Butler Technology and Career Development Schools strives for the following:
1. Deliver education as planned with faculty having access to a course of study and instructional guides appropriate to their assignment
2. Maximize student engagement in instruction
3. Efficiently deliver courses of study to produce student performance

The curriculum delivery supervision information observations procedure is used to give ongoing feedback and coach teachers to expand their understanding of metho...Read more

Stephen Covey’s book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, still serves as a “management bible” in many business boardrooms. In his latest book, The Leader in Me, Covey details how several schools nationwide applied his seven habits to their struggling schools. Two of the schools are members of the Network, A.B. Combs Elementary School and English Estates Elementary School, which use the habits to build a schoolwide leadership model.

This bulletin describes one school’s approach to implementing a literacy initiative. The first two pages include an overview of the school and the initiative. Pages 3-9 describe the implementation of the initiative.

Background:
Brockton High School, with a student population of 4,350 in grades 9-12, is a comprehensive school, located in an urban center 30 miles south of Boston. The diversity of the student body is reflected in the 2008–09 statistics: 29.3% White, 54.5% Black, 13% Hisp...Read more

Provided in this bulletin is the outcome-based grading plan used at White Pine High School, Ely, Nev., including the rationale and steps they took to reach this new grading plan. The grading rubrics may be found on the last two pages of this bulletin. The information here comes directly from the plan created and implemented by White Pine High School, and as such it has not been changed, edited or modified. If you have any questions about the model presented in this bulletin, please feel free ...Read more

The story of Brockton High School and the culture change that has taken place based solely on a literacy initiative is now garnering national attention from the New York Times, CBS Evening News, and PBS. It’s a story that resonates with schools across the country and one that hit home in South Middle School in Westfield, MA. However, we have only a few examples of how middle schools have used the process of using literacy to change their culture. After first hearing the story at a Model Sch...Read more

In Tony Wagner’s Global Achievement Gap, he discusses what he calls the seven survival skills needed for the twenty-first century. In almost all of his conversations about core competencies and skills for success in today’s workplace, he found the ability to ask good questions a recurrent theme. “Asking good questions, critical thinking and problem solving go hand in hand in the minds of most employers and business consultants” (Wagner, 2008); therefore, they represent the first of ...Read more

Every school takes a different path to presentation at the Model Schools Conference hosted by the International Center for Leadership in Education. SPN members have the added assistance provided by their coach, Network staff, and resources. Earning the designation of “Model School” is an achievement to be proud of. The International Center for Leadership in Education takes seriously the review of a school’s accomplishments before inviting that school to become a model and present at th...Read more

The purpose of the World Café is to provide time for colleagues to meet and talk with each other and discuss issues of importance in the school. It works very well to introduce a topic or get feedback on something.

When we look closely at the makeup of today’s special education population, the poor school performance and the disappointing post-school outcomes are even more disturbing. Fewer than 20% of students identified as needing special education have serious cognitive disabilities. The vast majority — about 80-85% — are identified in categories that by definition involve at least average intellectual capability: learning disabled, speech/language impaired, emotionally disturbed, hearing impai...Read more

Deciding on whether to follow a traditional or block schedule in a high school can be a difficult task. All schedules have positive and negative aspects. The Successful Practices Network does not recommend one kind of schedule over another; each school must determine the type of schedule that is most appropriate for their students. Here is an overview of block scheduling, followed by several Network schools that can be contacted for more information.