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Transforming Education: Realizing a Vision
New Horizons for Learning acknowledges with gratitude the contribution
of the Osberg Family Trust as sponsors of the Transforming Education page.
Transforming Education articles:
Recommended Reading
Related links
Critical Questions
Possible Actions
This area of the website is devoted to the possibilities of creating new kinds of educational systems and learning communities for today's students now in the process of becoming the adults of tomorrow's world. How do we make systemic change in curriculum, teaching and learning strategies that make it possible for every student to be successful; time schedules that allow projects and exploration of a topic to be completed; environments that allow for both group and individual learning and that facilitate the active, participative, and interactive processes that bring learning to life?
Tacoma TEACH: Making a Difference Through Collaboration Kurt Miller
Funded by a 21st Century Community Learning Center grant from the Washington State Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, the TEACH Project Director shares their mission to help stabilize the Tacoma Hilltop community by creating partnerships and relationships to implement after-school programs and family activities to build strong and successful families and children.Trends in School Reform Michael Silver
The Superintendent of Schools for the Tukwila School District considers standards-based reform, comprehensive school reform and student-centered reform.Lessons Learned from 15 Years of Family Engagement through Powerful Schools Rebecca Sadinsky
Powerful Schools is a nationally recognized non-profit based in south Seattle, dedicated to promoting student success in the city's academically and economically challenged public elementary schools. Powerful Schools' five core programs funnel vital resources into these schools, including academic expertise, skilled mentors and tutors, an integrated writing, arts, and reading curriculum and ongoing involvement and support from families, neighboring businesses and communities.Powerful Schools Rebecca Sadinsky and Greg Tuke
Present and former directors of Seattle's Powerful Schools describe what they have learned about organizational change in this remarkable inner-city project.Welcoming Spirit Into Our Schools Gary Tubbs
The principal of Seattle's The New School makes a case for creating intentional communities where adults honor the spirit of the child.Inspiring All Children to Learn Julie Cain
The Executive Director of Seattle SCORES explains how children in low-income urban neighborhoods are inspired to learn through this innovative after-school program.How Do You Get Black Kids to Learn? You Just Teach Them! A Conversation with Anitra Pinchback Jill Hearne
Interview with an award-winning teacher from the African American Academy about her successful strategies for raising the academic achievement of her students.Alderwood Middle School Makes a Difference Pat Steinburg and Suzie Baier
A Special Education specialist and a school principal share their strategies to create a learning environment that resulted in improved test scores, school participation, and parental satisfaction for students with disabilities.A Principal's Vision Lorna Spear
The Principal of Bemiss Elementary School (with more than 85% of the students on free or reduced lunch) explains how the program provides students with the academic and social skills and abilities they need to make choices in their lives.Structuring for Students' Success Patricia Hunter
The staff at Maple Elementary in Seattle share their success through building in time for communicating with each other, investigating and incorporating new teaching strategies, and by involving their community in their decision making process.School Improvement Process Works at Hood Canal School George Holmgren
A School Improvement Facilitator shows how school success results from hard work, dedication, staying the course and being intentional with the use of data to drive decisions.Student Academic Progress: Making A Difference Hajara Rahim
Principal of Van Asselt Elementary School describes a successful program that supports identified needs of students and their community.A Report on Washington State's Commission on Student Learning Marlene C. Holayter
A report by Marlene Holayter on the progress being made by the Commission on Student Learning in Washington State.The Olympian Initiative: Training Kids to Think Like Olympians Marilyn King
A two-time Olympic athlete delivers an update on a project working to transform schools.Achieving Educational Excellence: The Agenda for the First Decade of the Twenty-first Century Shirley McCune
A nationally recognized expert in educational change outlines a plan for restructuring schools in the 21st century.What Will It Take? David Conley
What are the characteristics of quality schools that make it possible for students to master the ambitious academic standards of Washington State? Is there a relationship between the funds provided the schools and the results? The What Will It Take (WWIT) project is focused on finding answers to these challenging questions.Success by Design Deborah Moffit
Deborah describes Interagency Academy, a public school in Seattle designed to meet the needs of its students. The article includes links to videos of Academy students voicing their thoughts on education.Recreating Schools for All Children John Morefield
In this article, the author identifies twelve characteristics of successful schools, and the common mistakes made by well-meaning educators that get in the way of success.GEAR UP: Making College More than a Dream for Disadvantaged Kids Debbie Dougan
