Reading An Expeditionary Learning School Takes Off in California’s Mountains
Game Changer tells the story of struggling White Street School in Springfield, MA, where “demographics” had been the steady explanation for low student achievement. Families were reluctant to send their children to a school were only 4% of fifth graders scored Proficient in any subject. In 2010, the State Education Department had singled the school… Continue Reading Game Changer: Educators Turn Around a “Failing” School
The seven 2015 Bell awardees for Outstanding Leadership generously devoted some of their time at the ceremony to share the experiences as school leaders. Five video interviews include an introduction to the seven principals; they offer their definitions of the term leadership; they recall a moment when they “got” the essence of their work; and… Continue Reading Video Interviews with the 2015 Terrel H. Bell Awardees
With experience as a successful administrator and knowledge of the research, Principal Victor has strong opinions about what makes a school good for teaching and learning. Faculty members understand and support her vision, generating very low turnover rates over the years. Principal Victor’s distributed leadership model gives teachers numerous opportunities to contribute to discussions of… Continue Reading Distributed Leadership: Alice Coachman Elementary School
Pompano Beach is a school where, in the words of then-principal David Gordon, “It’s okay to be smarter.” Principal Gordon, magnet coordinator Bill Bankowski, and students and teachers describe some of the practices that make this relatively small (1260 students) high school the one where top colleges and universities come to recruit scholars and scientists.… Continue Reading School Culture: Pompano Beach High School
St. Mary’s teachers are drawn less by money than dedication to students and the school’s collaborative culture. Beginning teachers are paid on par with the public schools but the salary scale for veteran (more than 10 years) teachers is at least 20% lower. St. Mary’s employs highly qualified veteran teachers part-time through a uniquely flexible… Continue Reading Innovative Staffing: St. Mary’s Academy Charter School