School of the future?

NEA Today, Jan 2000 by Collison, Michele N-K

In Phoenix, educators are working to fulfill the potential of a new school that may hold lessons for schools of the future.

The Phoenix Union High School District hadn't built a new school in 27 years. So when the district set out to build the Cesar Chavez High School in Laveen, 20 minutes outside Phoenix, it pulled out all the stops.

The new school's architecture reflects that ambition. Eye-popping colors, inspired by Aztec culture, abound on the sprawling campus, from the purple ramadas where students hang out at lunch to a bright red football stadium.

Amenities are everywhere, so many that one parent has dubbed Cesar Chavez the "Disneyland of high schools."

But the facilities aren't the only thing that's attracting attention to Chavez High. At the dawn of the new millennium, plenty of people are watching to see if the approach to education offered at Chavez a mix of collaborative decision making, state-of-the-art technology, and integrated curriculum-can be a model for the school of the future.

The goal at Chavez High, say the advocates for the new way, is to boost student achievement. If the school works, note school staff proudly, that success will be the ultimate tribute to the spirit of Cesar Chavez, the historic union leader who devoted his life to improving the lives of farm workers, including many who live nearby.

A NEW 'COMPACT'

Almost two years ago, a team from the NEA local affiliates that represent teachers and support staff-the Phoenix Union ClassroomTeachers Association and the Classified Educators Association-joined with local administrators to set the stage for the Cesar Chavez new approach. The team replaced the old handbooks with an eight-page "compact" for collaboration.

The compact's premise is simple. Give everybody on campus-from janitors to principals-an opportunity to make decisions about the school.

Why break with tradition? The old model wasn't working, team members felt, and parents were fed up with low test scores and high dropout rates.

Adds the Arizona Education

Association's Doug Kilgore: "We had to do something dramatic. Parents were losing faith in the public system."

Five months into their first year in the new school, the Chavez staff is bursting with new ideas. But the road to consensus building hasn't been easy.

It's difficult to move to collaboration from confrontation, acknowledge the teachers, support staff, and administrators behind the compact. Some staffers fought the compact's adoption. They believe it will jeopardize the staffs hard-won gains.

Other staff are frustrated because some employees have been hired without being told about the special Chavez High mission. Others are disappointed that the planned "coring" curriculum isn't yet in place.

Still, plenty of Chavez High teachers and staff are committed for the long haul.

"To say it's been smooth sailing would be a lie," says Toni Kirby, president of the support staff local. "But this is the perfect site. It is equal to Cesar Chavez the man. We're trying to live up to his dream."

What's worth watching at Chavez High? Here's a quick list.

DECISION MAKING

At Chavez High, a veritable alphabet soup of councils and committees run the school, with the goal of breaking down barriers between teachers, support staff, and administrators.,

Disputes are handled, under the compact, through a four-step conflict resolution process, rather than a traditional grievance procedure.

The top body in the process is the Educational Action Council. The three members of this panel-teacher Gary Raether, support staffer Dena Pollock, and principal Jim McElroy-are the school's decision makers of last resort.

Staffers like registrar Deitra Webb feel empowered by the new collaborative approach. At her old school, administrators would tell her how school registration would be run. At Chavez, the staff decided.

"We decided to let students register before school opened and teachers helped out," Webb points out.

Chavez High is emphasizing the importance of involving all staff in decisions, teachers and support staff alike.

"At one recent meeting," notes history teacher Jennifer Earl, "we were getting ready to discuss an issue and support staffers were walking out because they thought the meeting was just for teachers. Usually, support staff is just dismissed. Here, everyone has a voice."

CURRICULUM

The spacious Chavez High campus is built around a "house" concept that's designed to encourage team teaching. Traditional high schools are centered

around departments, but, at Chavez, the "house" is the central focus. The faculty in each house cross the lines of academic disciplines. Science teachers spend their days working closely with English, French, and social studies teachers.

Eventually, the school will be structured totally around "coring," a process that will place one group of teachers with a single group of students. This coring, teachers believe, will help integrate course work and keep students from falling through cracks.

That commitment to reaching all students also shows up in the Chavez High commitment to areas like art and music. The school includes, among other features, a piano room with new electronic keyboards and an impressive performing arts auditorium.