Archived Information

Successful Schools Process

Developed and tested by the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory (NWREL)

What is the idea behind Successful Schools Process?

This program provides consideration of all the purposes of schooling--social, emotional, intellectual, and economic values, as well as academic achievement--in the improvement process. The purposes of schooling define the skills, attitude, and knowledge that the educational community wants for its students. Because each community is unique, the needs of the school are defined in terms of community values and philosophies. The process begins with the examination of the school's mission and culminates with a board-adopted action plan for development and celebration of specific student outcomes.

The Successful Schools Process consists of an orientation session followed by four on-site workshops. Total time spent in workshops is approximately 12 hours, and total "homework" time between workshops is also about 12 hours. Workshops are scheduled about 3 to 6 weeks apart allowing for a school district to complete the training within one semester.

What does research say about how this idea can help teaching and learning?

Communication and cooperation among school staff, administrators, school board members, and community members is essential to systemic, well-managed change that engages all responsible parties in the improvement process. In successful rural school improvement efforts, there are high levels of staff and community involvement in decision making, resulting in strong goal consensus regarding student outcomes.

How was program tested?

1. Individual participant feedback collected during the last Successful Schools workshop.

2. Follow-up evaluation visits conducted at each site in the fall succeeding the last workshop for each respective site. The purpose of the visits was to interview participants about implementing action plans, monitoring activities, and continuing steps of the process.

3. Pre- and post-data from the Successful Schools inventory used to determine the effect of districts' participation in the process. The inventory is a measure of perceptions held by the educational community on school district effectiveness. Pre-data inventory results reflected respondents perceptions of district needs and strengths at the time of the follow-up evaluation visit, usually about 1 year later. Respondents rate their district on each of 57 characteristic attributes of high-performing schools using two dimensionsù"current status" of implementation of the attribute and "level of importance" each attribute has in the district.

4. Mailed surveys used to develop professional activity reports completed each year by district superintendents in the year after completion of the workshops. Also, in 1993, surveys relative to ongoing effects of their school improvement efforts were mailed to all sites that had completed the process. At that time, a total of 29 districts had participated in the process. Twenty-six districts responded.

Professional activity reports included superintendents' assessment of district readiness for goal setting, prospects for implementation and attainment of district goals, and benefits of participating in the process.

Surveys on the impact of school improvement efforts asked districts to rate the degree to which items in each of four categories were utilized as a result of being involved in the Successful Schools Process: outcomes for school improvement; equity issues for rural, poor, minority, and at-risk students; use of student outcome information for decision making; and strengthening ties between school and community.

No additional follow-up studies are scheduled at this time.

The Successful Schools Process was evaluated in 35 single-campus districts and one multi-campus district. The focus of the process is "districtwide" rather than "schoolwide." The process is not favorably suited for multi-campus districts or districts with student enrollment in excess of 300.

What communities and states are using this program?

What's involved in using this program in my school and community?

The school district must be rural and

• the school board must be committed to participate in the process;

• school size should be under 300 total district enrollment;

• the district must be a single campus facility; and

• the district should show distress in the following ways:
  • achievement data show the district to rank in lowest cartel when compared with statewide data;

  • student-related expenditures rank low when compared with the state;

  • family poverty is high; and

  • distance from a metropolitan center or higher education institution exceeds 30 miles.

It is critical that the school board and community members (including parents) are active participants in this program in order for it to succeed. Shared commitment by the school and community to improve student outcomes is greater when there is consensus decision making done through broad-based representation.

Each of the four required workshops takes about 3 hours. Completion of "homework" required by development efforts will vary, but an estimated additional 12 hours of time is common. Districts that provide release time for staff for meetings and development work between sessions tend to experience greater success in achieving their goals.

The program also requires a facilitator who can serve as an outside change agent sensitive to the special needs of a small, isolated, rural community. Fourteen field-based facilitators from the region have been trained in the process. Plans are in place to train additional field facilitators during upcoming years.

Districts exercise flexibility in scheduling the Successful Schools Process orientation and workshop sessions. Some opt to complete all sessions within one semester, while others prefer scheduling the sessions throughout the school year. About half of participating districts schedule the orientation in late spring and begin the workshop series with the next school year. Based on school readiness assessment results 1991, however, the orientation session is not an optionùit is a prerequisite for participating districts. A small number of districts have added a fifth workshop that is tailored to strategies identified in the action plan.

Local considerations are integral to assisting a school district with its improvement efforts. Although several districts may select the same general improvement focus area, their specific needs will be defined in terms of community values and philosophies. The approaches taken with their action plans will be widely varied, reflecting the unique nature of their communities. These aspects were evident with 1990-91 participating districts.

Costs associated with implementing this program vary, depending on the components of the program being used.

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