Vermont's High Schools on the Move report reviews the current situation in Vermont high schools and proposes 12 principles to improve high school learning across the state. These principles place individual student learning at the center of the renewal process and focus community efforts on ensuring students and schools meet high expectations. The report recommends that each student develops a personal learning plans (PLPs) for all four high school years; that academic courses are combined with community-based learning opportunities; and that each student accumulates a portfolio of work that demonstrates he or she has met standards. Appendices include a self-assessment rubric aligned to the 12 principles, and how-to documents for organizing community discussions. This report is an example of how to communicate a state-level framework for redesign with accompanying tools to help local districts and schools initiate the redesign.
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Background and Context
Educational transformation requires changes at the state, district, school, and classroom levels. By supporting districts in their secondary school redesign efforts, state education agencies must not only provide direction, but also gain a deeper knowledge of the processes of redesign by learning from the experiences of individual districts. This in turn will facilitate stronger state leadership in support of future efforts.
