A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

During the study, Empire was in the process of radically restructuring its administration and its academic program. For those teachers active in school-based management and the teaming arrangements, life in the school was dramatically different. Yet these changes were in their early stages--during the 1991-92 school year, only 20 percent of the students and teachers were in teaming arrangements, and many classrooms and teachers were functioning as they had for years. The curricular initiatives in progress, however, held great promise. A writing program, computer lab, integrated thematic curricula, extended time blocks to allow study of subjects in depth, cross-age grouping--all represent research-based effective practices. It is too early to assess the effects of Empire's instructional reforms on teaching strategies, students' classroom experiences, and academic achievement. But there are data to support the positive feelings voiced by teachers and parents interviewed in the study. Parent and community involvement in the school was at an all-time high; the sale of school jackets and tee shirts increased dramatically as students were no longer embarrassed to be associated with the school name; student absenteeism and suspensions were reduced.

Empire's most dramatic changes were in the organization of the school governance. The administrative pyramid was "flattened" by creating a management team. The new role of administrators was reflected by their designations as "coordinators" and their temporary status on one-year contracts. All building administrators knew their jobs were on the line. At Empire, leadership was diffused among a young interim principal and a couple of teacher-leaders. The elimination of administrative positions and allocation of the funds to team planning by teachers further underscored the trend toward lean management and increased support for teachers.

Context Empire High School is in a highly innovative large city system. Following desegregation legislation of the mid-1970s, the predominantly white student population has shifted to 60 percent white, 30 percent African-American, and 10 percent Asian-American. Empire is trying to change its reputation as the school ranking last or next to last on every indicator of success used in the district. The reform was stimulated by a special assistant to the superintendent and head of the district's professional development academy, who was also an ex-principal in the district. He is an extremely progressive educator who seems to be taking on this school as a model project to show what can be done. The reform effort began in 1989, when a group of teachers, with the help of the principal, sought to implement a number of changes in the obviously failing school. Despite new curriculum programs, participatory management, experimentation with teaming, and involvement in the Coalition of Essential Schools, teachers recognized by 1991 that bolder initiatives would be necessary to reach their goals. At the same time, the assistant to the superintendent had been looking for a secondary school to try a plan he had for restructuring. He and the teachers agreed on a process for initiating three key components of what came to be known as the Empire initiative: (1) a planning year, (2) a quest for outside grants, and (3) an interim administrative structure. Revamping Class Divisions The design team promotes a new vision of the school that views it as a headquarters for learning, not the only place learning can happen. Building on a couple of attempts at grade-level teaming, the traditional grade and subject-matter structures are being revamped to create three divisions: (1) a preparatory division for 9th- and 10th-graders, grouping them into teams of 125 students with five teachers presenting interdisciplinary instruction; (2) a transition division for 11th- and 12th-graders focusing on preparation for college and the work force; and (3) an alternative division for students who can't attend school every day. In the 1991-92 school year, the preparatory division set up two teams, one at 10th and one at 9th grade, to serve as a model for the entire teaming effort in 1992-93. The 125 students will be located in the same physical area. The teams will consist of four "core" teachers (math, science, English, and social studies) plus one or two special teachers (English as a Second Language, Chapter 1, special education) whose services will be used as the team decides. Another set of teachers (art, music, foreign language) will rotate in and out of the teams (staying for 12 weeks each time). Finally, during each team's common planning period, students will go to a set of "related" teachers (e.g., business and orchestra). Empire plans to shift to "macro" scheduling, where students have two hours of history and two hours of math each day for one semester, with two hours of science and two hours of English the following semester. Another team has just begun to integrate math and English, using a thematic approach. Teachers at the Helm The reform-minded teachers at Empire High School have forged a participatory governance structure guided by teachers. In the 1991-92 planning year, a Design Team made up of school staff, administrators, community members, parents, and university staff took charge of designing the joint restructuring of both the high school and the middle school. In a makeover of the administrative structure, the number of administrative positions was reduced and the remaining positions were changed from top-down decision-makers to facilitating "coordinators." Moreover, some administrative support staff were reassigned to help teachers with paperwork. At Empire, the participatory management committee has decision-making authority for the high school; a series of subcommittees focus on areas such as curriculum scheduling; the teacher teams have a fair amount of authority over how they structure their courses. Learning to Navigate Together The teachers at Empire are attempting to accomplish a great deal, but most of the teachers feel positive about the process and support. The staff entered the planning phase better prepared than those at many of the schools in the study. First, the school had a participatory management structure in place for a couple of years, so a cadre of teachers and parents exist that have been involved in the decision-making process. Second, the outside resources secured by the Design Team from grants ($375,000 this year) pay for release time for teachers to do team planning. The three administrative positions eliminated also freed up funds for planning time. Third, because the school is a Coalition of Essential Schools (CES) participant, two or three of the staff have had extensive training at Brown University, and others have been trained by local CES staff. Fourth, the change effort is supported by the district's professional development academy, led by the administrator whose basic ideas shaped the reform design. Finally, the school has formed a partnership with a local university that provides for on-site graduate courses for the teaching staff.

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[Too Much, Too Quickly: Attempts to Change Edgemont Junior High]