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Thinking about Smart Districts

Portfolio for District Redesign

> Order Report [9 pamphlets, $35]
> Portfolio for District Redesign Web page
   [Descriptions of 9 tools and supporting materials; links to
   PDF files and printable text versions]

The School Communities that Work Task Force developed a new conception for a "smart district" – a high-performing community of schools that ensures both equity of opportunity and high-level achievement across all groups of students. In the first phase of its work, the Task Force prepared a nine-part portfolio that describes its vision of "school communities that work for results and equity" and includes tools to help districts analyze and rethink their capacity to support high-quality schools. (2000–2002)

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The Promise of Urban Schools: In Search of Excellence

> Order Print Copy [14 pages, $6]
> Download Report [PDF: 14 pages, 84 KB]

The Annenberg Institute is issuing a print edition of an earlier Web publication prepared by its Senior Fellows in Urban Education. During their term as Fellows (1991–2000), eight scholars and practitioners collaborated on a framework to highlight five opportunities and challenges in urban education that hold out promise for educational excellence and democratic expression in all schools. This framework guided the collective work of the Fellows and continues to inform their individual work in research and practice.

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Rethinking Accountability: Voices in Urban Education 1

> Download VUE 1 [67 pages, 1.3 MB]

This issue of Voices in Urban Education asks: What does "accountability" mean in the No Child Left Behind era? Current accountability efforts have not ensured a high-quality education for all students, in spite of ambitious goals. Rethinking Accountability presents a new conception of accountability that supports educational improvement and that recognizes the roles and responsibilities of all stakeholders. Seven authors ask probing questions and share insights on accountability from a variety of perspectives: students, teachers, community organizations, municipal and state leaders, and Congress. Articles by Warren Simmons, Dennie Palmer Wolf, Michelle Fine, Janice Bloom and Lori Chajet, Leslie Santee Siskin, Fernando Abeyta, Audrey M. Hutchinson, Joan L. Herman and Elizabeth DeBray. (Spring 2003)

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School Districts and Educational Improvement Bibliography

An Annotated Bibliography of Research, 1988 to the present

> Web bibliography

A comprehensive review of research on education improvement at the district level from 1988 to the present. The annotated School Districts and Educational Improvement Bibliography includes descriptions of more than 100 research reports, books, case studies, and journal articles. Many are available online as PDF files or online articles; links are included. (Last updated May 24, 2007)

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School Reform Plans Should Include Urban School Districts

by Warren Simmons, Executive Director, Annenberg Institute and Marla Ucelli, Director, District Redesign initiative Brown University News Bureau.

> Read Article

An Op-Ed piece about urban schools districts. With heavy reliance on rewards and punishments, the Bush educational reform plan seems to imply that incentives alone will encourage schools to lift themselves out of failure. The plan pays scant attention to the one institution that can make sure there are good schools for all students: the urban school district. (February 2001)

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Smart Districts: Voices in Urban Education 5

> Order Print Copy [40 pages, $10]
> VUE 5 online
   [Includes articles, excerpts, resources, author bios]
> Download Ocynthia Williams article
   [8 pages, 898 KB]

This issue of Voices in Urban Education features leading-edge perspectives on how to transform a school community into a “smart district” – one that is part of the solution to what ails public education, not part of the problem. How can districts transform out-of-date structural models and use data to become "best-in-class"? Why do districts need to rethink the way teachers are assigned to schools? How did a citywide “community covenant” and a grassroots movement in a low-income urban neighborhood transform two districts' schools? Articles by Marla R. Ucelli and Ellen L. Foley, Frank Till, Brad Jupp, Kay James, Ocynthia Williams (Fall 2004)

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Sustaining Reform: Voices in Urban Education 9

> Order Report [48 pages, $10]
> Online excerpts, articles, audio clips

How can education reformers ensure that reform lasts? Many well-designed efforts have failed to make much of an impact or have been swept aside by the next new thing. Educators and communities are eager to avoid this fate. This issue of Voices in Urban Education shares five encouraging stories of reform efforts that are built to last and offers important lessons for other districts about what it takes to sustain reform over a long period of time. Articles by Lyn Sharratt and Michael Fullan, Carolyn Akers, Steve Gering, David Wynde, Thomas W. Payzant. (Fall 2005)

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