Resources | Coalition of Essential Schools

Through Student's Eyes: Combating Racism in United States Schools As an African American parent, grandparent, woman, and educator I strongly believe in the need for multicultural education. I am delighted to have discovered Through Students' Eyes, which addresses... April 30, 2003 - Learning Structures, Heterogeneous Grouping

What Does Healthy Really Mean? Wellness is written into the very bones of The Native American Community Academy (NACA). The school’s triumvirate mission includes integrated curriculum, cultural/language context, and a wellness... July 22, 2008 by Leroy Silva, Arlyn John, Emily Beenen

The Essential Library: Partner in School Design "When we were planning the school and Mark described his plans for the library, I didn't quite know how it would work. In the large comprehensive schools where I had worked before, I saw the... June 03, 2002 by Mark Gordon - Instruction, Technology And Information Literacy

Go to the Source: More about the Schools and Organizations Featured in this Issue SCHOOLS Beachwood High School 25100 Fairmount Boulevard Beachwood, Ohio 44122 telephone: 216.831.2080 www.beachwood.k12.oh.us/bhs/index.html Boston International High School 25 Glen... January 06, 2009

In the Company of Teachers Every one of us in the Coalition remembers the first time we met Ted Sizer. For me, it was at a small meeting of teachers in Georgia where Ted had shown up to see what they were doing in their... December 02, 2009 by George Wood - Ted Sizer

Investing in Teachers For Student Success: The Teaching Fellows Program Capital City Public Charter School was founded in 2000 with a vision of an academic program built on progressive principles and research on educational best practices. An Expeditionary Learning... April 14, 2008 by Amy Wendel, Ann Mantil - Learning Structures, Small Learning Communities

Loud and Clear It’s been over 25 years since I first I ran across Ted Sizer’s name. Harvard and Andover? Not in my “set.” Despite those affiliations, some friends of mine said I... December 02, 2009 by Deborah Meier - Ted Sizer

Samples of the Three Mathematical Elements at New Mission High School: Mathematical Modeling, Mathematical Proof, and Problem-Solving Mathematical Modeling 1. In Roser Gin?©'s Midlevel and Graduate classes this year, students have used math models and mathematical reasoning to explain the impact of epidemics on the world's... April 02, 2004 - Curriculum, Projects & Units, Essential Questions, Problem-based Learning

Go to the Source: More about the Schools and Organizations Featured in this Issue Bay Area Coalition for Equitable Schools 1720 Broadway, Fourth Floor Oakland, California 94612 telephone: 510-208-0160 www.bayces.org Boston Day and Evening Academy 20 Kearsarge ... June 02, 2009 by Cheryl Almeida - Data Collection & Analysis, Cycle Of Inquiry

Notes on This Issue Happy birthday, CES! We turn 25 in 2009, and it’s a year of celebration and looking forward for the CES network. Horace will continue to feature the writing and first-hand experiences of Essential... June 01, 2009 by Jill Davidson - Data Collection & Analysis, Cycle Of Inquiry

Everyday Antiracism: Getting Real About Race in Schools Everyday Antiracism: Getting Real About Race in Schools, edited by Mica Pollock (New Press, 416 pages, $24.95), reviewed by Kyle Meador Educators dealing with race in schools encounter a... June 01, 2009

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

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

What Works, What Doesn't: Lessons from Essential School Reform Lesson 1 Change efforts fail without the support of all key stakeholders from the start. Lesson 2 Get consensus on the need for change before you start - then begin working... April 27, 2002 - The Change Process

Collateral Damage: How High-Stakes Testing Corrupts America’s Schools Collateral Damage: How High-Stakes Testing Corrupts America’s Schools by Sharon L. Nichols and David C. Berliner (Harvard Education Press, 250 pages, $24.95) Collateral Damage will recommit... March 05, 2008 by Jill Davidson

Starting a New Essential School: What It Shows About Change Sidebars: Let's Talk: How One Community Prepared for Its New School Outside the System but with the System's Blessing: Are Charter Schools a Force for Change? Wanted: All... April 29, 2002 by Kathleen Cushman - The Change Process

Studio Thinking: The Real Benefits of Visual Arts Education Studio Thinking: The Real Benefits of Visual Arts Education by Lois Hetland, Ellen Winner, Shirley Veenema, and Kimberly M. Sheridan (Teachers College Press, 128 pages, $24.95) Studio Thinking... February 22, 2008 by Kyle Meador

