Table Of ContentPraise for Small Schools, Big Ideas: The
Essential Guide to Successful School
Transformation
‘‘In Small Schools, Big Ideas, authors Benitez, Davidson, and Flaxman
help us understand the structural complexities of creating nurturing
environments inwhich all students canuse theirmindswell. They also
courageously guide the reader into examining the explosive cultural
issues, like systemic racism, and offer an authentic path forward for
educators in the trenches to instigate school-wide transformation.’’
—Glenn E. Singleton, president and founder, Pacific Educational
Group, Inc., and author, Courageous Conversations About Race
‘‘Small Schools, Big Ideas shares the Coalition of Essential Schools’
long track record of redesigning schools so that they are successful
and learner-centered. The knowledge that these authors and their
colleagues across the country have accumulated over many years and
many successful schools inspires us to reconsider what young people,
and the schools that serve them, can do with the right conditions and
support.’’
—Linda Darling-Hammond, Charles E. Ducommun Professor
of Education and faculty sponsor, School Redesign Network at
Stanford University
‘‘This guide will help those who believe all students need to be
prepared for post-secondary education to re-imagine high schools
and confront all forms of inequity that have existed for far too long.’’
—JohnP.Welch, superintendent,HighlinePublicSchoolsDistrict,
Washington
‘‘Small Schools, Big Ideas reminds us that small school is neither an
adjectivenoranoun; it’s anaspiration, adesire. Likedemocracy, Small
Schools embody a vision of what must be: messy work, undertaken
through collective participation, spiked with vibrant questions, in a
deep and restless community, with strong commitments, fueled by
raw vulnerabilities and generations of wisdom. Small Schools, Big
Ideas interrupts the white noise of privatization, charters, testing,
centralization and Racing to the Top, delicately reminding us of
the graceful work and sensual practice of making successful public
schools grounded in justice, relationships, and democracy.’’
—MichelleFine,DistinguishedProfessorofPsychologyandUrban
Education,TheGraduateCenter at theCityUniversity ofNewYork
‘‘The authors of Small Schools, Big Ideas do a wonderful job of
providing a useful road map for how administrators, practitioners,
families, and communities can dream big and work together to
improve education through a democratic process. Especially notable
is that it presents relationships and student-centered policies and
practices as the core elements that hold promise in restoring the
public’s faith in public education. This book is a must read for
anyone who is committed to a progressive social agenda on how
public schools can better serve children and youth who deserve no
less. This is an outstanding scholarly achievement.’’
—Angela Valenzuela, University of Texas professor in the College
of Education and author of Subtractive Schooling: U.S.-Mexican
Youth and the Politics of Caring
SMALL SCHOOLS,
BIG IDEAS
SMALL SCHOOLS,
BIG IDEAS
The Essential Guide to Successful School Transformation
Mara Benitez
Jill Davidson
Laura Flaxman
Copyright © 2009 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Published by Jossey-Bass
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Benitez, Mara, 1965–
Small schools, big ideas: the essential guide to successful school transformation/Mara Benitez,
Jill S. Davidson, Laura Flaxman; foreword by Theodore R. Sizer and Nancy Faust Sizer.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Summary: ‘‘Developed by The Coalition of Essential Schools, one of the nation’s leading school reform
networks, The Essential Guide to Successful School Transformation provides a comprehensive, principle-
based approach for redesigning public schools and creating new schools that enable all students to achieve
at high standards. Featuring stories and examples from schools that have successfully implemented the
CESmodel, this powerful blueprint for district and school-level administrators, teachers, reform activists,
educational policy makers, and professors distills insights and wisdom gleaned from over 20 years of
work restructuring public schools’’—Provided by publisher.
ISBN 978-0-470-25907-8
1. School improvement programs—United States. 2. Coalition of Essential Schools. I. Davidson, Jill S.,
1968—II. Flaxman, Laura, 1967—III. Title.
LB2822.82.B445 2009
371.2’070973—dc22 2009026351
Printed in the United States of America
first edition
PB Printing 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
C O N T E N T S
Foreword, Theodore R. Sizer, Nancy Faust Sizer ix
Acknowledgments xiii
The Coalition of Essential Schools and the CES Small Schools Project xvii
The Authors xxiii
Introduction: An Academically Challenging Education for All xxv
PART ONE: Setting the Stage for Transformation
ONE A Commitment to Equity 3
TWO Facing the Challenges 21
THREE Creating the Climate and Conditions for Change 43
PART TWO: Essential Principles for School Design
FOUR Starting with Vision, Mission, and Goals 83
FIVE Transformational Leadership 117
SIX Cultivating Professional Learning Communities 151
vii
PART THREE: Essential Principles for Learning
SEVEN Student-Centered Teaching and Learning 175
EIGHT Demonstration of Mastery 211
NINE Access, Opportunity, and Preparation for
Postsecondary Success 243
PART FOUR: Embedding Successful Change
TEN School Culture, Practices, and Community 271
ELEVEN Strategies for Sustainability 293
APPENDIX A: Coalition of Essential Schools Common
Principles 319
APPENDIX B: Coalition of Essential Schools Benchmarks:
Principles in Practice 323
APPENDIX C: Profiled Schools and Organizations 333
APPENDIX D: The Benefits of the CES Model: A Look at
Recent Research 345
APPENDIX E: Glossary of Useful Assessment Terms 349
REFERENCES 355
INDEX 365
viii CONTENTS
F O R E W O R D
The best communities are built around words—not any old words, but ones that
can inspire and galvanize. We say best because these are the communities
that last. They did not rise from a temporary problem or a pragmatic accommo-
dation; instead, they came together because people saw in each other a similarity
of outlook and a way in which they could help and be helped by each other to
accomplish important things.
