Resources | Coalition of Essential Schools

"Don’t You Pick And Refuse Me" “The stone that the builder refuse Will always be the head cornerstone-a; The stone that the builder refuse Will always be the head cornerstone.” – “Cornerstone,” Bob... February 22, 2008 - Classroom Culture

"Learning Through Interests": Lessons from the Met Kristin Waugh-Hempel has been working at The Metropolitan Regional Career & Technical Center (the Met) since 1998. After serving as an advisor for four years, she focused her energy on the... April 03, 2008 by Kristen Waugh Hempel - Community Collaboration

"Our Schools Have So Much to Offer Each Other": Strategies and Structures for Effective School Visits To investigate powerful teaching and learning, we could inundate ourselves with stories and research about Coalition and other like-minded schools. Phone conversations, emails, books, magazines, web... December 23, 2003 by Jill Davidson - Teacher Collaboration & Learning

"So Now What?" Managing the Change Process Sidebars:"Stages of Concern" in One School's Change ProcessOne High Schoo's Consensus Decision-Making ProcessThe School Development Program's "Three-by-Three" Process What Schools Can Learn from... April 23, 2002 by Kathleen Cushman - The Change Process, Decision Making Processes

"Student as Worker" Applied Outside the Classroom Strongly implemented in CES schools across the country, the ten Common Principles have an impact on thousands of students. With the Common Principle “Embracing the metaphor ‘student as... March 27, 2008 by Lou Vargas - Instruction, Student-as-worker

"You’re It!": Thoughts on Play and Learning in Schools It is paradoxical that many educators and parents still differentiate between a time for learning and a time for play without seeing the vital connection between them. - Leo Buscaglia This past... July 22, 2008 by Laura Warner

Data Wise: A Step-by-Step Guide to Using Assessment Results to Improve Teaching and Learning Data Wise: A Step-by-Step Guide to Using Assessment Results to Improve Teaching and Learning, edited by Kathryn Parker Boudett, Elizabeth A. City, and Richard J. Murnane (Harvard Educational... September 12, 2006 by Jill Davidson

Don't Forget to Write: 54 Enthralling and Effective Writing Lessons for Students 6-18 Don't Forget to Write: 54 Enthralling and Effective Writing Lessons for Students 6-18 (826 Valencia, 224 pages, $25.00) reviewed by Jill Davidson 826 Valencia provides drop-in tutoring centers,... September 12, 2006 by Jill Davidson

Horace Talks with Eric Nadelstern: New York City's Autonomy Zone To learn more from a uniquely informed perspective on how Essential schools can thrive in large urban districts, Jill Davidson, Horace's editor, interviewed Eric Nadelstern, the Chief Academic... November 29, 2005 - Democratic Practice, Developing Leaders

Horace Talks with Steve Jubb: How BayCES Has Built Alliances and Challenged the Status Quo Brett Bradshaw, CES National's Director of Strategic Communications, spoke with Steve Jubb, Executive Director of the Bay Area Coalition of Equitable Schools (BayCES), a CES National affiliate... March 13, 2006 by Brett Bradshaw

Horace Talks with Ted Sizer: The History, Limitations, and Possibilities of School Districts Ted Sizer, founder of the Coalition of Essential Schools and now its Chair Emeritus, discussed his frustrations with school districts as they typically operate with Jill Davidson, Horace's... November 28, 2005 - Decision Making Processes, Democratic Practice

Horace Talks with Warren Simmons: "Smart Districts" Horace editor Jill Davidson spoke with Dr. Warren Simmons, Executive Director of the Annenberg Institute for School Reform. Established at Brown University in 1993 as an outgrowth of the work of the... November 28, 2005 by Jill Davidson - Democratic Practice, Keeping The Vision

The Impossible Will Take a Little While: A Citizen's Guide to Hope in a Time of Fear The Impossible Will Take a Little While: A Citizen's Guide to Hope in a Time of Fear edited by Paul Rogat Loeb (Basic Books, 422 pages, $15.95) reviewed by Jill Davidson Sometimes I pick up a... September 12, 2006

Values Go to School: Exploring Ethics with Children Values Go to School: Exploring Ethics with Children (Jonathan Diamond Associates in association with the faculty of the Child Development Institute at Sarah Lawrence College, VHS $24.95, DVD $29.95)... September 12, 2006 by Jill Davidson

A Caring Adult in a Different Setting In schools where people know each other well and focus on supporting academic and personal growth, meaningful relationships blossom in offices, in the library, on the basketball court, or in the... March 17, 2011 by Gary Heyder

A Preview of CES ChangeLab Affiliate with CES National If CES stands for what you believe in??”personalized, equitable, intellectually vibrant schools??”we invite you to affiliate with CES National as a school or... December 23, 2003 by Jill Davidson, Torrey Strohmeier