Dos and Don'ts with Refugee Students As an English as a Second Language teacher at Chicago's Sullivan High School, Naomi Nakayama works with many refugee students who have come to the United States after years of disjointed or... March 10, 2003 by Naomi Nakayama - Instruction, Personalization

Education and Democracy: Back to the Future I know it’s 2008, but the prospect of a new administration—and a new U.S. Department of Education—has me thinking about 2001. I have to admit that when the No Child Left Behind... December 09, 2008 by George Wood

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

Indianapolis' Commitment to Small High Schools: Finding New Ways to Say Yes "Indianapolis Public Schools operates some of the worst dropout factories in the nation. Hundreds of students each year quit school, most landing in dead-end jobs or prisons. In some families,... November 29, 2005 by Jill Davidson - Decision Making Processes, Democratic Practice, Developing Leaders

Looking Back on 15 Years of Essential School Designs Sidebars:In a High-Stakes Testing Environment'Thinking in Questions'Teachers Reach Across Boundaries for Support and InspirationA Multilingual Essential School Develops LanguageSmall Autonomous... May 10, 2002 - Learning Structures, Small Learning Communities, Scheduling, Subject Integration

New Jersey Coalition Schools: Compelled to Collaborate What happens when schools are compelled by external district or state mandates to adopt a democratic leadership structure–as is happening in mandated reform efforts nationwide–rather... May 14, 2002 by Jill Davidson - The Change Process

Educators Talk about Leadership for Equity: Roundtable Interview II Horace editor Jill Davidson met with four Bay Area educators—Michelle Lau, math teacher at Fremont's Irvington High School, David Montes de Oca, educational strategist at Oakland's Urban Promise... April 30, 2003 - Governance, Decision Making Processes, Democratic Practice

More About the Schools Featured in this Issue Schools Francis W. Parker Charter Essential School 49 Antietam Street Devens, Massachusetts 01434 phone: 978.772.3293 www.parker.org Greenfield Center School 71 Montague City... February 07, 2008 - Assessment, Exhibitions

We All Win Together: Met Graduates Reflect on Advisories Rich with ideas, opinions, and passions, advisories are a place to get feedback, to try out new ideas, to learn, and to teach. As teams focused on a common goal-learning and life success for everyone... December 16, 2004 by Kristin Waugh-Hempel, Elissa Toro, Chris Hempel, Takesha Lopes, Alex Rivera - Learning Structures, Small Learning Communities

Where to Go for More: Resources for Education for Democracy Advancement Project Advancement Project is a useful resource for classrooms, independent studies, and other investigations in the realms of social justice and equity in the United States.... January 06, 2009

Resources: Professional Development, School Restructuring, and Small Schools Bay Area Coalition for Equitable Schools BayCES's website provides a substantial range of tools, ideas, inspirations, and resources for creating small schools from large schools and for establishing... July 07, 2004 - The Change Process, Democratic Practice, Developing Leaders

Standards of the Heart and Mind: Creating the Good High School Talking to school people all over the country is a sweet and thrilling aspect of my work as Horace's editor. I ask Coalition educators what inspired them to structure their schools differently, and... May 14, 2002 by Peggy Clohessy Silva, Robert A. Mackin - The Change Process

Notes on This Issue I hope that you experience this issue of Horace as compelling, illuminating, and a significant force for change in and improvement of your practice as an educator. “CES 2.0: Technology and... July 21, 2009 by Jill Davidson - Instruction, Technology And Information Literacy

Conditions for Small School Success in Boston: Lessons from the Pilot Schools When the Boston Public Schools (BPS) open for business in the fall of 2005, 25 out of 34 Boston high schools each will enroll fewer than 500 students. Seven of those schools will be brand new, the... November 22, 2005 - Democratic Practice, Keeping The Vision

Literacy and Democracy Go Hand in Hand: Teaching and Learning Literacy Skills in a Relevant, Meaningful Context At Monadnock Community Connections School (MC2), mid-year Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) scores were in. 44 students, five teachers, two tutors, and two parents had accepted the community-wide... June 23, 2008 by Kim Carter

