Turning High-Risk Schools into Professional Development Learning Labs

As educators, our ultimate goal is to support all students in reaching their full potential. For students attending high-poverty, Title I schools, achieving that goal can be challenging. These schools often lack resources and experience high levels of teacher and principal turnover, leading to greater difficulties for students. However, instead of viewing these schools as problems to solve, let’s turn them into opportunities for growth and development for everyone in the district.

By transforming high-risk schools into professional development learning labs, school districts can equip all teachers and leaders with the skills and resources they need to foster a supportive and empowering school culture, implement student-centered teaching practices, provide equitable interventions, and engage students at high levels. This approach sends a clear message that these schools are valued and that their students have the potential to achieve great things.

The benefits of this approach are far-reaching. Teachers and leaders from other schools who receive professional development at the learning lab can bring new ideas and best practices back to their own schools. Meanwhile, students in the learning lab schools receive the resources and attention they need to succeed and feel that their education is valued. The wider school district also benefits, as this approach challenges community biases and demonstrates that all students can thrive with the right support.

However, implementing this approach is not without its challenges. Parents and teachers in more affluent schools may push back, demanding resources and attention. But, as educators, it is our responsibility to take an equitable approach and prioritize the needs of the students who need it most. By investing in high-risk schools and using them as professional development learning labs, school districts can create a more equitable education system for all students.

Open Your Door→

I love this entire article by Jennifer Gonzalez, but her closing paragraph jumped out at me:

Ours is a delicate, nuanced art, and though books and workshops offer all kinds of interesting ideas for how we can improve that art, the resources that lie behind every door in your school can offer something even richer, if you’re brave enough to let each other in.

It’s often too easy to rely on the county, call in a consultant, or “do a book study” for teacher professional development. In nearly all cases, the most effective way for teachers to grow is from each other. That’s impossible without the support, systems, and structures that create the culture for peer collaboration and feedback—as leaders, building that culture is our top priority.

The way we do things around here.→

Culture greatly impacts student achievement, teacher morale, and school climate. A strong, positive culture supports learning and growth, while a toxic one can harm students, teachers, and staff.

“A school’s culture is a complex pattern of norms, attitudes, beliefs, behaviors, values, ceremonies, traditions, and myths that are deeply ingrained in the very core of the organization and wields astonishing power in shaping what people think and how they act.”

— Roland Barth, The Culture Builder

Building Strong School Culture with Crew at Handy Middle School

This video features the impact of Crew, as shared by the students and teachers at Handy Middle School. They discuss the improvements they have seen, including increased confidence, better communication, stronger bonds, and a more connected community.

Crew is a unique combination of advisory class and ethos that aims to create a supportive and grounding environment for students as they start each day. During the first 30 minutes of every day, teachers focus on lessons that emphasize social-emotional skills and character-building activities. During these lessons, students reflect on essential skills such as communication, collaboration, and leadership, while also building relationships with their classmates and teachers. The lessons learned in Crew are then practiced throughout the day.

The impact of Crew extends beyond the students to the staff as well. Staff crew meetings provide a space for team building and decompression, allowing staff members to connect, support each other, and refocus on their work.

Creating and maintaining a positive school culture is a challenging but essential task for any principal. That's why I was thrilled to partner with EL Education on the pilot of their middle school Crew curriculum at Handy Middle School. Our goal was to provide the school redesign team with a framework and necessary support to achieve this objective.

This video celebrates the transformative impact of empowerment and the importance of fostering a strong school culture. The use of student and teacher voices to share their experiences highlights the positive impact of Crew and the success it has had in the school community.

A Teenager's View on Social Media→

Insightful article by "actual teen," Andrew Watts:

If I could break down a party for you in social media terms, here’s how it would pan out:

• You post yourself getting ready for the party, going to the party, having fun at the party, leaving at the end of the party, and waking up the morning after the party on Snapchat.
• On Facebook you post the cute, posed pictures you took with your friends at the party with a few candids (definitely no alcohol in these photos).
• On Instagram you pick the cutest one of the bunch to post to your network.

Snapchat is where we can really be ourselves while being attached to our social identity. Without the constant social pressure of a follower count or Facebook friends, I am not constantly having these random people shoved in front of me. Instead, Snapchat is a somewhat intimate network of friends who I don't care if they see me at a party having fun.