The GEAR UP Program gives students hope, encouragement and practical advice for getting through high school, into college and on to successful careers through opportunities to participate in meaningful activities, relationships with caring, supportive adults, and high expectations.Passages Northwest: Inspiring Courage in Girls and Women Sheryl Kent, Susan Evans, and Kim Shirley
Staff members share their girls' and women's program dedicated to educating and motivating girls and women to develop leadership and courage through the integrated exploration of the arts and the natural environment.What is the Gates Foundation Doing in Education? An Interview with Kenneth Jones Dee Dickinson
A visit with Kenneth Jones of the Gates Foundation.A Different Kind of Independent School Designed for the 21st Century Marja Brandon
The principal of the new Seattle Girls School describes their unique program and may explain some of the reasons that girls' schools are springing up throughout the country.Why Every Child in America Deserves a School Where She/He is Known and Valued David Marshak, Ph.D.
David Marshak, a member of the New Horizons for Learning Board and a professor at Seattle University, writes about the power of personalization in schools. He proposes a paradigm for American schools where personalization is the core principle.What Kind of Schools Are We Going to Have in the Future? Dick Lilly
A former education reporter and Seattle School Board member reviews what he has learned about the potential of small schools.Strategy for Improving High School and Middle School Student Achievement Through Development of Small Schools Dick Lilly
Improvement spotlights transformation from large to small schools as the most effective action available to U.S. school districts for improving high school and middle school academic achievement for all students.Another Way: The Montlake Project LaVaun Dennett
LaVaun Dennet and her staff decide to restructure their school to better meet the needs of their at-risk students. They knew smaller class sizes would benefit their children, but the budget and their building forced them to think "out of the box" to achieve their objectives.The Impact of Collaboration, Assessment-driven Instruction, and Site-based Professional Development on an Elementary School Kelly Aramaki
A teacher writes of his experiences in a program implemented in his school by NWIFTL.Intergenerational Connections: Creating "Magic" for Young and Old Dorothy E. Dubia
Having volunteers in the classroom benefits everyone.Why Parents Who have Experienced Multi-Year Classrooms for their Children Love Them! David Marshak
Single year relationships among students, teachers, and parents were invented in 1806 in Prussia and brought to the United States in the 1840s by Horace Mann. This is a pre-psychological model for organizing school that is illogical and destructive. It's way past time to let it go. Schools that feature multi-year relationships among students, teachers, and parents offer profound academic and social and emotional advantages over single year schools.Breathing Life Into Our Schools Jason Kerber
While women have increasingly participated in leadership roles in the organizational life of schools and school districts over the past several decades, the original masculine structures were established before women played a role in leadership. Kerber's argument is that a better balance between the masculine and feminine would create more collaborative and creative work environments, healthier organizational structures, and better learning environments for boys and girls in our schools.LINKS For Learning Julie Hancock
The program director explains strategies to increase academic success and reduce the high dropout rate through improved school performance at the elementary level.A New Wave of Evidence: Relationships Between Effective Parental Involvement and Student Achievement compiled by the Washington Alliance for Better Schools
A synthesis of the latest research finding a positive and convincing correlation between family involvement and benefits for students.Investing in K-12 Education, One Child at a Time Joan Jaeckel
Director of Citizen's Endowment for Education (CEEDS) emphasizes that the only way to realize the ideal of an excellent education for every child is to invest in every individual child and youth's inalienable birthright to an appropriately customized education.Nation's Students Still at Risk James Harvey
Harvey, a professor of education at the University of Washington, contributes an especially timely and informative editorial about the current state of education in our country.Award-Winning District Reaches All Its Kids Wendy Battino
How does a school district meet the needs of all of its learners learning at different rates? Chugach shares its innovative approach.Respecting Teacher Professional Identity as a Foundational Reform Strategy Michelle Collay
If we consider relationships with colleagues and young people to be at the core of teacher professional identity, how might we think differently about the challenges of enacting school reform?How Teacher Thinking Shapes Education Judy Yero
It is not only what teachers say and do, but how they think that can affect how students learn.Small Schools And the Issue of Scale: Executive Summary Patricia Wasley
Just how effective are smaller high schools? Patricia Wasley shares the results of the study, Small Schools -- Great Strides.Teacher Talk: Teachers Building A Professional Community William Ayers
Teacher Talk, a regular gathering of classroom teachers to talk about teaching, offers insight and collegiality to teachers and helps them to do an even better job in the classroom.Rethinking Education in Light of Great Change S. J. Goerner
Goerner explains the complexity of the problems in education in order to help correct them.Organic Education™: A National Imperative Hugh Osborn
Educational consultant outlines principles from which to build a school system that can prepare our kids for the 21st century.Healing Math Learners George W. Gagnon, Jr.
