Reading Reflection 2

As I think about BPHS's practices, there are a few that stand out to me and seem to me to likely be more salient in the student learning successes they have had. These three practices are aligned with some of the 6 Components for Comprehensive Reform posed by the CA Department of Education in the 1992 vision for a new California high school in the document Second to None:
1. Creating Curricular Paths to Success;
2. Developing Powerful Teaching and Learning;
3. Establishing a Comprehensive Accountability and Assessment System;
4. Providing Comprehensive Support for All Students;
5. Restructuring the School; and
6. Creating New Professional Roles.


First, I think that the internships and career experience they provide students with sets them apart from other schools. Students are able to see direct connections for what they are learning and working on and their futures. They are able to build connections with comminity members, gain work experience, and engage in activities that are meaningful to them. They have a voice in what internships they apply to and hopefully are more engaged as a result. This practice appears to be aligned with creating curricular paths to sucess, restructuring the school and developing powerful teaching and learning.

I also think that the integrated units that BPHS implements are key to their success in helping students experience a more connected and meaningful learning experience at school. Without teachers who collaborate to make their instruction/activities stretch across content areas, studetns would continue to have a fragmented and disjointed educational experience. This practice certainly exemplifies powerful teaching and learning, creates curricular paths to success, and creates new professional roles.

Lastly, I think that their "small school feel" allows them to manage student learning experiences more effectively, making ITU's, internships, and collaboration more feasible. In order for schools who are not small like BPHS to create a small school feel, they must restructure the school and provide comprehensive support for all students so that each individual feels a sense of belonging and purpose.

At my Clinical Practice 1 site, San Dieguito Academy, they used a unique schedule to foster student choice and facilitate project-based learning. The 4x4 schedule that they used allowed students to focus deeply on four subjects at a time for a semster, and then choose four other subjects of focus for the following semester. Students were able to take more electives this way in their areas of interest, which were offered in abundance. Students may take surf P.E., yoga, genetics, Japanese, robotics, etc. There was a focus on project-based learning where the math department focused on thematic units that allowed students to discover concepts while solving a unit problem, physics students built and tested bridges, the robotics class built robots, English students participated in socratic seminars and frequently completed group projects, etc. Student choice and the fostering of individuality were clear in the climate of the school.

Second, the school is about half the size of surrounding high schools and utilizes strategies such as interest-based homeroom periods to further create a smaller school feel. Students really seem to feel connected at school. Both the unique schedule and small school feel are evidence of school restructuring and providing comprehensive support to all students via choice, homeroom support, and time to think and learn.

I cannot think of a practice described in Rethinking High School that BPHS would not still be using. Each practice seemed to have a purpose and be working well for them in furthering student learning. I imagine that as school size changes, requirements from the state changes, student interests change, technology improves, etc, the school will have to remain flexible, incorporating each of these changes into its model.