Operations and Systems

Describes components of professional development plan, including staff meetings (divided between all staff, middle and high school grade-level, and department meetings); observation and feedback (from principal, dean, department chair, and peers); videotaping; book/article clubs; and individual professional development opportunities.

Explores how a high school transitions from a traditional schedule to a block schedule to improve the quality of instruction. Focuses on how the school leadership creates buy-in to the new schedule, the impact the block has on teaching and learning and school culture, and how the administration supports and monitors effective teaching within the block.

A new principal and her assistant principal build a new master schedule to support the curricula and instructional objectives of the school. In this profile, the school leaders explain how they established a process for involving major stakeholders from the school in planning the new schedule while setting enough guidelines to ensure that the result...

Leadership team members and teachers discuss expanding school's intervention block and logistical adjustments to schedule its implementation. Teachers cite types of interventions added to address students with intensive support and enrichment needs. The group also reflects on outcome of their decision to expand intervention offerings and participation.

At Ford Elementary School, teachers in charge of music, art, physical education, and technology—typically known as "specials"—teach students daily in two-week cycles. In this profile, school leaders talk about how they integrated specials teachers into core academic instruction by changing the schedule to allow daily interaction and requiring...

To ensure a charter school board remains engaged and effective, school leaders develop a series of activities that establish expectations for incoming board members and keep them involved in school activities throughout their term, as well as after they step down.

Handbook details the roles and responsibilities of workplace mentors and students during internship program. Features an extensive focus on targeted workplace skills that mentors are expected to help students develop.

Completed document evaluates student performance during Mastery Lenfest's internship program. Includes a quantitative section focusing on specific criteria and qualitative responses to evaluate students' workplace skills and adaptation to workplace culture.

A yearlong career-skills curriculum at a charter high school combines a worksite internship with explicit and interactive instruction, trained workplace mentors, and assignments that prompt students to investigate their workplaces and create career plans.

Explores how school leaders build partnerships with local universities to provide its students with intensive, ongoing tutoring to prepare them for the MCAS. Looks at the strategies the school uses for monitoring the effectiveness of partnership programs and maintaining positive relations with partner organizations.

Tutor contract for college work-study students preparing 10th-graders for state test. Contains job description, benefits, payment, and termination clauses. Tutor must uphold school's code of conduct. Signed by tutor and director of tutoring program.

Administrative team and teachers reflect on evolution and protocol of informal observation process and describe how feedback about instruction is shared with colleagues. Teacher discusses how initial ambivalence toward process changed into understanding of observations as tool for development and improvement.

Principal and instructional coach discuss strategies for addressing a failing school and their decision to establish weekly informal classroom observations and daily common planning time to improve student achievement. Includes excerpts of administrative team meeting, as well as Learning Walk conducted by principal and coach.

Principal shares thoughts on addressing school's challenges through corrective action and restructuring. Principal, 4th-grade, and ELL teacher also discuss adaptations principal made to professional development program in response to needs of veteran staff.

Teacher survey from charter high school to inform improvement planning. Questions ask teachers to rate school's programs, assess their own professional-growth needs, and pose solutions to key school-improvement challenges. School leaders meet individually with teachers to discuss their responses.

Principal talks about how school plan codified details around schoolwide practices and importance of consistency over strategies to eliminate vagueness around behavior policies. Discussion of hiring process and applicants' commitment to school mission. Eighth-grade teacher's view on how plan clarified opening routines, referral ladder, and tardies.

Teacher survey from charter high school to inform improvement planning. Questions ask teachers to rate school's programs, assess their own professional-growth needs, and pose solutions to key school-improvement challenges. School leaders meet individually with teachers to discuss their responses.

A charter school employs strategies and protocols for board decision-making, due diligence, and planning that have helped build consensus around the role of its board of directors in overseeing school leaders and providing strategic direction for the school.

A charter high school employs five teams to ensure school leaders focus on both immediate needs and long-term strategic planning. The five-team structure includes explicit and differentiated goals for each leadership team, meeting protocols that promote accountability, and division of labor to avoid overlap and ensure leadership roles are distributed.

Charter high school's planning document listing 15 action steps for meeting four goals: reducing attrition, improving parent satisfaction, codifying school practices, and smoothing transitions between grades. Includes deliverables, assignments of responsibility, and timelines. Used to show staff how school-improvement activities support overall objectives.

Leaders of a high-performing charter school employ a yearly improvement-planning process that produces clear action plans to address top school concerns, such as reducing student attrition and improving communication with parents.