A worthwhile opportunity for public high schools
A project called Schools of Opportunity was launched by two veteran educators last year as a pilot effort last year to honor high schools that work hard to offer all students a chance to succeed. Unlike other rating and ranking efforts that use of student standardized test scores and data points, the Schools of Opportunity project recognizes public high schools that seek to close opportunity gaps through practices “that build on students’ strengths” — not by obsessing on the scores. Seventeen schools were selected, and this blog spotlighted each winner.
Now, the project has gone national for the 2015-16 school year. Applications are welcome from public high schools in every state; you can find out how tosubmit one at the website, here, and in the post below.
The people behind the project are Carol Burris and Kevin Welner. Burris is a former New York high school principal who is now executive director of the non-profit Network for Public Education Fund. A frequent contributor to The Answer Sheet, she was named the 2010 Educator of the Year by the School Administrators Association of New York State, and in 2013, the same organization named her the New York State High School Principal of the Year. Welner is a professor at the University of Colorado Boulder’s School of Education who specializes in educational policy and law. He is director of theNational Education Policy Center at UC Boulder, which produces high-quality peer-reviewed research to inform education policy.
In this post, Burris and Welner fully explain the project and how to enter.
By Kevin Welner and Carol Burris
If you’re an educator at a public high school that closes opportunity gaps, please set aside a couple hours between now and January 20th to nominate your school for recognition as a “School of Opportunity.” The application itself is very straightforward and can be completed online. Any public school anywhere in the United States is eligible if it includes the high school grades and serves at least 10% students eligible for free or reduced priced meals.
The Schools of Opportunity project is a way to provide much-deserved recognition to schools, teachers and leaders. It is also a way to illustrate and highlight the use of sensible, research-based approaches that provide rich opportunities to learn. Finally, it’s a way to point policy makers toward an A worthwhile opportunity for public high schools - The Washington Post:
