High School Redesign in Action is the New England Secondary School Consortium’s sixth annual conference for educators across the country to share success stories, exchange best practices, and continue to build momentum for innovations that will prepare all students for success in the colleges, careers, and communities of the 21st century.
WHEN: Thursday + Friday, March 26–27, 2015
WHERE: Four Points by Sheraton in Norwood, Massachusetts
WHO: Educators, students, policy makers, and teams from middle and secondary schools along with career and technical education centers and higher education from across the country engaged in school improvement
Session spotlight:
PD OF THE TEACHERS, BY THE TEACHERS, FOR THE TEACHERS (Jobs for the Future’s Students at the Center initiative)
Is student-centered learning only for students? Or do the same principles apply to adult professional development? Students at the Center, a Jobs for the Future initiative, in partnership with the Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents, brought practicing teachers together with a university professor to explore student-centered learning concepts. Teachers then transformed research on motivation, engagement, self-regulation, and student voice into teacher-created, learner-centered professional development modules, resulting in four “off the shelf” professional development modules exploring how practitioners can implement researched-based practices.
In this session, one of the participating educators will discuss the module-development process, as well as model a lesson from the student engagement module. Participants will leave this session with a sample module with links to the full series, along with advice on implementing teacher-created, learner-centered professional development.
ENGAGING AND MOTIVATING HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS THROUGH STUDENT-CENTERED LEARNING (Meriden Public Schools, Meriden CT)
In this session, Meriden Public Schools will showcase the implementation of student-centered approaches at Maloney and Platt high schools that have been supported by the Nellie Mae Education Foundation through a New Approaches in Urban Districts grant. Presenters will highlight the schools’ blended-learning environments as well as student-created, personalized-learning experiences that allow students to develop skills that promote college and career readiness. Administrators, principals, teachers, and students will share their first-hand experiences learning and working in this innovative environment, and participants will hear directly from students who have advocated for and embraced these changes.
Participants will learn how teaching and learning have changed the classroom, how it is being extended outside the classroom walls and into the homes and greater community, and how this shift led to an improved school climate and culture in which student voice and community participation are encouraged. By putting students in the center, all districts can engage, motivate, and inspire lifelong learners.