Process

Building on schools’ individual strengths and culture to ensure local ownership and sustainability, ISA partners with school administrators and teachers to facilitate the transformation of large high schools into small schools and small learning communities (SLCs) designed to prepare all students for success in college and beyond.

Using ISA’s Seven Principles as a framework, ISA’s model inspires students to achieve by creating small, academically rigorous, personalized learning communities where teachers know students well — as both learners and as people.

With almost 60 ISA small schools and SLCs already in place, ISA has developed multiple strategies to guide and work with principals, teachers and counselors, from the design and planning year through the four-year implementation cycle.

Culture, Structure, Instruction

The creation of a new small school or the conversion of large comprehensive high schools into a campus of personalized SLCs committed to graduating all students college-ready fundamentally impacts the school’s culture, structure, and instruction. These changes are guided by ISA’s Seven Principles and reflect the individual schools’ vision, interests and concerns.

Culture

The ISA culture focuses on relationships – specifically, the capacity of school practitioners to know their students well and to develop deep and caring relationships with both their students and colleagues. These strong bonds result in higher levels of commitment, performance and achievement from students, as well as faculty.

Structure

The conversion to a campus of small semi-autonomous learning communities involves significant changes in the school’s organizational structure, which is achieved through a four-year phase-in process, beginning with each incoming class of ninth graders. The existing school is redesigned to ensure that upper-grade students’ educational experience is also enhanced.

Instruction

SLCs establish an academically rigorous, college preparatory instructional program focused on higher order thinking. Instruction is inquiry based so that students are constructing rather than reproducing knowledge. In addition, literacy and numeracy are integrated into all content areas.

Professional Development

To ensure the sustainable success of a partner school, ISA provides teachers and principals of small schools and SLCs with continuous professional development opportunities. Each school has a committed ISA coach — an experienced school leader specializing in small schools and small learning communities — who supports the implementation of ISA’s Seven Principles. ISA’s annual Summer and Winter Institutes bring the entire ISA network together with nationally recognized educators for intensive learning, planning and collaboration. Opportunities for customized professional development are also provided to support the challenging work of SLC conversion.

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