A Quiet Voice One afternoon years and years ago, when I taught at Watkinson School in Hartford, Connecticut, I showed my students slides of contemporary paintings. Jackson Pollacks, Piet Mondriens, Gustav Klimts... December 02, 2009 by Teri Schrader - Ted Sizer, Common Principles

A Simple Justice: the Challenge of Small Schools Activists and chroniclers of Chicago's small schools movement, editors William Ayers, Michael Klonsky and Gabrielle Lyon have assembled fifteen uplifting, informative essays in A Simple... May 23, 2002 by William Ayers, Gabrielle Lyon, Michael Klonsky - Learning Structures, Small Learning Communities

Acing the Art of Transformation: Change on the ACE Campus Walk into any one of the classrooms at the Academy of Citizenship and Empowerment at the Tyee Educational Complex and you will see students writing intensely. You will hear them discussing their... February 15, 2008 by Carrie Howell - Community Collaboration

Addendum: Parker Charter Essential School’s Wellness Program Wellness is an integrated curriculum combining aspects of traditional health classes with physical education, games, fitness skills and other mind-body connection skills. The goals of the Wellness... July 22, 2008

Adventures in Web 2.0: Introducing Social Networking into My Teaching “As new technologies shape literacies, they bring opportunities for teachers at all levels to foster reading and writing in more diverse and participatory contexts.” –“A... July 21, 2009 by Honor Moorman - Instruction, Technology And Information Literacy

Advisory Program Research and Evaluation This article reviews the research literature to bolster the case for advisory and demonstrate that putting it at the core of a school is worth the investment. Lessons from CES schools also reveal the... December 16, 2004 by Reino Makkonen - Small Learning Communities, Teacher Research, Data Collection & Analysis

Always There Everybody seems to have a short memory, which is why we keep making mistakes in this country. This is supposed to be why we study history. The history of the education reform movement from the 1960s... December 02, 2009 by Dennis Littky - Ted Sizer

An American Teacher's View Of British Assessment Practice There are many calls today for a new national assessment and evaluation system in the United States. Some of the resulting proposals incorporate aspects of the British model. For example, the... May 30, 2002 by Marshall Cohen - Assessment

An Ethic of Excellence: Building a Culture of Craftmanship with Students By Ron Berger (Heinemann, 160 pages, $17.50)BUY NOW! reviewed by Laura Flaxman More than ten years ago, when I first saw Ron Berger present a portfolio of his students’ work and explain the... December 16, 2004 by Laura Flaxman - Assessment, Portfolios, Exhibitions, Personalization, Student-as-worker

An Excerpt from Choosing Small: The Essential Guide to High School Conversion In October 2005, Jossey-Bass releases Choosing Small: The Essential Guide to High School Conversion by CES Director of Research Jay Feldman, and former CES staffers M. Lisette L?pez and Katherine G.... December 05, 2005 - Decision Making Processes

An Exhibition of Skills: A Cooperative Venture Most educators who bought into the restructuring effort knew that the beginning stages of change would be challenging but feasible. School change strategies such as site-based management, team... May 30, 2002 by Barbara Eibell - Assessment, Exhibitions

Anatomy of an Exhibition Margaret Metzger has taught English at Brookline High School in Massachusetts for twenty-two years. In this article, we describe Margaret's initial attempt to use exhibitions as a means of... May 30, 2002 by Jody Brown Podl - Assessment, Exhibitions

Applying the Common Principles To Mathematics: Successes and Challenges In the mathematics department at Vanguard High School, we have taken on a mission to raise students’ interest, skill, understanding, and performance in mathematics Over the past several years, we... March 04, 2008 by Ankur Dalal - Classroom Culture

Are Advisory Groups 'Essential'? What They Do, How They Work Sidebars:Some Advisory Group ModelsA Friend is DroppedLying: The Choices We MakeThe Broken Code: Churchill's Dilemma at CoventryTerranova: An Extra-Territorial Tale If even one person in a... March 14, 2002 by Kathleen Cushman - Learning Structures, Small Learning Communities, Personalization

Asking the Essential Questions: Curriculum Development Sidebars: Essential Questions to Shape a School's CurriculumA Botany Unit Designed Around Essential QuestionsA Project in Factoring for First-Year Algebra StudentsAsking Essential Questions about... April 30, 2002 by Kathleen Cushman - Curriculum, Exhibitions, Subject Integration, Essential Questions, Student-as-worker

Assessing Writing Bilingually and Authentically: International Community School and ALAS In 2001-2002, its first year of existence, the International Community School (ICS), which serves 300 kindergarten through fifth graders in the predominantly Latino Fruitvale neighborhood of Oakland,... March 11, 2003 by Jill Davidson - Assessment, Using Rubrics

Assessment Terminology: Key Concepts for Shared Understanding Habits of Mind Habits of mind include such things as knowing where to find more information, asking original questions, reflecting on and learning from experience, understanding how to... May 28, 2002 - Assessment, Planning Backwards