The metaphor of healing math wounds inflicted by poor curriculum, poor instruction, and poor assessment is the basis of this essay on the current condition and changes needed in math education.North Carolina Education Project Closes Achievement Gap Margaret Gayle
Bright IDEA, a program using gifted techniques to teach all children, is achieving remarkable academic results for students at all ability levels in North Carolina.Maturing Outcomes Arthur L. Costa and Robert J. Garmston
Arthur L. Costa and Robert J. Garmston present a systematic map of educational outcomes intended for use by educational leaders. Students who can pursue broad meanings are better able to become citizens who are ready to contribute to a democratic society and a global community.Class Size: Does It Really Matter? Robert J. Rios
Robert J. Rios writes about overcrowded classrooms from his perspective as an educator at an alternative school in New York City.Keys to School Success National Education Association
Identified factors that all high achieving schools have in common. Based on more than five years of research by the NEA.Learning, Learning Organizations, and Leadership: Implications for the Year 2050 Jerry Bamburg
The major issue that confronts educators in America is whether or not we can transform education and create schools that can successfully prepare our nation's students for life in the year 2050.A New Crisis in America's Schools Allan Kullen
No Child Left Behind requires school districts to meet the rigorous standards set by the new law or risk losing millions of dollars in federal aid. This has forced educators across the United States to choose between the basic skills the legislation promotes and measures and the broader traditional curriculum in which academic success is not always as easily assessed.Understanding Why Education Must Change Renate Nummela Caine and Geoffrey Caine
Researchers Renate and Geoffrey Caine offer their perspective based on current brain research and analysis of pervasive assumptions that interfere with the development of schools and learning organizations that work for all.Beyond the Rhetoric of the Achievement Gap Dr. Stephen Fink
The co-director of the University of Washington's Center for Leadership addresses one of today's foremost challenges in education.The Profound Knowledge School Lewis A. Rhodes
W. Edwards Deming popularized the term "Profound Knowledge" to describe a base of fundamental beliefs that provided the context for the ways he made sense of organizations. More current terms for such framing beliefs are "paradigm" and "mental model." Thus Deming's System of Profound Knowledge t is a systemic, holistic core of fundamental beliefs about organizations -- and the people who comprise them -- that frames the way one perceives, and operates in, the world.Acceleration, Not Remediation: Closing the Achievement Gap with AVID Strategies Robert Gira
How an international educational reform program is helping to close the achievement gap.Transforming Geography in our Schools Kieran O'Mahony
We must perceive the need for geography in a modern world where our very survival depends on attitudes towards our planet and our neighbors.Transforming Schools: Creating a Culture of Continuous Improvement Allison Zmuda, Robert Kuklis, and Everett Kline
Romances With Schools: A Life of Education John I. Goodlad
Education for Everyone: Agenda for Education in a Democracy John Goodlad, Corinne Mantle-Bromley, and Stephen John Goodlad
Inventions of Teaching: A Genealogy Brent Davis
Creating the Future Dee Dickinson, editor
The Happy Child: Changing the Heart of Education Steven Harrison
Awakening Genius Tom Armstrong
The Disciplined Mind: What All Students Should Understand Howard Gardner
Engaging Minds: Learning and Teaching in a Complex World Brent Davis, Dennis Sumara and Rebecca Luce-Kapler
Lifelong Learning in Action: Transforming Education for the 21st Century Norman Longworth
Proceed With Passion: Engaging Students in Meaningful Education Paul Cummins with Anna Cummins and Emily Cummins
The Results Fieldbook: Practical Strategies from Dramatically Improved Schools Mike Schmoker
Teaching Democracy: Unity and Diversity in Public Life Walter C. Parker
Victory in Our Schools: We CAN Give Our Children Excellent Public Education John Stanford.
