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

Tucked away from the hubbub of a nearby Metropolitan city, Edison High School gives place to 1,200 students, 27% of whom are African American. Having been working at restructuring efforts for seven years, Edison has received assistance from such sources as the Coalition of Essential Schools and the Re:Learning program. The school has become a rich, supportive environment for teachers with innovative ideas who actively pursue ideas such as student as worker, personalization of instruction, and intellectual rigor. It has received further nudges toward reform from state legislation.

Since the state initiative is an attempt at overall systemic change, it has many components. At its heart is the assessment program. Through the assessment program, not only are students accountable for demonstrating mastery of content, but teachers are accountable for the quality of student learning. Based on a complex formula, each school is expected to raise the scores of students on each of three major assessments to reach a threshold score. Having students do well on the state assessments is a major goal for districts, schools, and teachers.

The curriculum reform at Edison High School has been guided by two complementary philosophies: that which is reflected in state legislation and the nine common principles of the coalition of Essential Schools. The change process is complex. Along with changing norms, schools must change structures, examine beliefs that underpin familiar practices, and develop new teaching strategies.

The goals of the curriculum at Edison stress higher order thinking and problem solving. These goals are for all students, not just the academically talented students. In a parallel manner, the content of the curriculum is focused on concepts, metacognitive strategies, and meaningfulness. It is not limited to facts nor is it limited by a belief that students become more knowledgeable simply by knowing more facts.

While overarching goals for reform were very apparent in the selected classrooms studied, the means to get to those goals were not always clear. In particular, a focus on quality work and depth of thinking was not always visible, even though the goal of students using their minds well drove the teachers' curriculum and instruction.

Assessment strategies often appeared to emphasize the completion of tasks rather than quality of thought. Rubrics tended to be checklists rather than descriptors of performance levels. Performances often were not judged by their quality but on whether or not they included the required activities. Students often were not asked to redo work of low quality. The teachers tended to grade on characteristics of presentations, such as attractive visuals and adequate volume, more than depth of thought of the research.

This is a school which strives for students to "use their minds well." Students are urged to think about serious issues. But in this well-nurtured school culture, an element is missing: the element of focusing on the goal of intellectual excellence rather than becoming confounded by the means to achieve the goal. The big picture of the reform movement is very much a part of the belief system of the school. The details of how to best implement the reforms are still under study, exploration, and experimentation. Pulling all the pieces together to make for a coherent whole is a long and arduous process. Edison may not be there yet, but it is moving in the right direction.

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[Coordinated Science at Westview High School]

[Thinking Across Disciplines at Oakgrove Middle School]