The Coalition of Essential Schools is a US organization created to further a type of whole-school reform originally envisioned by founder Ted Sizer in his book, Horace's Compromise. The group began in 1984 with twelve schools; it currently has 600 formal members. As of 2014 it operates from headquarters in Portland, Maine.
Organization
Originally the organization was run centrally from Brown University, in Providence, Rhode Island, limiting its activities to schools on the east coast. Later, it created regional hubs to coordinate reforms, coach teachers and administrators on school change, and evaluate schools for membership in the coalition. Eventually the national organization became only a coordinating body with relatively little direct interaction with schools, limiting itself to coordinating between hubs, presenting a national public face for the organization, and organizing an annual convention, the "Fall Forum." The organization was based in Oakland, California, from 1997 to circa 2011.
Supported by a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Coalition of Essential Schools is engaged in a five-year initiative to establish ten new CES high schools, create a network of 22 CES Mentor High Schools to be actively engaged in helping to support the creation of new small schools, convert two large high schools into several new CES small schools, and document the CES principles and mentoring approach through an online resource, a "Mentor Schools Guide," and its network of Centers.
Philosophy
The group was founded on nine themes that were intended to codify Sizer's insights from Horace's Compromise and the views and beliefs of others in the organization:
- "Learning to use one's mind well"
- "Less is More, depth over coverage"
- "Goals apply to all students"
- "Personalization"
- "Student-as-worker, teacher-as-coach"
- "Demonstration of mastery"
- "A tone of decency and trust"
- "Commitment to the entire school
- "Resources dedicated to teaching and learning"
- "Democracy and equity" (this principle was added later, in the mid-nineties)
Member schools
There are hundreds of schools in the group, including:
- Alabama School of Fine Arts, Birmingham, Alabama
- Beaver Country Day School, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts
- Bergen County Academies, Hackensack, New Jersey
- Brimmer and May School, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts
- Bushwick School for Social Justice, New York, New York
- Crater Renaissance Academy, Central Point, Oregon
- The Crefeld School, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Francis W. Parker Charter Essential School, Devens, Massachusetts
- The Gailer School, Middlebury, Vermont
- Gilmour Academy, Gates Mills, Ohio
- Greenfield Center School, Greenfield, Massachusetts
- Greenville Technical Charter High School, Greenville, South Carolina
- International School of the Americas, San Antonio, Texas
- Lehman Alternative Community School, Ithaca, New York
- Leadership High School, San Francisco, California
- Marlboro School, Marlboro, Vermont
- Milken Community High School, Los Angeles, California
- Mission Hill School, Boston, Massachusetts
- Nathan Hale High School, Seattle, Washington
- Noble High School, North Berwick, Maine
- Olympic Community of Schools, Charlotte, North Carolina
- Piscataway Township High School, Piscataway Township, New Jersey
- Quest High School, Humble, Texas
- Riverdale High School, Portland, Oregon
- San Francisco Community School, San Francisco, California
- School of the Future, New York, New York
- Souhegan High School, Amherst, New Hampshire
- Thomas Jefferson High School, Auburn, Washington
- Vanguard High School, New York, New York
- Village School (Great Neck, New York)
- Watkinson School, Hartford, Connecticut
- Wildwood School, Los Angeles, California
References
See also
- John Dewey
- Education reform
- Philosophy of education
Further reading
- Comprehensive School Reform Quality Center (2006), "Narratives: Coalition of Essential Schools", CSRQ Center Report on Middle and High School Comprehensive School Reform Models, Washington DC: American Institutes for Research, pp. 67â€"74 + appendix
External links
- CES official website
