ASP
by Johnna Wells
WHAT IS AN
ACCELERATED SCHOOL?
It is a school where every child is treated as gifted!
The goal of Accelerated Schools PLUS is to create Powerful Learning opportunities for all students. By building on the strengths of each student, the school uses the best of what we know about teaching and learning, usually reserved for gifted classes, to accelerate the learning of all students. Each Accelerated School creates its own set of Powerful Learning experiences based on its own unique needs, strengths, and vision. In an Accelerated School, all members of the school community are invited to share in the leadership of the school. The parents, the students, school staff members, and community members develop the vision for the school; understand its challenges and work together to achieve its goals.
Three Principles
|
Unity of Purpose |
Empowerment Coupled with Responsibility |
Building on Strengths |
Accelerated Schools are based on the following three principles:
- UNITY OF PURPOSE – The whole school community decides on the goals for the school which become the target for everyone’s efforts. Everyone in the school is pulling in the same direction.
- EMPOWERMENT COUPLED WITH RESPONSIBILITY – All members of the school community help to make important educational decisions, share responsibility for implementing those decisions, and share responsibility for the outcome of those decisions.
- BUILDINGONSTRENGTHS
–
There is a commitment to looking for and building on each person’s
strengths in the school community.
THE VALUES OF ACCELERATION
The
following values are embedded and supported in an Accelerated
School and lead to acceleration.
Equity - Accommodations are provided so that all students can learn and have access to a high quality education.
Participation - Everyone is informed and students, parents, the school staff, and community members are invited to participate in the Accelerated Schools transformation process. Everyone's ideas count.
Communication & Collaboration - The entire school community collaboratively works toward a shared purpose by meeting, talking, and learning from each other's experiences.
Community Spirit - The school staff, parents, students, district employees and local community members build connections to serve all students.
Reflection - In transforming the school, the school community takes time to reflect, to do research, to work together and to share ideas.
Experimentation - The school community explores, designs, tests and implements programs as a result of communicating about and reflecting upon the school's challenges.
Trust - Teachers, parents, support staff, administrators, district office, community members, and students come to believe in each other, support one another and focus on each other's strengths.
Risk-taking - The school community promotes a safe environment for informed risk- taking.
Community expertise - The resources necessary for excellence are found within the school community.
Respect - Each member of the school community shows regard for the work of other by being open to diverse ideas and points of view.
The
Accelerated School's Philosophy:
The schools we want
to create for all children should be the same schools we want for
our own children.
Powerful learning experiences are provided for all children through
the integration of curriculum, instruction and organization.
Accelerated School communities share beliefs and
attitudes.
|
Authentic |
Inclusive |
Learner-centered |
Interactive |
Continuous |
The 5 powerful Learning Components of an Accelerated School:
- Inclusive:
- Every student is engaged in differentiated content, process and products based upon her/his needs, interests, and strengths in order to accelerated learning.
- Students demonstrate their learning using a variety of learning styles and intelligences.
- Assessment is used to determine a variety of instructional approaches in each unit and lesson.
- The school and each teacher provide opportunities for students to extend and accelerated their learning, to assess their work and to follow-up on individual interests.
- All students participate in enriched and challenging learning experiences. - Authentic:
- Every students demonstrates his/her learning through the creation of authentic products and performances.
- Learning applies to student real-life situations or issues.
- Teachers assess the learner's life experiences, knowledge, goals, and interests and use this data to design learning activities.
- Instruction includes and makes use of the cultural and family traditions of the students and/or community.
- Instruction includes the vocabulary, methods, and. or activities of the work world or the discipline.
- Teachers take advantage of teachable moments.
- Students reflect on their work and learn from their mistakes.
- The school exhibits and celebrates student learning with the community. - Interactive:
- Every student is engaged in interactive and collaborative activities to share knowledge and expertise or to compete projects.
- Teachers' dialogue with students develops critical thinking.
- Students constructively critique their own and each other's work.
- Student interact with a learning community that exists in and outside the school through field-base experiences and/or technology.
- Teachers build family-student interaction into the learning and assessment practice. - Continuous:
- Prior knowledge is assessed in order to engage every student in instructional activities and make connection between various subjects and contexts.
- Teachers integrate state, district, and/or school standards to plan curriculum.
- Throughout the school, there is a spiraling strand of curriculum from one year to the next that builds on prior knowledge in order to deepen the levels of student thinking. - Learner-centered:
- Every student is empowered to make choices in her/his learning.
- Students' strengths and interests are identified and used to plan instruction and curriculum.
- Students are involved in the planning of instruction.
- Most of the displays around the school are student work that shows originality, creativity and higher-order thinking.
- Classrooms are set up so each learner can independently access and use materials, books, equipment, and reference materials.
- Learners are guided to manage time and resources effectively.
