(Vol. 1, No. 1 - Winter 1996/1997)
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IDEAS:
Powerful ideas for changing schools
By Barnett Berry
Barnett Berry is associate professor of educational leadership at the
University of South Carolina and a consultant to the National Commission
on Teaching and America's Future.
"There are, in the end, only two main ways human beings learn: by observing
others and by trying things out for themselves.
"Novices learn from experts and experience. That's all there is to
it. Everything else is in the details. Until we create schools in which
the ratio of novices to experts is lower and the opportunities for novices
to try out what they see and hear the experts doing are more plentiful,
we will be wasting much of our time."
So argues principal Deborah Meier in her recent book, The Power of Their
Ideas: Lessons for America from a Small School in Harlem. Meier's advice
about learning is worth heeding as both educators and community leaders
consider new ways to support middle school reform underway in Louisville.
To succeed in KERA's high-stakes world, both teachers and principals need
more opportunities to learn new knowledge and skills. However, without dramatically
changing the way expert and novice educators work together, this goal will
be nearly impossible to achieve.
The dramatic transformations in student learning at Central Park East Secondary
School over the last decade provide a powerful model for others to consider.
Today the school regularly graduates 90% of its students who go on to college
and graduate (many from prestigious universities) at the same incredibly
high rate. How were these results -- rare even at well-funded schools serving
mostly affluent students -- achieved?
The answer is professional development that makes sure adult learning is
directly connected to student learning. Most schools simply don't operate
this way. At Central Park East it required a complete redesign of the curriculum
and the reallocation of all staff resources.
The school is small -- serving less than 500 students, grades 7-12. (Other
larger schools can create smallness by building schools with schools.) The
school is made even smaller by its curriculum and staffing. Everyone teaches.
Students work with the same group of teachers for two years, studying a
range of interdisciplinary topics tied to rigorous standards and assessment.
Graduation exhibitions take on the flavor and intensity of a doctoral dissertation
defense.
Teachers and administrators use the school's exit standards and the performance
assessments of students to design their own professional development. They
do this in wide variety of ways -- study groups, analysis of classroom performance,
school visits, and outside peer review and consultations. Novices must learn
from experts.
Meier's system works for a couple of reasons. Teams of four or five teachers
and 80 students are organized so that everyone (administrators, teachers,
students, and parents) knows each other well. A smaller learning community
gives educators the time to figure what really works and why (or why not).
Central Park East has also simplified the school schedule. Daily interdisciplinary
class meetings in both the humanities (English and social studies) and in
math and science last about two hours each. Students spend one morning a
week in community service; for one hour each day, teachers work with even
smaller groups of students in what amounts to an academically driven homeroom
or advisory period. School lets out at 1:30 p.m. on Fridays.
Creative scheduling gives teachers and administrators twice as much focused
time to plan and increase their professional skills as educators in most
other American schools. Teacher teams spend three hours a week focused on
their students' work and progress. Another four hours is spent on schoolwide
issues. If teachers need more time for their own learning, the community
approach to teaching makes it much easier to schedule.
Administrators still deal with student discipline, but not nearly so often.
Since teacher teams work with their students (and families) over an extended
period of time, they know them well. This frees up more time for administrators
to sharpen their own skills. Because they also teach, their learning is
more in sync with the learning of teachers.
At Central Park East, there's no sharp distinction between professional
development and daily teaching and learning. The old saying, "every
day in every way we're getting better and better" is true. The school
is a hothouse of learning, where everyone's expertise is valued and no one
stands on rank or ceremony. As a result, Central Park East is one of America's
most successful urban schools. The lessons Debbie Meier and her colleagues
have learned will work anywhere.
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