CSSR June 2018 News & Events
2018 Deeper Learning Summer Institute
 
There are just two months to go until the 2018 Deeper Learning Summer Institute! Planning and preparation is underway for each of the thematic content seminars that will be offered at the event. Upon registering, each participant is asked to select one seminar to attend for the duration of the Institute. Detailed descriptions of each seminar are available on our event webpage , topics include: Leadership for Equity, Restorative Justice, Performance Assessment, as well as a number of content-specific sessions on inquiry-based learning.  Our event webpage has been recently updated to include presenter information for each seminar. Please note that the majority of sessions are practitioner-led by educators who are currently actively engaged in the work on which they are  presenting . 

We are excited to once again offer the student strand  Believe in You! at this year's Institute. Schools are encouraged to bring student participants - student registration is free. Student  voice and perspective deepens the adult learning at the Institute, and p ast student participants have gone on to lead initiatives at their home schools on personalized, student-driven learning. 

The Deeper Learning Summer Institute will take place August 6-8, 2018 in Middletown, CT. Please visit our event webpage to learn more about the Institute, or proceed directly to the event registration. 


Norwalk, CT Middle Schools Succeeding with Student Led Conferences 

CSSR is currently partnered with the Norwalk (CT) Public Schools on a multi-year project to redesign the district's middle schools. The redesign project is guided in part by the CSSR model for Student-Driven Learning which includes: Student Agency, Shared Leadership, a Culture of Inquiry and the Power of a Network. The Student Agency work in Norwalk is focused on the development and implementation of Student-Led Conferencing (SLC) at each of the district's four middle schools. Currently in year two of the project, each middle school has now implemented SLCs either school-wide or beginning in the 6th grade. 

Damon Lewis, Principal at Ponus Ridge Middle School acknowledged the teamwork, collaboration and the process work (led by CSSR coaches Tony Ferreira and Suzanne Koroshetz) that went into the success of the school's recently held SLCs. In a letter that went out to all 6th grade parents, Lewis underscored the differences between SLCs and traditional parent/teacher conferences - "children talk about about their strengths (not the teacher). Children talk about areas they need to grow (not the teacher). Children tell parents how much they appreciate them taking the time out of their day to listen to them talk about their education, and their future goals."

Looking ahead to the third and final year of the project, the Norwalk middle schools have plans for deepening their Student Agency practices through stronger advisory programs, expansion to school-wide student-led conferencing at each school, and implementing more opportunities for performance assessment.  

Middletown Public Schools to Host Student Leadership Institute

Middletown (CT) High School will host a two-day Student Leadership Institute June 21 - 22, 2018 that will build off the success of a student forum held at the school on April 4th. 

CSSR is currently working with the Middletown Public Schools on a redesign of the district's middle schools and high school. As part of this work the district held a student forum on April 4th which convened a representative sample of middle and high school students to reveal what the schools valued from the students' perspectives, as well as what the schools were currently doing well and where the schools could improve - again from a student perspective. The initial conversation at the forum was driven by artifacts that students were asked to bring along which represented what the schools valued (one student brought a test!). From there, students worked in grade levels to determine areas of strength (after school activities, diverse open-minded community) and areas of growth (relationships between teachers and students).

As a direct result of this student forum experience, the principal and a group of students from Middletown High School will now host the Student Leadership Institute to build off the accomplishments of the April event. In preparation for the Institute, a large team of students and teachers have completed site visits to role-model schools like Souhegan (NH) High School, Francis W. Parker Charter Essential (MA) School, and Eastside Community (NY) High School. Students who attended these site visits are preparing presentations on their observations of these schools, including implications for the future of Middletown Public Schools. 

We are so pleased to see the commitment that Middletown Public Schools has made to facilitating student agency, and including student voices in the conversations about the district's redesign work. 

Springdale Completes Year 5 of Race to the Top

CSSR continues to partner with the Springdale (AR) Public Schools on their federal Race to the Top District project. The RTTD project has recently completed Year 5 of implementation and all 12 of the grant's projects have been completed - most notably the opening of the Don Tyson School of Innovation, and major investment in student advisory, personal learning plans and student-led conferencing. 

In a report recently released by the district a number of major impacts were noted, including: students are much more aware of their academic standing and where they need to improve due to teachers sharing data with them through the student advisory model and related personal learning plan work; goal setting is a regular practice for students; and students and teachers are motivated to sustain the student-led conference model. 

Jennifer Sugg, M.Ed. and Jacob Hayward, Ph.D. recently published a resource for advisory leaders built on a case study of advisory at Har-Ber High School.  The resurce offers practical advice on appropriately responding to student comments that may arise in the advisory setting, fostering trusted conversations and maintaining advisory as a safe place for students and teachers. 

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At CSSR, our dedication to making a difference in education is based on the belief that all youth can achieve levels of competency in personal development, problem solving, communication, and social responsibility that will lead them to be well-adjusted, healthy, and productive adults. 

The Center for Secondary School Redesign | [email protected] | www.cssr.us