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

Implementing Schoolwide Projects - May 1994

Key Features of Successful Schoolwide Projects

Management and Organizational Structure

Reorganization under a schoolwide project very often involves reducing class size and eliminating pullout programs. These changes alone do not create an effective schoolwide project, however; they are simply a starting point. It is the way in which changes are achieved--and the depth of changes, including a sense of accountability among all teachers and the rejection of practices that isolate Chapter 1 from the rest of the school--that makes the difference between an adequate schoolwide project and an exceptional one.

Most schools used schoolwide project funds to reduce class size by hiring an additional three to five classroom teachers. Former Chapter 1 teachers usually became regular classroom teachers or joined classrooms as "focus" or "extension" teachers-- specialists who intensify instruction for small groups of students within the classroom. In successful projects, where these teachers were included in the planning and management phases, the effect of this change was to increase the amount of individualized direction for students and strengthen their achievement significantly. Collaboration among teachers improved, and the schools promoted programs that enabled students to work at their own pace. The change also seemed to increase all teachers' sense of accountability for all students; as regular classroom teacher said, "Now I am the Chapter 1 teacher who has to see to it that [disadvantaged students'] needs are met."

Many schools also implemented an extended day or year-round schedule to increase instructional time for all students. This structural change targeted low-achieving students in a particular subject, such as math or reading; provided extra help or bilingual instruction to students with limited English proficiency; developed enrichment activities for all students; or used services offered by community partners. Examples range from an afterschool "homework club" for latchkey students to a two-week summer "academy" for low- achieving math students. In addition, successful projects restructured the school day to allow longer periods of instruction in reading or language arts--up to three hours at a time. Planners said this structural change was crucial to achieving the project's academic goals.

The goal of most management changes was to increase collaboration and accountability among teachers. Almost all successful projects were managed by a committee, generally an extension of the one that designed the project, that included teachers and parents as well as school administrators. Separate grade-level teaching teams met weekly to identify problems, solutions, and new strategies for the project; teacher groups also met at least once a month with the principal and/or district Chapter 1 director.

The involvement of teachers in management seems to be as important to the project's success as is their involvement in planning. One Chapter 1 district coordinator, who helped 15 schools make the transition to schoolwide projects, emphasized that teachers must be "nurtured" in the process:

Consistently, each [school] shows what I call growing pains--we don't give [classroom teachers] enough information about what schoolwide project is and what it means.... You really have to inform them about what the rules are [and] be on hand to explain to them the benefits and what drawbacks exist.

The same coordinator said that the difference between good and bad management of a project lies in the principal's leadership style: Principals have the best chance of long-term success when they go beyond "making bargains or agreements" with teachers to share decision making on crucial issues and foster collegial relationships among everyone involved with teaching children.

Finally, schoolwide projects give schools the resources needed to accomplish new goals. These include improved staff development; "support committees" composed of teachers, administrators, resource teachers, and school psychologists or other specialists; and new technology that engages children and teachers with dynamic new curriculum options. These efforts take advantage of the schoolwide project to serve individual needs within an inclusive program--and to increase collaboration among teachers. "I have notes from classroom teachers who for years could not leave their schools [for professional development]. I provided funds for them to visit workshops and other teachers," says one district Chapter 1 coordinator. "What we're trying to do is get more of the instruction coordinated...[so that] everybody is working together in a kind of collegial project. You can do that better in a schoolwide project."
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