The Centrality of Context: Ted Sizer and the High Flying Adventure of Common Principle Six

Abstract

The Coalition of Essential Schools' Common Principles (1984), which grew out of findings of A Study of High Schools and followed publication of Horace's Compromise: The Dilemma of American High School, (1) were intended as a rallying point for school reform and a kind of constitution for exemplary school practice as Theodore R. Sizer imagined it. In years since, Common Principles have had a wide and varied impact on American K-12 education--deep in some places and much less clear in others. In contexts that share Sizer's vision of democratic localism (See Michael Katz), (2) Common Principles have provided guidance for founding of new schools and transformation of existing schools. Such schools, connected by Coalition of Essential Schools (CES), (3) have found, in Common Principles and CES network, a source of learning and political clout. (4) In this arena, Common Principles have served their intended purpose and proven remarkably resilient over many years. At same time, Common Principles have entered education policy discussion, collided and combined with many other reform agendas, and re-surfaced in world of practice in unpredictable ways. Disconnected from their animating context, Common Principles have sometimes been reduced to instrumentalities--advisory, block scheduling, performance-based assessment--and have calcified into models to be implemented with no clear rationale. Understanding this bifurcation of Sizer's legacy (fidelity to principles in some places, instrumental adoption in others) illuminates central role of context in Sizer's school reform agenda and, more generally, work of school improvement. An exploration of path of just one of Common Principles illustrates this dynamic. Number Six among Ten Common Principles is Diploma by also described in early CES literature as of and the students' demonstration that they can do important things. (5) For two public schools in Massachusetts, this principle is alive and well. Mission Hill Elementary School in Roxbury was founded by Sizer's CES colleague Deborah Meier as a Boston Pilot School in 1995 and serves students from kindergarten through grade eight. (6) Before graduating from school, each student must present his or her work in six formal presentations, called exhibitions, to teachers, students, parents, and outside community members. In each exhibition, student presents and defends work that he or she has completed in one of school's six domains of learning: History, Literature and Writing, The Arts, Mathematics, Science and Technology, and Beyond Classroom (documented learning experiences outside of school). The exhibitions are evidence-based, consisting of student's actual work, such as essays, lab reports, and math problems, which are carefully selected and placed in a portfolio. Student work must meet demanding criteria. For example, required evidence for Mathematics, as posted on school's website, is as follows: (1) A portfolio of four problems students have solved at appropriate levels of mathematical skill, one in each of strands: number sense, data and statistics, geometry, and patterns and functions. (2) Evidence of mastery of appropriate mathematical terms and facts (the basics). (3) Evidence of basic competency as measured by a standardized test. (7) Because a successful exhibition requires well developed oral presentation skills and because an acceptable portfolio requires critical thinking skills, daily classroom work folds oral expression and critical thinking into the basics in a seamless manner. Another example is The Francis W. Parker Charter Essential School in Devens, Massachusetts, founded by Nancy Faust Sizer, Ted Sizer, and several colleagues (8) in 1995 as one of State's first Commonwealth charter schools. (9) The Parker School serves students from grade seven through high school graduation, drawing from over 40 towns in eastern and central Massachusetts. …