Edutopia - September 2007 - (Page 27) more than 1,000 learning standards as they move from kindergarten to high school graduation. Ask any secondary school student, and he or she can tell you, for example, “I’m at level five in math, level seven in reading, level six in career development.” Students mark up the packets to track how far they’ve come, turning each page into a hodgepodge of multicolored highlights and scribbles. Take a snapshot of all the students’ report cards at any point, and each one will look different. At the core of the Chugach model is this rule: To move to the next level, you must master the one that precedes it. There is no sitting in the back row and skating by. Every child must learn every subject at every level, passing with proficiency equivalent to at least 80 percent—essentially, a B minus. And when they’re done, they’re done, whether that means they finish when they’re sixteen or twenty-one. “Time was the constant and learning was the variable— that’s the old model,” says Roger Sampson, president of the Education Commission of the States, who led Chugach’s transformation as district superintendent in the 1990s. “We switched. What’s constant is learning. Time is the variable.” And Sampson says that switch, revolutionary as it may seem, can and should be made in every district, large or small, in Alaska and beyond. Uncommon Sense Even as globalization and media propel our culture—and our classrooms— toward modes of production that are bigger, faster, and more alike, Chugach has refocused on an approach to education that is smaller, personalized, and variably paced. As Douglas Penn, the districtwide principal, explains, “Our kids graduate when they’re ready. We’re not pumping them out the door with Ds on their diplomas.” This individualized pacing doesn’t mean Chugach coddles its students. In fact, it places a great deal of responsibility on them. Teachers expect pupils to direct their own learning—with guidance, of course—and complete some of the district standards through projects they create and conduct. The older the kids get, the more leadership they must assume. An example of this ethos is the work of Jordan Geffe, who last spring wrote an essay on the healthiness of city life versus village life. He chose the assignment, topic, and argument (his thesis: Village life is healthier), and compiled evidence to back it up. In explaining the essay, Jordan opened his report card and pointed to exactly what he hoped to achieve: “Write a proficient composition that gives reasons.” At times, the demands can be “pretty upsetting,” says Teresa GRACE RUBENSTEIN hat does it really mean to leave no child behind? The educators of Alaska’s Chugach School District believe they have the answer. There are no grade levels in the rural district, which is based in Anchorage and serves tiny villages scattered throughout 22,000 square miles of remote areas of south central Alaska. Instead, each of its few hundred students tote around report cards as thick as history texts. Each packet details the individual student’s progress through the district’s W Night Vision: The Aurora Borealis dances over the Chugach Mountains above Anchorage, the headquarters of the Chugach School District's reforms. Dylan Geffe (inset) pursues his customized learning goals with coaching from teacher Nichole Palmer. SEPTEMBER 2007 EDUTOPIA 27
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.