Schools of Opportunity

Schools of Opportunity builds an argument for shifting the way that excellent schools are recognized and built. The National Education Policy Center’s Schools of Opportunity project was designed to highlight public high schools that are using research-based practices for closing opportunity gaps in student learning. The project recognizes schools working to address the needs of all students, whether or not those schools have high average test scores. This approach thus embraces a shift away from the nation’s myopic focus on outcomes. This follows from research findings that schools alone cannot fix the problems created by the stark inequalities in our society. Instead, schools should be expected to do their part by responding to inequities with research-based practices. With these shifts in mind, this book provides case studies of schools that demonstrate key criteria that other schools can emulate, such as an inclusive school climate, support for language-minority students, performance-based assessment, teacher professionalism, a commitment to detracking, and supports for students in need.

Book Features:

• Provides accounts of school reform, jointly told by researcher–practitioner teams, connecting current research with successful efforts of educators to create outstanding learning environments.
• Brings together the voices of principals and school leaders who share stories of how their work has unfolded in their school, district, and state contexts.
• Identifies the school leadership and teacher practices that close opportunity gaps for student learning, and what it takes to implement them.

Adam York is a research associate with the National Education Policy Center. Kevin Welner is a professor of education policy at the University of Colorado Boulder and the director of the National Education Policy Center. Linda Molner Kelley is codirector of the Schools of Opportunity project at the National Education Policy Center.

“The Schools of Opportunity Program began with the ambition of finding a way to identify high schools that were places where all students could thrive. By recognizing good practices, the program measured and rewarded what schools do rather than the test scores they produce. This excellent book provides examples of high schools where students thrive, along with a roadmap for school leaders who seek to engage in research-based practices of equitable improvement.”
—Carol Corbett Burris, executive director, Network for Public Education

“Here’s the proof that real education reform is do-able. These chapters are all co-authored by school leaders who describe how they’ve used research-based practices to close opportunity gaps. It really can happen! There are no excuses for delaying changes in how our nation’s schools work!”
—David C. Berliner, Regents’ Professor Emeritus, Arizona State University

“In contrast to the widespread campaigns of disinformation, profiteering, and so-called ‘reforms’ that exacerbate inequities in education today, Schools of Opportunity offers a visionary, vigorously researched, and imminently practical framework for assessing and transforming schools into foundations of democracy and justice. York, Welner, Molner Kelley, and colleagues offer not merely portraits of schools that exemplify the possibilities, but also roadmaps for getting there in our public school systems across the country. There is much reason for hope, and this book offers us an indispensable guide.”
—Kevin Kumashiro, author of Surrendered: Why Progressives Are Losing the Biggest Battles in Education

Contents

Introduction: The Schools of Opportunity Project  1
Matt Garcia and Michelle Renée Valladares

1.  A Challenging, Supported, and Engaging Curriculum for All  19
Kevin Welner and John Murphy

2.  A Multipronged and Equity-Oriented Approach to Transforming School Climate: The Story of Revere High School  35
Kathryn E. Wiley and Lourenço Garcia

3.  Authentic and Equitable Engagement in Learning at Pocomoke High School  49
Kellie Rolstad and Jenifer Rayne

4.  Authentic Assessment Embedded in Project-Based Learning  67
Jeffrey Palladino and Lorrie A. Shepard

5.  Preserving, Deepening, and Growing a Professional Teaching Culture: Lessons From Casco Bay High School  89
Linda Molner Kelley and Derek Pierce
(with Matt Bernstein, Susan McCray, and Rebecca Lynch Nichols)

6.  Clark Street Community School: A Place for All Students to Live, Learn, and Create  109
Jill Gurtner and Julie Mead

7.  A Holistic Approach to Learning and Development: Shifting Paradigms One School at a Time  131
Kristen P. Goessling, Kate Somerville, Adam York, and Kimberly Grayson

8.  Student Organizing and Leadership for Education Justice: Curriculum as a Site for Healing and Wellness  146
Kate Somerville, Kristen P. Goessling, Adam York, and Kimberly Grayson

9.  The High School in the Middle of Everywhere: Nebraska’s Lincoln High  158
Edmund T. Hamann, Janet Eckerson, and Mark Larson

10.  “Like a Family”: Sharing Leadership With Teachers, Students, Families, and Community at Rainier Beach High School  176
Ann M. Ishimaru and Dwane Chappelle

Conclusion: From Schools of Opportunity to Systems of Opportunity  193
Jeannie Oakes and Kevin Welner

Index  219

About the Contributors  230

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