Reports from the Field:

Successes and Challenges of Small Schools in Washington State

Mary Beth Lambert, Brinton Ramsey, Catherine Wallach

Seven Small Schools Study

Purpose: To understand aspects of the development of small high schools and associated processes of change.

Scope:• Three-year study, 2003-06• Seven small schools in Washington State that have reinvention grants from BMGF

• Six are located in recently converted large schools; one is an “already-small”

Methodology

• Student focus groups, journals, and electronic surveys

• Interviews with district and building administrators, teacher-leaders, and teachers

• On-site observations• Document review

School Culture

Values, beliefs, assumptions,

expectations, and behaviors related to

students and learning, teachers and learning,

and instructional leadership.

(from Change Leadership, Wagner et al, 2006)

Components of School Culture that Support Effective High School

Redesign• Shared sense of purpose and values• Personalization• Strong professional communities• Distributed leadership• Inclusion• Commitment to the success of all students

• District or building support

Shared Sense of Purpose and Values

“I think we are a cohesive group because we were able to work through issues. …We all came up with these standards

together. This is what’s important. This is what we want our students to

look like.”-Teacher

Personalization

• Adults in the school know kids so well that instruction and learning opportunities can be tailored to individual students based on that knowledge.

• Students in small schools are known and have a sense of belonging that sustains mutual trust between the teacher and the student.

• Students trust teachers sufficiently to grant their teachers the moral authority to make greater demands on them as learners.

Relationships and Relevance

What Students Say:

Basically, when I have that teacher for more

than one class or year, we find ways to work together, and I try harder because they

expect a little more out of me.

What Teachers Say:

For [both] the kids who are struggling, and the

kids who don’t have problems and are good

students… we know how we can challenge them better and get them to learn and grow and stretch that way

and that definitely didn’t happen in the big

school.

Strong professional learning communities

Evidence of strong professional communities included:

• A theme or vision held in common

• Teachers creating shared curricular goals

• Teachers expressing a sense of professional cohesion & accountability

Adult Learning in Service of Improved Student Learning

What Teachers Say:

“…the atmosphere of risk-taking, …of self-reflection, the notion that ‘you’re good now, but…don’t you want to be better?’ has really inspired me to make my teaching better.”

New Teacher Orientation

New Teacher Orientation

An intentional, inclusive process…

• Hiring for “fit”• Joining the Small School Community

• Ongoing support for new teachers

What Administrators Say:

…getting a sense of the curricular decisions that small schools have made and understanding the role that collaboration plays within small schools…there’s quite a bit of small school “politics” that new teachers need to understand.

Distributed LeadershipDistributed leadership

moves away from reliance on the traditional high school hierarchy toward shared practice that

embodies the following qualities:

Distributed Leadership

• Leadership is shared among people in different roles.

• Leadership is situational rather than hierarchical.

• Authority is based upon expertise rather than formal position.

Inclusion - Student Voice

The development of student participation and decision-making in the structures and practices that shape their

educational experience at the classroom and small school

levels.

Effect of Voice on the 3 Rs

Relationships

RelevanceRigor

Transformative Learning

Student – TeacherCo-

participation

Student & Teacher

Willingness to Risk

Student Voice and Relevance

Do Students Have a Voice?

Components of School Culture that Support Effective High School

Redesign• Shared sense of purpose and values• Personalization• Strong professional communities• Distributed leadership• Inclusion• Commitment to the success of all students

• District or building support

Commitment to the success of ALL

students

(Developed by Duane Baker, BERC Group, 2005)

For More Information

Copies of all our reports can be found at our

website:

www.smallschoolsproject.org