Vision: How Science Will Revolutionize the 21st Century Machio Kaku
Teacher Evaluation: to Enhance Professional Practice Charlotte Danielson and Thomas L. McGreal
The Power of Mindful Learning Ellen J. Langer
Teaching with Power: Shared Decision-Making and Classroom Practice Carol J. Reed
Hooray for Diffendoofer Day! Dr. Seuss, with some help from Jack Prelutsky and Lane Smith
Kids and School Reform Patricia Wasley, Robert Hampel, and Richard Clark
eMints National Center
eMINTS changes how teachers teach and students learn. Its instructional model provides a research-based approach to organizing instruction and can be implemented in any subject area at any level.The Center for Strengthening the Teaching Profession
CSTP, pronounced "C-step" was founded in 2003 as an independent, non-profit organization intent on helping students achieve by ensuring they have the teachers they need.Washington Alliance for Better Schools
A partnership of the Edmonds, Everett, Federal Way, Highline, Kent, Lake Washington, Mukilteo, Northshore, Seattle, Shoreline and Tukwila School Districts and the University of Washington College of Education. The mission is to raise the academic achievement levels of all students in their member school districts, so that all students meet the rigorous new standards created by Washington's 1993 school reform legislation.Pathways to School Improvement
Pathways to School Improvement Internet Server offers easy to find, concise, research-based information on school improvement. The Pathways server provides clear, accurate information on a variety of categories including: Assessment, At-Risk Children and Youth, Goals and Standards, Governance/Management, Leadership, Learning, Literacy, Mathematics, Parent and Family Involvement, Professional Development, Safe and Drug-Free Schools, School-to-Work transition, Science, and Technology.
What kinds of support are there for public schools in your community?
Is there a database of the individual and organizational resources available to your local schools (i.e., individual skills and talents, organizations with opportunities for internships and service projects, organizational and institutional partnerships, and monetary resources)?
How would you characterize the educational systems in your area?
From your perspective, what positive changes in education are currently underway and what changes are needed?
How are you catalyzing positive change or actively participating in the process?
Become well informed about the characteristics of excellent educational systems utilizing some of the resources on the website and current issues of The Journal.
Share this information with your colleagues, friends, and others interested in educational change.
Know your national, state, and local school standards. You will find them on the Internet.
If a database of resources for your school or school district does not yet exist, you may wish to begin one through a collaborative effort.
- If a database already exists, utilize it to form an alliance of individuals and organizations interested in supporting your local school or district. (See http://www.alliance4ed.org as an example of how one was formed to support Seattle Public Schools.)
