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Descriptors:
Teaching Methods; Graduate Surveys; Public Schools; Urban Schools; Educational Change; Private Schools; Case Studies; High Schools; Elementary Schools; Achievement Tests; Scores; Academic Achievement; Interviews; Teacher Attitudes; Administrator Attitudes; Art Education; Educational Research; Relevance (Education); Interpersonal Relationship

Abstract:
The author of this paper investigates the relevance of Waldorf education for public urban school reform. Based on analysis of survey data from over 500 graduates of private U.S. Waldorf schools, review of documents from the Gates Foundation, and staff-interview and student-achievement data from four public Waldorf-methods schools, she develops the following three-part argument: (1) New three R's and Waldorf: Waldorf graduate survey data suggest that alumni identify something that might be summarized as "rigor," "relevance" and "relationship" as key outcomes of Waldorf education; (2) New three R's and urban public school youth: The goals have shifted over the past ten years for funders and policy makers alike to encompass more than high test scores. Now, what was "special" for "special children" begins to gain attention as valuable for all. Bill Gates, Jr., and the Gates Foundation are leaders in articulating this shift. Founder and foundation argue for the new three R's for all. Importantly, for the purposes of this analysis, they backed up their talk with dollars. In 2007 they approved funding for the first public Waldorf methods high school, in the Sacramento Unified School District; and (3) Three key findings on urban public schools with Waldorf methods: (a) In their final year, the students in the study's four California case study public Waldorf-methods elementary schools match the top ten of peer sites on the 2006 California test scores and well outperform the average of their peers statewide; (b) According to teacher, administrator and mentor reports, they achieve these high test scores by focusing on those new three R's-- rather than on rote learning and test prep--in a distinct fashion laid out by the Waldorf model and (c) A key focus is on artistic learning, not just for students but, more importantly perhaps, for the adults. The author concludes by outlining key areas for further research. (Contains 11 figures, 3 tables, and 23 footnotes.) [Appended to this document are: "Appendix 1, containing Figure 9: Spread of Waldorf Schools World Wide (1975-2007), Figure 10: Spread of Waldorf Schools USA (1975-2007), Figure 11: Spread of Waldorf-Inspired Schools USA 1991-2007"; and "Appendix 2 containing Table 2: September 1998 Public Waldorf Methods Schools Open and Running in U.S. and Table 3: Waldorf-Inspired Public Schools July 2007."] Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Middle School Students; Teaching Methods; Best Practices; Effective Schools Research; School Effectiveness; Middle Schools; School Role; Academic Achievement; Systems Approach; Curriculum Development; Alignment (Education); Academic Standards; Articulation (Education)

Abstract:
In the past, educators almost always looked for best practices in classrooms. In fact, when educators say "practice," they are generally talking about teacher practice. Yet 12 years of work at Springboard Schools (and its predecessor, the Bay Area School Reform Collaborative, or BASRC) argues that administrators, as well as teachers, need to worry about best practices. Equally important are organizational best practices for both schools and school districts. These kinds of best practices are crucial parts of creating school systems in which good teaching is the norm for every student in every classroom. Building on this initial study, which focused on schools in the Springboard Schools (then BASRC) network, the authors have spent three years conducting a statewide study whose goal was to identify the practices behind higher-than expected results. This report summarizes findings from schools serving middle grades students. Appended are: (1) Site Selection and Performance Data; (2) Artifacts from Case Study Schools; and (3) References. (Contains 4 figures, 3 tables and 19 footnotes.) [This report was supported by the Delantoni Trust at the San Francisco Foundation.] Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
High Schools; School Effectiveness; Best Practices; Educational Practices; Charter Schools; Nontraditional Education; Dual Enrollment; Case Studies; Secondary School Curriculum; Teacher Collaboration; Student Evaluation; Alignment (Education); Resource Allocation; Data; English Language Learners; Minority Group Students; Economically Disadvantaged; High School Students

Abstract:
In the year 1998, California began a massive experiment that focused on testing students and holding teachers and administrators accountable for results. The goal: dramatic, system-wide improvement. Schools' performance began to be measured using California's Academic Performance Index (API). In 2001, with passage of No Child Left Behind (NCLB), the focus became even sharper. NCLB required that all students be proficient in reading and math by the year 2014. "Annual Yearly Progress"--or AYP--measured schools' progress toward this ambitious goal. All subgroups of students had to make progress every year toward this goal of proficiency for all. In 2005, tests were adjusted, curricula redesigned, and accountability measures debated--but overall, the results seemed discouraging. For example, the Education Trust reported that Latino eleventh graders typically read below the level of white seventh graders. A report by California's nonpartisan Legislative Analyst estimated dropout rates in California's largest urban districts above 50%. The California State University system reports that large numbers of students who do earn a diploma still need remedial courses before they are ready for college-level studies. Yet some schools are doing better. "The California Best Practices Study" is one of the first to use California's new tests to identify the most successful high schools and then to take the crucial next step of launching an intensive investigation of what they are doing right. The study reveals a set of strategies that enable more high school students--of every ethnicity and English-language ability--to succeed. It shows--in detail--how some schools are beating the odds. This approach makes this study essential reading not only for school and district leaders, but for everyone willing to play a role in helping schools get better. The main finding is understood by every teacher and parent: what matters in schools is good teaching. However, this study goes beyond that platitude to discover how good schools and school districts go about ensuring that good teaching is the norm in every classroom for every child. California schools achieving surprising results have found and applied a few key strategies to enable teachers to do their best work. The most successful high schools serving the most challenging populations: (1) Use consistent curriculum and frequent diagnostic tests; (2) Find and adopt "best practices"; and (3) Invest in improvement. These strategies may sound simple, but they are challenging, and perhaps even revolutionary, because they call into question many commonly held beliefs about teaching and about how schools work. Appended are: (1) Tools and Artifacts; (2) Glossary; (3) Sample Sites Demographic Data; (4) Achievement Data Summaries; (5) Bibliography: For Further Reading; and (6) California Best Practice Advisory. (Contains 4 footnotes.) [This report was written with Caren Arbeit, Carla Praglin and Sune Goldsten. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Educational History; Educational Innovation; Educational Philosophy; Elementary Secondary Education; Foreign Countries; Nontraditional Education; Teacher Collaboration; Waldorf Method

