Conference Sessions
Strands
Thursday, February 8
Preconference 1:00–4:30 PM
Friday, February 9
Session A 9:30–10:45 AM
Session AB 9:30 AM–12:15 PM
Session B 11:00 AM–12:15 PM
Session C 2:15–3:30 PM
Saturday, February 10
Session D 8:00–9:15 AM
Session DE 8:00–10:45 AM
Session E 9:30–10:45 AM
Identity
AB9
Building a Community of Schools: Balancing Autonomy and Flexibility in SLCs
John Spiegel, Principal, Crawford IDEA High School; Chris Hurst, Principal, Crawford CHAMPS High School; Monique Robertson, Principal, Crawford Law & Business High School, San Diego USD
In an effort to build a community of schools, the principals of Crawford Educational Complex have organized a series of retreats involving staff from each school. In such retreats, a complex vision has been developed, goals have been identified, norms for collaboration have been established, and cultural/space agreements have been written. Other structural elements, including a Complex Council, Complex Staff Meetings, and a Parent/Community Engagement Committee, have been established to promote communication and shared decision-making of all staff, parents, and students. Participants of the session will have the opportunity to learn about these structures and documents. They will also be shown the struggles, challenges, and issues of having several SLCs in a complex and how those are being addressed in an ongoing way by school administration/teacher teams.
Implementation Level 1 & 2
Strands:
Identity
AB10
Role of Structures in Student Achievement
Mike Neubig, Founder/Co-Founder, Capture Educational Consulting/American Alliance for Innovative Schools
This presentation focuses on creating school day structures that provide flexible blocks of time for personalized programs, while maintaining the positive elements of the existing school structures. The presentation will demonstrate a research-based scheduling system that is proven to enhance the school environment and improve student achievement, specifically at the all-important ninth grade level. We will see the positive effects of using pretests and short-cycle assessments for appropriate placement of students upon entering high school. This schedule provides flexible-extended blocks of time for teams of teachers to instruct heterogeneous, common groups of students, while also offering opportunities for students to transition fluently between courses. Essentially, teams of teachers are responsible for scheduling students within their own time block. Additionally, students have access to academic support throughout the whole day. Most importantly, the schedule allows for complete integration of LEP and Special Education Students into the learning communities. Participants will engage in active discussion about ways to empower teachers to create their own schedules and will be asked to design schedules that they believe may be useful in their own teaching settings.
Implementation Level 1 & 2
Strands:
Identity, NEW!
C9
Building Support for Reluctant Adopters of Change
Robin Shrode, Owner/Founder/Co-Founder, Impact Educational Consulting/American Alliance for Innovative Schools
As a former SLC project director in an urban/suburban district in Texas, Robin Shrode will share a systemic framework for supporting the early adopters, wait-and-see adopters, and reluctant adopters through the implementation of new structures and strategies for high school redesign. This session will include those successful strategies used in the initial stages of implementation of SLCs at three large comprehensive high schools as well as strategies used to sustain the momentum once the vast majority of stakeholders were on board. This SLC director created a successful framework for professional development and training based on the following assumptions: (1) the staff lacked accurate information; (2) the staff lacked compelling reasons for change; (3) staff members did not see clearly how it was to affect them personally in their work; (4) they did not understand their role in the change process; (5) they feared they lacked skills needed to make the change; (6) they mistrusted the intent of the redesign of a traditional high school.
Implementation Level 1
Strands:
Identity, NEW!
C10
Turning to One Another: A Dialogue on Leading SLC Redesign
Laura Rogers, Ed.D., Pamela Goddard, Coordinators, Orange County Department of Education
This session provides a time and space for conversation on issues related to the challenges of leading the district/county in redesigning schools for SLC. SLC project directors and coordinators in attendance are asked to share expertise and experiences, both successes and challenges, with regard to various topics of implementation. The goal is to listen and to learn from one another in order to elevate the conversation concerning this work and to expand our knowledge. Attendees for this session should be project directors, SLC coordinators, and practitioner leaders.
Implementation Level 1, 2 & 3
Strands:
Identity, NEW!
D9
Small Learning Communities
Cathy Armstrong, SLC Advisor; Albert Castillo, Director, Secondary School Services; Pat Moretta, Jesus Angulo, Principals, Southgate High School, LAUSD Local District 6, LAUSD
“You can’t motivate someone you don’t know . . . the heart of schooling is the relationship between the teacher, student and ideas. ” Ted Sizer
This session will explore SLCs and how they benefit our students, teachers, and communities in Local District 6 high schools of the Los Angeles USD. Participants will explore research on SLCs, examine how Local District 6 has transformed its large, comprehensive high schools into small, heterogeneous communities of learning built on high-quality curriculum and instruction, and discuss with a panel of principals how to manage some of the predicaments that arise from redesigning schools into SLCs as policies, programs, initiatives, and people work together.
Implementation Level 1, 2 & 3
Strands:
Identity, NEW!
E9
Freshman SLC Academies at Buena Park High School
Michael Reule, SLC Coordinator/Teacher; Judy Fancher, Vice Principal; Emma Thompson, Freshman Academy Lead Teacher, Buena Park High School, Fullerton Joint Union HSD
Want to know what it is really like to bring SLC to your school? Come hear about the successes and challenges of SLC reform from an SLC coordinator, vice principal, and Freshman Academy lead teacher from Buena Park High School in North Orange County. Mini-breakout sessions will follow an introductory PowerPointŪ presentation. You will have an opportunity to have your questions answered and to network with others.