Proven methods, hard-won lessons, and practical tools to create a better future of education
Extraordinary Learning for All: How Communities Design Schools Where Everyone Thrives delivers a hopeful, humane, realistic, and compelling portrait for how we must reinvent schooling for a new century, drawing on the voices and experiences of real school communities who are on that journey and illuminating the specific actions that school and system leaders can take to spark these journeys in their communities. The frameworks, concepts, and stories in this book, emanating from direct, in-the-trenches partnerships with innovators on the ground, show, in genuine detail, what makes this work hard - but also what makes it possible.
Written by the co-founders and Chief Learning Officer of Transcend, a leading nonprofit in school innovation, this book provides solutions to the major problems we face in education, including approaches that:
- Reverse declining enrollment rates and chronic truancy, especially in large urban districts, through better student engagement
- Mitigate our national mental health crisis through school designs that address higher-than-ever-rates of boredom, stress, and chronic anxiety
- Engage and collaborate with parents and communities to improve local schools
- Uplift the voices and expertise of teachers, 300,000 of whom left the profession between 2020-2022
For educational leaders in communities of all shapes and sizes, Extraordinary Learning for All: How Communities Design Schools Where Everyone Thrives is your blueprint to break free from the traditional model of schooling and build a better future for all.
Table of Contents
About the Authors xv
Acknowledgments xvii
Authors’ Note xxi
Foreword xxiii
Introduction 1
Two Schools, Two Districts, Two Possible Futures 1
Our Case for Change 2
School and Its Industrial-Era Design 4
How to Read This Book 7
Who Is This Book For? 8
About Us 9
Part I Extraordinary Learning for All
Chapter 1 Extraordinary Experiences and Outcomes 13
Extraordinary Outcomes for All 14
Extraordinary Experiences for All 16
Chapter 2 Community-Based Design 33
The Basics of Community-Based Design 35
Part II Stories from Four Community Design Journeys
Chapter 3 DC Public Schools’ Van Ness Elementary | Washington, DC 55
Community and Leadership Context 59
The Blueprint: Overview of the Whole Child Model Learning Environment Design 60
The Blueprint: Goals and Guiding Concepts 62
The Blueprint: Student Experience 69
The Blueprint: School and System Elements 75
Chapter 4 Northern Cass | Hunter, North Dakota 81
Community and Leadership Context 84
Early Innovations Toward Competency-Based Learning: Pursuing Greater Learner Customization 85
How the Design Cycle Guided and Supported Northern Cass’s Design Journey 92
Chapter 5 Brooklyn STEAM Center | Brooklyn, New York 103
Community and Leadership Context 106
The Blueprint: Overview of Brooklyn STEAM’s Learning Environment Design 108
The Blueprint: Goals and Guiding Concepts 109
The Blueprint: Student Experience 115
Chapter 6 Intrinsic Public Schools | Chicago, Illinois 127
Community and Leadership Context 129
The Academic Model: How Community-Based Design Strengthened Learning 132
Part III How to Embark on a Community-based Design Journey
Chapter 7 Launching Your Design Journey 143
“Gear Up”: Lay the Foundation for Your Community Design Journey 145
“Map It”: Craft a High-Level Vision for the Entire School or System 150
Chapter 8 Deepening Your Design Journey 167
“Zoom In”: Craft a Detailed Vision for a Specific Aspect of the Student Experience 168
“Test-Drive”: Test and Refine the Student Experience 177
“Look Ahead”: Prepare to Continue the Journey 185
Chapter 9 Advancing and Sustaining Your Design Journey 189
Shift from “Test-Drive to Full Speed”: Advance a Component of the Student Experience from Testing to Multiple Cycles of Implementation 191
“Zoom In Again”: Design Additional Components of the Student Experience 199
“Map It Again”: Continue to Refine the High-Level Vision for the Entire School or System 202
“Perform Routine Maintenance”: Maintain the Process and Leadership Over the Long Haul 207
Part IV How to Turbocharge Your Community Design Journey
Chapter 10 Your Leadership Matters 213
A Special Kind of Leadership for a Special Kind of Challenge 215
What Do Learner-Centered Leaders Do? 215
How Do Learner-Centered Leaders Have Impact on Conditions? 220
The Source of This Framework 223
Be a Learner-Centered Leader 225
Chapter 11 The Policy Environment Around You Matters 229
Policy Impact 230
Assessment and Accountability Systems 231
Seat Time and Graduation Requirements 236
Funding for Innovation 238
Navigating Your Policy Environment 241
Conclusion 245
Conclusion: You Are Not Alone 247
Explore New Models that Make the Leaps 247
Find a Design Partner 248
Where Do I Find Design Partners? 250
Build Your Own Capacity 251
Join a Growing Network 252
Extraordinary Learning for All 252
Endnotes 255
Index 271