Abstract:
At its inception, Waldorf education was not to be a special, "boutique" reform. Nor was it to cater to children of a higher social standing. In fact, Waldorf broke out of the hierarchically tracked education system present in turn-of-the-century Germany. The founding father, Rudolf Steiner, called for a "Volks" pedagogy, a schooling of the people for the people that bridged separate castes that had been hardened by emerging industrialization. This paper attempts to answer why this educational reform has such staying power, but also why informed educators now associate Waldorf with a "special education for special children"-special because they were to enjoy a human or "holistic education of the body, mind, and soul." The paper provides a discussion of the movement's founding in a tobacco factory in 1919, describing its "social pedagogy" and the intimate connection made between imagination and social interaction. Good education, in Waldorf philosophy, restores the balance between thinking, willing, and feeling, thus healing the social fabric upset by too much emphasis on thinking alone. The paper argues that the secret of Waldorf's time-resistant identity can be found in its foundation as a "free" school--free from external government constraints and free for imaginative and innovative faculty interaction; the establishment of Waldorf as a faculty-run institution was sharply different from existing models of reform. The paper also touches on three liabilities of the Waldorf philosophy: first, the binding of the "free" pedagogy with time-bound preconceptions of early twentieth century Germany; second, the original German curricular canon, with its nineteenth century definitions of culture; and third--specific to the United States-the translation of "freedom from the Prussian state' into the voucher-based drive for "freedom from the community." Contains 54 references. (EV) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Educational Change; Educational History; Elementary Secondary Education; Semiotics; Waldorf Method

Abstract:
This paper asserts that the century-old educational reform movement known as "Waldorf" is an instance of the tremendous potential that semiotic representation holds for school reform. It proposes that Waldorf's staying power is hidden in the reform's semiotic supports: its symbols, motifs, and rituals. Rather than presenting Waldorf's official history, the paper concentrates on the representational images of Waldorf's institutional identity, or how the institution "remembers" itself. It begins with a description of the design of Waldorf pedagogy and its successful dissemination in various countries throughout the world. It then constructs the "memory map" of Waldorf, describing how its foundation story, teacher training and teacher networks, annual festivals and daily verses, curricular ritual of eurythmy (a form of dance), architecture, and birthday celebrations of the original German school serve to perpetuate the institution. The paper concludes that these rituals together form constitutive elements in a powerful liturgy of remembrance, and that the charisma of Waldorf lies in its manifold ways of sacramentally re-producing the past as reality for the present and guidance for the future. Appendices present photographs and verses associated with Waldorf history. Contains 72 references. (EV) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Classroom Techniques; Constructivism (Learning); Educational Change; Educational Policy; Elementary Secondary Education; Faculty Development; Higher Education; Inservice Teacher Education; Instructional Innovation; Learning Processes; Multicultural Education; School Restructuring; Teacher Improvement; Teaching Methods

Abstract:
This collection of articles focuses on the practice and policy of staff development in terms of recent developments in teacher learning. Following an introduction by the editors, the book is divided into five parts. Part 1: New Perspectives on Practice contains three chapters: (1) "Reconceptualizing Teaching: Moving toward the Creation of Intellectual Communities of Students, Teachers, and Teacher Educators" (B. S. Nelson and J. K. Hammerman); (2) "Teaching the Way Children Learn" (B. Falk); and (3) "Constructivism and School Reform" (M. G. Brooks and J. Grennon Brooks). Part 2: A New Lens on Traditional Roles contains three chapters: (4) "Of Regularities and Reform: Navigating the Subject-Specific Territory of High Schools" (P. Grossman); (5) "Improving Classroom Practice: Ways Experienced Teachers Change after Supervising Student Teachers" (E. S. Tatel); and (6) "Assessment as a Heuristic for Professional Practice" (K. Jamentz). Part 3: New Structures for Learning and Change contains three chapters: (7) "Networks for Educational Change: Powerful and Problematic" (A. Lieberman and M. W. McLaughlin); (8) "Rethinking Restructuring: Building Habits of Effective Inquiry" (M. Szabo); and (9) "Communities for Teacher Research: Fringe or Forefront?" (M. Cochran-Smith and S. L. Lytle). Part 4: New Roles for Traditional Structures has five chapters: (10) "The Role of Teachers' Organizations: Reflections on Educational Policy Trust Agreements" (C. T. Kerchner); (11) "Text and Context for Professional Development of New Bilingual Teachers" (S. Dalton and E. Moir); (12)"Preparing Teachers for Multicultural, Inner-City Classrooms: Grinding New Lenses" (K. Tellez and M. D. Cohen); (13) "Problem-Based Learning: A Promising Approach to Professional Development" (E. Bridges and P. Hallinger); and (14) "School-University Partnership: Getting Broader, Getting Deeper" (L. Miller and C. O'Shea). Part 5: An Emergent Paradigm for Practice and Policy contains two chapters: (15) "Practices That Support Teacher Development: Transforming Conceptions of Professional Learning" (A. Lieberman); and (16) "Policies That Support Professional Development in an Era of Reform" (L. Darling-Hammond and M. W. McLaughlin). A list of participants at the July 1993 Pew Forum on Educational Reform is appended. (Contains extensive references.) (ND) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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