Middle College High School, Space Science Overview All of the New York Performance Consortium schools have created overviews for each of their courses. These overviews demonstrate students' learning goals, the assessments that they will... May 29, 2002 - Assessment, Planning Backwards

Sidebar: More Information from The New York Performance Standards Consortium New York Performance Standards Consortium Schools The New York Performance Standards Consortium is a CES National affiliate, with schools across New York state. A partial list of its members... April 21, 2006

Eagle Rock School: An Ethic of Service Eagle Rock School, located in Estes Park, Colorado, is two schools in one: a school for high school age students and a professional development center for adults, particularly educators. Year-round,... April 03, 2008 by John Guffey - Community Collaboration

Notes on this Issue The perspectives offered here may seem less inclusive of student voices than those that generally appear in Horace. But all the authors included in these pages – all CES network educators and... April 04, 2008 by Jill Davidson - Teacher Collaboration & Learning

Working the Demand Side: An Interview with the Algebra Project's Robert Moses In January 2004, Victor Cary, Program Director at the Bay Area Coalition of Equitable Schools, talked with Robert P. Moses, longtime civil rights activist. Known for his voter registration work in... April 02, 2004 by Victor Cary - Instruction, Cooperative Learning

Essential Schools and State Systems: How Is the Climate Changing? Sidebars: Changing a State's Regulations: How Pennsylvania Has Done It A Tribe Transforms Its Schools: The Zuni Story NY's Essential Schools: Partners With The State As... April 29, 2002 by Kathleen Cushman - Community Collaboration

Go to the Source: More about the Schools and Organizations Featured in this Issue Boston Arts Academy 174 Ipswich Street Boston, Massachusetts 02215 telephone: 617.635.6470 www.bostonartsacademy.org Boston Day and Evening Academy 20 Kearsarge Avenue Roxbury,... April 14, 2008

"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

The Family and Essential Schools: Mobilizing Democracy Toward Equity Sidebars: Ten Principles of Parent Engagement Parents as Educational Advocates: Learning to Ask the Right Questions Charter Schools: Parents as a Survival Strategy One Classroom's Research Turns... April 29, 2002 by Kathleen Cushman - Family Collaboration, Democratic Practice

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

Comments from Maureen Benson, Principal, Youth Empowerment School Maureen Benson, principal of the Fremont Federation's Youth Empowerment School (YES), talked with Laura Flaxman and Horace editor Jill Davidson about YES's early successes and challenges as a small,... July 06, 2004 by Jill Davidson, Laura Flaxman - The Change Process, Developing Leaders

Show, Don't Tell: Video and Accountability For centuries schools have used the spoken or written word to assess how a student is doing, regardless of what has been taught. Think of chemistry classes: Hours of work in the lab must be boiled... June 03, 2002 - Community Collaboration

Review: Widening the Circle: The Power of Inclusive Classrooms Widening the Circle: The Power of Inclusive Classrooms by Mara Sapon-Shevin, (Beacon, 184 pages, $16.00) Widening the Circle argues that all learners—and teachers—contain multitudes. On that... February 07, 2008 by Jill Davidson - Classroom Culture, Cooperative Learning

The Mind at Work: Valuing the Intelligence of the American Worker The Mind at Work: Valuing the Intelligence of the American Worker by Mike Rose (Penguin, 288 pages, $15.00) In The Mind at Work, Mike Rose examines the connection between the body and the mind... April 03, 2008 by Jill Davidson

Where to go for More Resources for Using Architecture to Support Small Learning Communities Here are some starting points for funding, support and inspiration for schools planning architectural change to support personalization and more powerful learning. U.S. Department of Education's... May 28, 2002 - Learning Structures, Small Learning Communities

Fires in the Bathroom: Advice for Teachers from High School Students by Kathleen Cushman and the Students of What Kids Can Do, Inc. (The New Press, 240 pages, $24.95) reviewed by Jill Davidson "Getting adolescents to talk honestly takes only genuine interest in... September 03, 2003 by Jill Davidson - Classroom Culture

One Kid at a Time: big lessons from a small school One Kid at a Time: Big Lessons from a Small School details the Metropolitan Regional Career and Technical Center, better known as the Met. I'll confess: sometimes when I read about great schools, I... May 28, 2002 by Eliot Levine - Learning Structures, Small Learning Communities