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The act of developing Small Learning Communities is the act of revitalizing the teaching and learning culture of the high school. Staff agreements about what skills must be targeted and where, about what performances must be mastered and at what level, and about school-wide expectations for behavior, participation and quality of work are the real tasks of SLC development. Each SLC will be a program within the comprehensive high school whose staff have aligned curriculum with state standards. Just as important, teacher teams will establish consistent expectations for behavior, participation and quality of work, and they will link and connect content area curriculum so that students have a clear idea of what they are doing, and why they are doing it. In such an intentional curriculum, students will be able to make connections between their learning experiences, they will be challenged at the highest levels, and they will see their skills grow as they move forward toward graduation. Each SLC will have its own team of content area teachers who will teach required courses to a population of from 200-400 students. In cases where a student needs an advanced class or an elective that is not offered by an SLC’s staff, crossovers to these courses and instructors will be allowed. SLC’s will be much more similar to each other than different from each other. In many districts, 21 credits are required to graduate, although a student could take up to 24 in a four year course of study. Of these, 15.5 credits (70%) of each student’s coursework are often required for graduation (English, Math, Social Studies, Science, CTE, Arts, PE/Health). This coursework will be required of all students enrolled in SLC’s, just as it would be required of all students in a comprehensive high school. However, a student who plans to go to the university must add an additional 4-5 required credits in order to meet university admission requirements. This means that 20.5 credits (90%) of a student’s coursework would be “required,” with a maximum of 3.5 electives over four years--again, just the same as it would be in a large, comprehensive high school. This analysis demonstrates one important fact: SLC’s are no different than large high schools in terms of coursework. What is different, however, is the degree of professional teamwork, collaboration and program support that staff will bring to the instructional equation. In large high schools, staff feel little connection with, or responsibility toward other teachers who share their students during the course of the day. This is the common dynamic of large high schools, where professional isolation and the absence of interdisciplinary conversation tends to be the norm. In SLC’s, however, staff teams will share the same group of students, and both students and teachers will feel a stronger sense of connectedness and obligation. This is not hypothesis or hopeful expectation--it is a fact. If up to 90% of coursework in SLC’s is virtually identical, then what will be the basis of student choice? Elective families embedded within respective SLC’s may vary in order to emphasize a theme or set of interests. Co-curricular and school activities may also reflect a special content area flavor. But the choice of which SLC to enroll in will not be a choice of “career” or employment pathway. Instead students will choose to enroll in a high quality, small high school program that is well organized and close knit: a program where they will stay with a core of instructors until crossovers are required to fill special advanced or elective needs. Each program will advertise a special approach or emphasis to a specific content area (writing, literature, principles of design, science, math, historical connections), and students will base their choices upon core content emphases that they prefer, as well as upon co-curricular offerings and experiences that will support that interest. Regardless of choice, each student will have access to the critical electives or advanced courses that he or she needs, including AP, honors, advanced math, band, drama, digi-tools and so on. The section entitled “SLC Rubrics” presents information on the kind of thinking that should drive the early stage of SLC design work. Note that the tasks described in the rubrics have more to do with staff agreements and curriculum than with SLC specific details. This is the real work of building high performance small high school programs. |
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