The part of the chapter that really resonated me was giving students the opportunity to choose which school they attended. The chapter mentioned that in Chicago students get to select which high school they attend. To me this is an interesting concept. In the city in which I attended high school, there were three high schools and there were certain reputations associated with each school and the type students that went there. I think that if we allowed students to pick which school they went to the schools would have to create programs that were engaging and appealing to students. It also might help create schools that were more heterogeneous as students were drawn in from different parts of town.
The chapter suggests that we create smaller schools within a larger school to help the school feel smaller. I am not sure that this seems like a great measure of reform because it seems to me that the campus will feel divided.
The Second to None “components of reform” that I found in the chapter were as follows:
- Creating curricular paths to success -the book suggests ITUs as a method to make large schools feel smaller
- Establishing comprehensive accountability and assessments- portfolios are developed in the example school (Best Practices High School)
- Integrated student support- smaller schools allow students and teachers to get to know each other better and be more supportive
- Restructuring the school- the book suggests that high schools should have no more than 400 students. Additionally, it suggests that the school should be small enough that all teachers can meet together and talk about what is going on with the students.
- Creating new professional roles- at Best Practices teachers work collaboratively and are given more opportunity to get to know their students.
I would like to investigate how funding for such small schools is possible and/or different from funding for larger schools.
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