Howard Gardner's Definition of Leadership
We open with Gardner's definition of the term leader from his book Leading Minds: An Anatomy of Leadership.The Courage to Lead: an Equity Agenda Stephen Fink
Co-Director Steve Fink of the University of Washington's Center for Educational Leadership explores the underlying structures causing the achievement gap and challenges educators to create high quality educational systems for all.Will the Real Leader Please Stand Up? Kimberley McLeod
Texas Southern University Professor discusses the needs of Black students and the role of school leaders in closing the achievement gap.Leadership for Social Justice: Envisioning an End to the Racial Achievement Gap Ed Taylor
Co-director Ed Taylor of the Center for Educational Leadership raises questions regarding social justice in 2003, and explores why it is that despite decades of school reform efforts children of color and children of poverty under-perform in school.Who's Responsible for Closing the Achievement Gap? The role of School Leaders in Acknowledging and Accepting the Challenge Jean L. Snell
The author suggests three essential steps for school leaders to take in addressing long-standing educational inequities.Getting Real About Visionary Leadership for Progress in Education Scott Thompson
What is the distinction between a vision statement and the vision itself? Thompson discusses how a vision's power is what stays in thought or heart when one puts aside the words on paper.Learning and Leading: Rethinking District-School Relationships George S. Perry, Jr. and Jennifer McDermott
The authors explore the struggles of central office administrators responsible for supervising schools—an essential, yet often neglected, role in leading the effort to redesign them.The Role of Educational Leadership in Ensuring Academic Success for Every Child Jill Jacoby
The executive director of a school administrators' association cites research on successful school reform highlighting the power of the inclusive educational family, recognizing and valuing the essential roles of teachers as well as support staff including secretaries, assistants, bus drivers, food service staff, and custodians.The Way to Find a Teacher Leader – Just Ask! Patricia Raichle
The author describes how a teachers' association has worked systematically to open the eyes of teachers to their own potential for leadership and to help them recognize that leadership takes many forms.Leading with Hope and Trust Michael Silver
A school superintendent discusses the importance of helping others to imagine what is possible and, with an authentic voice, to ask who will care.Alliance for Education: Partner in Transforming Public Education Robin Pasquarella
The Director of the Alliance for Education describes the goal of the organization in creating a system of schools with the conditions, culture, and competencies to ensure that all young people are prepared to experience success in the future.Leadership for Democracy in Schools:Charting a Different Course in Times of Uniform Standards and External Accountability Andrew Rogers
A middle-school principal discusses how a democratic system that allows for greater staff, student, and parent involvement in shared leadership can lead to remarkable improvement in the school community.Dialogue: A Paradigmatic Shift in Communication Anne Adams
The author discuses how to bring people together to discuss our country, freedom, unity, equality and our vision for the future.Leadership at Every Level: Appreciative Inquiry in Education Rich Henry
Through Appreciative Inquiry it is possible to recognize and amplify successes and strengths that already exist and create a new image of the future that is so compelling that we are drawn to it.Introduction to the Report A Decade of Reform Jeffrey T. Fouts
As we are barraged with results from tests on student achievement and data on school progress, an educational researcher clarifies and combines test data for Washington State and presents it in a non-technical format to make the findings easily accessible.NWIFTL:Learning from a Six Year Professional Development Initiative
The Northwest Initiative for Teaching and Learning was founded on the belief that collaboration is the key to significant organizational change and school improvement. This report focuses on the final phase of NWIFTL's successful work with partner schools.Leaders for Learning Pat Roschewski
The story of a new assessment system in the State of Nebraska where six promising practices are making a difference in education.Student Leadership Today Grant Nelson
The student body president of a Washington State high school explains his views that positive student leadership entails building community within a school.Leadership: From a Student's Point of View Chris Smith
For this Seattle Center School sophomore, student leadership equals individual empowerment and less acceptance of the tyrannies of social cliques and peer pressure.Recommended Reading on Leadership in Education
Bibliography: Top Leadership Books Steve Boyd
Guiding Lights: The People Who Lead us Toward Our Purpose in Life Eric Liu
Leading Minds: An Anatomy of Leadership Howard Gardner
The Wounded Leader: How Real Leadership Emerges in Times of Crisis Richard H. Ackerman and Pat Maslin-Ostrowski
Learning to Lead: A Workbook on Becoming a Leader Warren Bennis and Joan Goldsmith
Leading With Soul: An Uncommon Journey of Spirit Lee G. Bolman and Terrence E. Deal
Leadership Capacity for Lasting School Improvement Linda Lambert
© August 2006 New Horizons for Learning
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