Creating and Sustaining Small Learning Communities: Strategies and Tools for Transforming High Schools

High school reform expert, consultant, and author, Grace Sammon, offers district and school leaders a step-by-step approach to the work of redesigning high schools into smaller learning communities. This book moves education leaders and school reformers from an appreciation of creating smaller learning communities to the nuts and bolts of doing the work while making improvements in school culture, professional practice, data gathering and analysis, and academic achievement. In addition, it provides a full CD-Rom tool kit for developing, sustaining, and evaluating a successful small learning community. This resource and collection of tools are essential for school leaders serious about small learning communities and continuous improvement.

Table of Contents:
List of Artwork List of Tool Kit Files Preface Acknowledgments About the Author 1. The Journey Begins Background The Mandate for School Reform Benefits of SLC Who Makes It Happen? The Practitioner′s Role Key Elements of Effective Redesign Efforts Looking at Design Options At a Glance: Summing It Up and Next Steps 2. Formation, Study, and Awareness: The Sum of the Parts Understanding the Process of Change What Do We Want a Graduate to Look Like? What Does the Ideal Teacher Look Like? Are We Producing That Now? The Data Discussion Begins What "Real" Might Look Like Building a "Commitment Framework": Agreements Needed for Success Building Your Local Definition: Establishing Structures At a Glance: Summing It Up and Next Steps 3. Leading an Improvement Process: Changes in Practice Are Inevitable Creating a Theory of Change Where to Begin With Building Capacity Establish Relationships At a Glance: Summing It Up and Next Steps 4. The Plan?s the Thing: Establishing Structures Initiative Alignment and Partnership Audit Creating Working Teams The Punch List: 100+ Things for Teams to Think About and Work Through How Much Will SLC Implementation Cost? Reality Check: Strengths and Deficit Mapping The Planning Stage The Ninth Grade Experience How Fast Do We Have to Go? At a Glance: Summing It Up and Next Steps 5. Establishing SLC Teams: Developing the Mission, Culture, and Schedule Creating Teams Creating Specific SLC Teams Building the Team The Team Sets the Agenda Mission Commitment to Students and Families Scheduling School Practices At a Glance: Summing It Up and Next Steps 6. Curriculum for College and Careers Curriculum Defined Understanding and Addressing Academic and Industry Skills Standards From Goals 2000 to SCANS: What Work Requires of Schools Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities Identifying and Honing the SLC Curriculum: Pathways, Courses, and Integration ′Quick Wins" Curriculum Tools At a Glance: Summing It Up and Next Steps 7. Professional Practice Moving Into Data-Driven Discussions A Culture of Literacy Data, Data Everywhere Use of Time Professional Development Will This Impact Student Achievement? Pulling the Pieces Together At a Glance: Summing It Up and Next Steps 8. Powerful Partnerships Partnership Defined Partnership Possibilities Business Basics Key Ingredients in Creating and Sustaining Partnerships Structures and Strategies Work-Based Learning The "Why" of Employability Skills The "When" of Employability Skills Developing Work-Based Experiences At a Glance: Summing It Up and Next Steps 9. The Student Experience: Making It Personal School-Based Structures Personalizing the Learning Experience Service Learning/Community Service The Senior Experience Student Voice More About Work-Based Learning: Brief, Perform, and Debrief Everything A Word About Placements Job Shadowing Mentorships At a Glance: Summing It Up and Next Steps 10. Sustaining: The Experts Are Among Us Revisiting the Practitioner?s Role What Will It Take to Succeed? What Do Success and Sustainability Look Like? Taking Stock: Study Process and the Peer Review Study Tools to Get You Started At a Glance: Summing It Up and Next Steps The Journey Continues Resources References Index

About the Author :
Grace Sammon, president and founder of GMS Partners, Inc., is an educator, school reformer, consultant, “coach,” speaker, and internationally recognized author. She has spent nearly twenty years working in one of the United States’ toughest institutions, the American high school. She has inspired change and fostered improvement in schools, districts, and government organizations nationally through her upbeat advice and sound, practical recommendations. GMS Partners, Inc. is an educational consulting firm dedicated to enhancing school communities through a focused effort on vision, alignment of resources, planning, coaching, professional development, and a commitment to continuous improvement. Under Ms. Sammon’s leadership, GMS Partners, Inc. has worked in thirty-two states across the nation, with a focus on whole-school improvement. She is the cofounding director of the National Career Academy Coalition (NCAC) and the Executive Director of the Business Institute for Educators. Her clients have included schools and school systems at the state and district level, nonprofits, and the U.S. Departments of Defense, Education, Health and Human Services, and Navy.      Ms. Sammon has authored Battling the Hamster Wheel:TM Strategies for Making High School Reform Work, eight manuals on school-to-career transition, and articles on organizational change, school partnerships, and staff development. She created Metro MANIA: The Great Train Ride Through Washington, a board and street experience game to facilitate student use of public transportation while they gain an appreciation for the employment and cultural offerings of the nation’s capital. She has also authored five integrated curricular pieces for use in middle schools and a teen pregnancy prevention curriculum and training manual. She earned her Master’s Degree in Education at The Catholic University of America. She has ten years’ experience in higher education administration and has served as an adjunct university professor and a long-term substitute teacher. Her professional notes include listings in Who’s Who in American Education and being named Outstanding Business Person of the Year by Future Business Leaders of America. In the spring of 1996, she was appointed to the U.S. Secretary of Defense’s Joint Civilian Orientation Council. She has two children, Brian and Kate Loewe, who continue to inspire her with their commitment to justice and equity, and to improving the communities they serve.

Review :
"Creating and sustaining small learning communities is not for the faint of heart. Without this invaluable resource and the talents and expertise of the writer, we likely would have done neither." "Strikes the right balance between theory and practice. This extensive text and impressive electronic tool kit reflect a national perspective on school reform gleaned from Sammon′s many years of partnering with school systems for success for all students and teachers." "Builds capacity in applying research to practice, providing strategies to improve teaching and learning that maximize student achievement, and using tools and techniques that enable staff to implement, share, and sustain new learning." I have learned so much through Grace Sammon’s work at our high school. Her vision, honesty and optimism are the ingredients that helped to make our program such a success. We know that we have a lot of work yet to do – but Sammon is the one who assisted a team of teachers with the most important step – that being the first.