There are many such communities, but the best-known examples of the words
that bind long-standing communities together are the sacred writings of the
world’s religions and the Constitution of the United States. More than battles
won or an economy shared, the major ideas in the Declaration of Independence
and the 1787 Constitution are what have seen a large and diverse nation through
tough times. These words remain inspiring to the vast majority of Americans
to this day in no small part because of the struggles of many to broaden these
ideals in ways more inclusive than the founders could conceive. One of the best
ideas in the Constitution, however, was expressed in the carefully constructed
amendment process. It said, in essence, ‘‘This is what we think and could agree
on today, but tomorrow may be different. Don’t change these ideas lightly, but
let them evolve slowly, and when most of you are sure that the words in this
statement no longer express your highest ideals, then change them to do so.’’
It seems immodest, but we in the Coalition of Essential Schools (CES) would
like to count ourselves among the many communities that have used words
and convictions to express their connection. The words in the CES Common
Principles were heard first in a variety of schools all over the country as leaders,
teachers, and students described what they were doing to make their schools
ix
better. From these educators came the conviction that each child will learn more
readily if he or she feels comfortable and known well. Also from them came the
idea that a student’s progress in mastering a topic should be measured not by
how many weeks were devoted to teaching it but by what actual and important
work was done over those weeks. Because each student learns differently and at a
different rate, classrooms should be set up to facilitate a variety of learning styles,
with respect for all. Our mutual agreement that these CES Common Principles
made sense became the core of our colleagueship.
Like the 1787 Constitution’s framers, we have understood that the CES
Common Principles would need amendment, reinterpretation, and evolution.
Sure enough, after a few years, it seemed wise to make the priority of democ-
racy in school design and equity among students—implied by the original
language—more explicit. The principles reflected our actual assumption and
work already, but the words could help in furthering it. In addition, over the
years, many new practices developed, and more and more, the CES Common
Principles came to characterize what we were doing and why we valued our
community.
Years ago, we were on a call-in radio program and we got a call from a person
who described himself as a ‘‘Coalition teacher.’’ Before he had a chance to ask his
question, the moderator asked, ‘‘Well, what is a Coalition teacher?’’ A bit taken
aback, the teacher hesitated; we held our breath. Finally, he said, ‘‘A Coalition
teacher does a lot of professional development.’’
The fact is that professional development is not expressly called for in the
CES Common Principles. However, the way we teach is unusual; starting with
a student’s needs before the state’s rubrics or even the teacher’s lesson plans
requires a good deal of thought, conversation, and new ideas. There is no model
that is ready to plug in. Though our words guide us, much observation will be
needed in order to know what actions are appropriate to take and much more
evolving will need to occur before we are content with the kind of learning that
we are facilitating in our schools.
Every dynamic institution will grow and change, often in response to demands
for social justice. Our schools are such institutions, and so are individuals in the
Coalition itself. Teachers and principals will learn from their own analyses of
what has worked and what still needs work, but they will also learn from other
like-minded people in the Coalition and beyond. The CES Small Schools Project
was founded on this idea. Mara Benitez and Laura Flaxman brought wisdom and
x FOREWORD
experience as CES school leaders to bear as the Small Schools Project emerged as
the next chapter of CES’s history. As leaders of the CES Small Schools Project,
Benitez and Flaxman established the framework and conditions for the emergence
of a network of fifty small schools, some veteran and some new, based on the
conviction that a commitment to equity joined with the wisdom accrued from
exemplary Coalition schools can result in powerful new examples of schools that
have the power to change lives. Thus, the original CES Common Principles have
been joined by a goodly number of new principles and practices, just as the small
number of original colleagues has grown and spread during the past twenty-five
years.
Over the years, the publication Horace (which since 2001 has been the
responsibility of Small Schools, Big Ideas author Jill Davidson) has helped to
document these changes in our practices and our beliefs. Our tone has always
been realistic but hopeful, depending largely on examples. Our message is more
inspirational than scholarly, but that’s the way we like it. Now, this book draws
from that work and from a number of current educators in the field to describe
further how some of the old principles have changed, how some new principles
have emerged, and how our work inside schools has grown and been improved
in response to the challenges that our students currently face.
The best communities are built on words. These are our words at this point in
time, and they are carefully chosen by our fascinating, vibrant, hopeful people.
Harvard, Massachusetts Theodore R. Sizer
February 2, 2009 Nancy Faust Sizer
FOREWORD xi
