Redesigning High Schools for
Improved Instruction

June 28–July 3, 2009

High schools in America face profound challenges: unprecedented demographic changes, increased scrutiny from parents and the public, strong pressures from external accountability systems and changes in the composition of the teaching force. In the face of these challenges, however, high schools generally have been resistant to lasting change.

Many educators acknowledge the urgency and necessity for concerted action to make high schools vital, successful and engaging places for students and adults to live and work.

Redesigning High Schools for Improved Instruction provides the theories, knowledge, tools and best practices necessary to redesign high schools to become powerful learning centers for students and adults.

The institute explores redesign issues in relation to both small schools and comprehensive high schools. Examples are drawn from a variety of schools that have successfully completed major redesign, as well as those that are actively engaged in that process—providing a variety of strategies for your own school. The institute helps you to clarify where you are in the process and outlines what next steps you need to take.

Learning Objectives

Create an Environment for Powerful Learning
Redesigning High Schools for Improved Instructionbrings together Harvard faculty, leading educational practitioners, and national researchers to provide a setting for practical problem solving. The institute is informed by the practices that support excellence and the convictions that shape and drive the best in modern American high schools.

Three areas of knowledge and practice are examined, providing a framework for your own redesign plans.

• The work of high school redesign. What are the fundamental problems of existing structures and practices in American high schools? What tools can we develop for the redesign of these structures? What do schools look like that apply these principles and how do they work?

• The practice of instructional improvement. How can the redesign of high schools be strongly connected with powerful learning experiences for students and teachers? How can redesign address issues of access to high quality, rigorous content, and instruction for all students?

• Internal and external accountability.
How can redesign lead to clear, consistent expectations for students and faculty; coherent, understandable processes and structures; and instructional practice that is consistent with the best teaching and learning? How can high-quality high schools survive and thrive in an environment of increased accountability for student performance?

Who Should Attend
The institute is designed for school leaders—principals, assistant principals, department heads and classroom teachers—engaged in or beginning the process of high school redesign or reinvention. Members of school networks and those who lead school improvement efforts as well as officials from state departments of education are also invited to attend.

Participants are welcome from public, independent, and parochial schools and districts located in urban, suburban and rural communities.

Those who attend in teams will have the opportunity to reflect and plan together during and after the institute.

Curriculum Overview
Develop Your Own Redesign Plan
Class sessions utilize a variety of interactive formats: large group presentations, peer and small group discussions, case studies, video discussions, panels and working groups.

During the institute, participants form small working groups representing a cross section of schools. Here, you will create your own redesign plans and receive feedback from colleagues and faculty. You will explore strategies for overcoming resistance to change and enlisting community support.

Time is also provided to consider next steps for implementation. Participants return to their schools or districts with a clear understanding of the components of an effective and productive school, as well as with the strategies, tools and plans to create a more successful and vibrant learning environment.

Institute Schedule
The program, held at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, begins on the afternoon of Sunday June 28 and ends in the early afternoon on Friday, July 3.

A full schedule of sessions is held each day, with formal and informal activities on some evenings. Since full-time participation and preparation are required throughout the institute, participants are expected to free themselves from all work obligations during the program.

Prior to the institute, participants receive a packet of background information and assignments to help prepare for the program.

Faculty

Katherine Merseth, Director, Teacher Education Program; Senior Lecturer on Education, Harvard Graduate School of Education. She is a former public high school teacher of mathematics and a devotee of the case method of instruction.

Elizabeth City, Director of Instructional Strategy, Executive Leadership Program for Educators, Harvard University

Richard Elmore, Gregory P. Anrig Professor of Educational Leadership; Co-Director, Consortium for Policy Research in Education, Harvard Graduate School of Education. Elmore is currently exploring how schools of different types and in different policy contexts develop a sense of accountability and a capacity to deliver high quality instruction.

Monica Higgins, Associate Professor of Education, Harvard Graduate School of Education. Higgins’ focus is in the area of leadership and organizational behavior. Previously, she spent eleven years on the faculty of the Organizational behavior unit at the Harvard Business

Jeff Howard, Founder and President, The Efficacy Institute, Inc

Deborah Jewell-Sherman, Senior Lecturer on Education, Harvard Graduate School of Education

Robert Kegan, William and Miriam Meehan Professor in Adult Learning and Professional Development, Harvard Graduate School of Education. His work explores the fit between adult capacities and the hidden demands of modern life.

Kim Marshall, Leadership Coach, New Leaders for New Schools

Jim Nehring, Founding Director, Bethlehem Lab School, Albany NY. Nehring has worked both as a practitioner and researcher in the field of high school redesign for over two decades. Most recently, he served as Founding Trustee and Chairman of the North Central Charter School.

Jon Saphier, Founder and President, Research for Better Teaching, Inc.

General Information

Registration and Program Fee
The comprehensive program fee of $2,795 includes tuition, instructional materials, a single room at a Harvard Undergraduate Dormitory, breakfast and most dinners, a special event, certificate of participation, and a letter indicating clock hours of instruction.

Registration is on a first-come, first-served basis. Payment or a purchase order is due 30 days after registration. Participants are responsible for their own travel expenses.

Group Registrations
You will be asked to identify your group name during registration. In order to help us best serve your group, please try to use the same identifier as your teammates, e.g. “Cambridge High School Group,” or “Essex County Group,” or “John Harvard’s Cambridge Team.”

Please note that we are unable to offer group discounts.

We ask that changes to group participant lists take place at least two weeks prior to the start date of the program.  If individual or team replacements are made within 14 days of the program start date, PPE may not be able to incorporate these changes into some or all of the program materials.  We will make our best effort to incorporate requested changes where possible.

Cancellation Policy
Cancellations must be submitted via fax or email. Full refunds will be given up to 30 days prior to the start of the program. Due to program demand and pre-institute preparations, cancellations received 29–14 days prior to the start of the program are subject to a fee of 10% of the program tuition. Cancellations received within 13 days prior to the start of the program and no-shows are subject to the full program tuition. Please note: Cancellation fees are based upon the date the written request is received.

Accommodations
Interaction between faculty and participants outside of the classroom is an integral part if the institute. To foster this total immersion learning environment, participants are encouraged to reside at the Currier House Undergraduate Dormitory.

A fifteen-minute walk from the main classroom, participants are assigned a single room with a shared bath. While facilities are air-conditioned and comfortable, they are spartan. Linens are provided. Currier House residents have numerous opportunities to interact interact informally with program colleagues.

Participants also have the option to stay at a local hotel at their own expense. Hotel reservations are the responsibility of individual participants.

Sheraton Commander Hotel
$169.00 (single/double)
Reservations:888-627-7121
Deadline: June 6, 2009
Reference:HGSE, High Schools
www.sheraton.com/commander

Further Information
800-545-1849 • ppe@gse.harvard.edu

The Harvard Graduate School of Education affirms the right of all individuals to equal treatment in education without regard to age, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, handicap, national origin, or any other factors that are extraneous to effective performance. The Harvard Graduate School of Education will accommodate anyone with disabilities.

The Harvard Graduate School of Education reserves the right to change faculty or cancel programs at its discretion. In the unlikely event of program changes, the school is not responsible for non-refundable travel arrangements or other planning expenses incurred.

Math Matters: Closing the Gap on Mathematical Quandaries, an interview with institute chair, Kay Merseth