Lessons+from+the+Schools+We+Need+Project

=Lessons Learned from the Schools We Need Project=

The Schools We Need Project works to both build a theory of schools designed to engage students and the practical implementation of such schools, such the Academy School in Buffalo, NY, and other Citadel Group schools. Below are articles from the Schools We Need Project and external articles of interest to the project.

Creating an Educational Program to Engage Students

 * Designing schools that engage students may be the solution to several district challenges: dropouts and underachievers, student flight to charters and private schools, and local economic development.
 * There are 9 Essential Elements to Meaningful Engaged Learning.
 * Combining those elements with an effective school organizational program can create a strong systemic model for reengaging students.
 * [|Data], especially about teacher practice, can be a powerful tool to help create the targeted type of learning environments.
 * This work requires an alternative policy of academic progression, one based on "hours logged" and "standards met."
 * Such a policy needs [|the right tools].

Challenges to Good School Reform Work

 * School reform seems to need to be based less on [|improving direct instruction] and more on real world learning.
 * Changing paradigms is [|hard work].
 * [|Content can interfere with improving teaching].
 * Teachers need a phased implementation of real world learning.
 * [|This is people work].
 * Real world learning requires skills that teachers don't seem to get through traditional teacher training.
 * We should be using [|less logic and more psychology].
 * NWREL identified [|5 Paths to Success] for school reform.

Reaching Hard to Teach Students

 * There are [|several factors] that get in the way for underachievers.
 * Orderly classrooms and competent direct instruction [|are not enough for reaching some students].
 * Connecting with students is critical to reaching hard to teach students (see here, and [|here], and [|here]).
 * There are [|several instructional elements that will engage] students.

What Helps Kids Learn?

 * [|Tone of voice matters] to hard to teach students.
 * When asked about [|their good learning experiences], people tend to report the same set of characteristics of those experiences.
 * [|Really engage the students] and you can’t see the teaching anymore.
 * A little success can make a huge difference.
 * Content needs to be contextualized locally, but should also connect globally.
 * Students are more engaged when content is contextualized by an "Engaging Task."

Teaching and Learning in Technology Rich Environments

 * There are 6 key components to effectively integrating 1to1 laptops into schools.
 * There are signs that [|1to1 learning environments can be effective].
 * Maine's 1to1 learning initiative has developed lots of [|strategies for success].

Learning (and Teaching) with Technology

 * Teachers should focus on using [|"Disruptive" technologies] in the classroom.
 * There is good research on [|technology and pedagogy].
 * [|Fear and misunderstanding often get in the way] of schools using disruptive technologies.
 * But [|banning disruptive technologies] risks also interfering with student engagement.
 * Even though disruptive technologies scare some educators, what seems to work is using the rule of thumb, "[|if it is part of the students' culture, find an academic use for the tool.]"
 * As with school reform work, schools need to [|apply more psychology and less logic] toward their use of technology.
 * There is good research on [|technology and student learning].

Learning From Other Schools & From Students

 * Other schools have been successful (see [|here], and [|here], and [|here], and here).
 * [|Students have their own ideas] of what makes a good school.
 * Some groups have solicited [|student advice to teachers].
 * There are [|lessons to be learned from other alternative schools].
 * Some schools are successful at [|generating the curriculum with the students].

Resources

 * [|Edutopia]
 * [|What Kids Can Do]
 * [|Students as Allies in Improving Their Schools]
 * [|Alternative Schools: Caring for Kids on the Edge], the Summer 1998 issue of Northwest Education Magazine

The Schools We Need Project
//Because some students need more than direct instruction.//

The Schools We Need Project is a joint project of the [|Maine Center for Meaningful Engaged Learning] at the [|University of Maine at Farmington]