At the Five-Year Mark: The Challenge of Being 'Essential' Sidebars: Figure 1: Essential Schools' performance: Some Preliminary Figures Five years ago this autumn, the Coalition of Essential Schools was launched. To mark the occasion the... April 19, 2002 by Kathleen Cushman - The Change Process

Beating the Odds: High Schools as Communities of Commitment by Jacqueline Ancess (Teachers College Press, 192 pages, $19.95) reviewed by Kathy Simon It is hard for most of us who attended and began teaching in standard-issue schools in this country to... September 03, 2003 by Kathy Simon - Learning Structures, Small Learning Communities

Behavior in a Thoughtful School: The Principle of Decency Sidebar:A Model for Student Decision Making How people in a school behave to each other - in classrooms, halls, central office and faculty lounge - sets a tone that has profound effects on what... April 29, 2002 by Kathleen Cushman - Classroom Culture

Being Present: Mindfulness and Yoga at Westminster Center School Classroom management. Two words that can make or break a teacher, a student, or a school. The management of behavior and logistics in a classroom is, for many, the cornerstone of instruction.... July 22, 2008 by Laura Thomas

Beyond Looking: Using Data to Coach for Instructional Improvement For several years, Judy (a special education teacher who works with students in math and science goals) sat through staff meetings at which the PowerPoint slides containing the results of our... June 01, 2009 by Michael Martin, Katherine Taylor - Data Collection & Analysis, Cycle Of Inquiry

Beyond Reform: Transformation “Let no one be discouraged by the belief there is nothing one person can do against the enormous array of the world’s ills, misery, ignorance, and violence. Few will have the greatness to bend... February 15, 2008 by Jill Davidson - Community Collaboration

Book Reviews: Teachers Have it Easy and What It Takes to Pull Me Through Teachers Have It Easy: the Big Sacrifices and Small Salaries of America's Teachers by Daniel Moulthrop, Ninive Clements Calegari, and Dave Eggers (New Press, 355 pages, $25.95) BUY NOW! What It... December 05, 2005 by Sarah Mayper

Breaking the Barriers to Change: A Fall Forum Special Report Sidebars: Quotes: Problems Horace's Mailbox Rethinking the Curriculum: It messes things up--but that's what it's supposed to do Assessment and Exhibitions: Do we rearrange... April 19, 2002 by Kathleen Cushman

Can We Talk about Race? And Other Conversations in an Era of School Resegregation Can We Talk about Race? And Other Conversations in an Era of School Resegregation by Beverly Daniel Tatum (Beacon Press, 168 pages, $22.95) Beverly Daniel Tatum argues that we must talk about... March 05, 2008 by Jill Davidson

CES at 25: The Transformative Power of Principle-Based Education As this issue of Horace goes to press and with great sadness, we share the news that CES's founder, Theodore R. Sizer, passed away on October 21, 2009 at home in Harvard, Massachusetts. Ted leaves... December 02, 2009 by Jill Davidson - Ted Sizer, Common Principles

CES Takes a Stand: The Coalition of Essential Schools Opposes High-Stakes Standardized Testing Take a stand with CES! Commentary on this statement, links to more resources, and an action kit of advocacy tools, including an online petition, sample press releases, Op/Ed, letter to the editor,... July 07, 2004 by CES National Staff - Assessment, Portfolios, Exhibitions, Using Rubrics, Alternative Transcripts

Change with Our Help and Change for Our Sake Set in Denver, Colorado, this year’s CES Small Schools Project Summer Institute was a large success—especially because 60 students attended. The welcoming, almost family reunion-esque atmosphere... March 21, 2008 by Jurion Jaffe - Instruction, Student-as-worker

Choices for the High School Graduate: A Survival Guide for the Information Age Choices for the High School Graduate: A Survival Guide for the Information Age, Fourth Edition, by Bryna Fireside (Ferguson Publishing Company, $14.95) “College ready” is the mantra... June 01, 2009

Choosing To Participate Ask students what to “participate” means. In a year of a presidential election, would they say it means to choose to vote for the candidate of their choice? Would they say that it means to make... December 09, 2008

City Schools and the American Dream: Reclaiming the Promise of Public Education By Pedro Noguera (Teachers College Press, 224 pages, $19.95)BUY NOW! Educators who seek to make a difference in the lives of students face tremendous challenges working in urban public schools that... April 02, 2004 by Lisette López

Civil Rights and Social Justice: A Path to Engagement and Transformation “Wow! You kids know so much. I never knew anything about the civil rights movement when I was your age. In fact, I didn’t learn much about it in college either, until now.” A... December 09, 2008 by Flo Golod

Class and Schools: Using Social, Economic ,and Education Reform to Close the Black-White Achievement Gap By Richard Rothstein (Economic Policy Insitute, 210 pp., $17.95) BUY NOW! reviewed by Jill Davidson Many of us in the CES network, accustomed to focusing intently on what schools can do, create... August 12, 2005 by Jill Davidson - Community Collaboration