Expeditionary Learning Meets the 11 Criteria for Comprehensive School Reform
Expeditionary Learning Outward Bound, one of the frameworks for whole-school improvement supported by New American Schools, is a comprehensive design that transforms curriculum, instruction, assessment, and school culture and organization to enable all students to achieve at a high level. The model helps schools enhance their programs to meet the criteria of the federal Comprehensive School Reform Demonstration program.
- Employs proven methods and strategies based on scientifically based research.
Building on the educational principles of Outward Bound, Expeditionary Learning is based on the practice-oriented research on effective schooling carried out in the 1970s and 1980s. The National Research Council's publication, How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School (1999), lends support to many of Expeditionary Learning's practices including project-based learning, cooperative learning, student-centered assessment, looping, and effective classroom and school communities.
- Integrates a comprehensive design with aligned components.
The Expeditionary Learning design is comprised of five core practices that build on one another to support high expectations and achievement in every domain.
Learning expeditions: planning and teaching rigorous and purposeful learning expeditions -- in-depth, sustained theme-based units aligned with standards and comprising a series of related projects -- are the cornerstone of curriculum and instruction.
Reflection and critique: collaborative assessment, critique, and reflection by teachers on their own work and that of their students and by students on their own and each other's work drive continuous improvement in teaching and learning.
School culture: Expeditionary Learning schools promote a strong culture of best effort, high expectations, high quality work, community and collaboration, service, and the value of diversity.
School structures: Expeditionary Learning requires the reorganization of time, student grouping, and resources to support high quality learning expeditions. School schedules provide longer and more flexible blocks of time for project-based learning and fieldwork, common planning by teams of teachers, and community-building activities. Heterogeneous grouping allows all students to share in the richness that diversity brings to learning. Multi-year looping strengthens relationships in the classroom and improves the likelihood of academic success by allowing students to stay with the same teacher or team of teachers for more than one year.
School review: Expeditionary Learning schools engage in an annual cycle of reflection, planning, and action to improve the quality of teaching and learning. Expeditionary Learning benchmarks provide a framework for the review.
- Provides ongoing, high-quality professional development for teachers and staff.
Expeditionary Learning provides on average 25-30 days per year of on-site professional development for teachers and school leadership. Activities include: a two-day leadership institute; a five-day summer planning institute; and workshops, coaching, and modeling scheduled throughout the year. National professional development offerings include weeklong intensive learning expeditions for teachers focusing on academic content (summits), five-day institutes on literacy and leadership development, and Outward Bound educators' courses. Regional programming includes two-day regional institutes focusing on particular content areas and instructional strategies and site seminars at and visits to Expeditionary Learning schools implementing the design at a high level.
- Includes measurable goals and benchmarks for student achievement.
Students are expected to meet the standards established by their school districts and states and to go beyond those standards. Program staff works with participating schools to help teachers align state and district standards with learning expeditions and teach to those standards. Through these efforts, teachers develop criteria, standards, and assessments of student work on both class-by-class and school-wide levels. Teachers help students organize portfolios of their work, and schools develop exhibitions and graduation requirements bearing on questions of character development as well as academic achievement.
- Is supported within the school by teachers, administrators, and staff.
Evidence of faculty and leadership understanding of the program is required before implementation. A high degree of faculty and staff support -- 80 percent of the faculty and all of the school's leadership -- is a pre-contract requirement.
- Provides support for teachers, administrators, and staff.
Expeditionary Learning staff and national faculty provide an average of 25-30 days of on-site professional development and national and regional professional development offerings including summits, Outward Bound courses for educators, institutes, conferences, and site seminars at and visits to other Expeditionary Learning schools.
- Provides for meaningful parent and community involvement in planning, implementing, and evaluating school improvement activities.
Expeditionary Learning schools involve parents and community members in providing expertise in learning expeditions. Each expedition is designed to meet real-world standards and culminates in an exhibition or performance for parents and community. Parents report significantly greater participation in their children's learning in Expeditionary Learning schools. In addition, the design supports site-based decision-making by councils including administration, faculty, parents, and community members.
- Uses high-quality external support from an external partner with experience and expertise in school-wide reform and improvement.
Expeditionary Learning was one of 11 designs chosen by New American Schools from among more than 800 proposals submitted as a promising approach to reforming public education in the United States. It was one of 25 designs specifically mentioned in the initial federal comprehensive school reform legislation as a well-qualified model to partner with schools in the transformation process. It is implemented in 130 schools in 29 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.
- Plans for the evaluation of strategies for the implementation of school reform and for student results, annually.
Expeditionary Learning benchmarks measure in detail the level of student achievement and the degree of implementation of each of the design's core practices.
Progress is assessed by each school annually, with an external review occurring every three to five years, and schools reaching full implementation of the design as measured by these benchmarks are given exemplary status and are recruited to host site seminars and participate as leaders in the network of Expeditionary Learning schools. Expeditionary Learning schools also assess the degree of student engagement as measured by attendance, discipline, and school tone. A growing number of schools also assess students' character development.
- Identifies resources to support and sustain the school's comprehensive reform effort.
In addition to CSR support, schools use Title I funding and special grants to cover implementation costs. Some schools reconfigure their staffing to free resources for professional development.
- Has been found to significantly improve the academic achievement of students or demonstrates strong evidence that it will improve the academic achievement of students.
Expeditionary Learning has been the subject of a number of independent evaluations that have found the design to be effective in changing curriculum, instruction, assessment, school culture, and school structures to improve student achievement. These studies, which are referenced in Evidence of Success and on the Expeditionary Learning website, www.elschools.org, include:
Center for Research on the Education of Students at Risk (CRESPAR), 2002
National Staff Development Council (NSDC), three studies conducted in 2002 and 1999
American Youth Policy Forum (AYPF), 2001
Center for Research in Educational Policy, 2002
Polly Ulichney, Ed.D., Brown University, 2000
American Institutes for Research (AIR), 1999
Academy for Educational Development (AED), 1995
Patrick McQuillan, Ed.D., University of Colorado, 1994
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