Leading High-Performance School Systems by Tucker Marc

Author:Tucker, Marc [Tucker, Marc]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: ASCD
Published: 2019-01-14T16:00:00+00:00

A Qualification System: Imagine Prep at Surprise

In 2010, the Arizona state legislature passed a law that offered schools the opportunity to try a dramatic new approach to high school education. Instead of offering students diplomas based on time in the seat, the legislation authorized schools to award a Grand Canyon Diploma to students who demonstrated that they have attained the knowledge and skills necessary to be ready for college and careers. Students could reach this level at any point between the end of grade 10 and the end of grade 12; if they did so before the end of grade 12, they could stay in school and take advanced coursework, take dual enrollment courses at a community college, or enroll directly in postsecondary education.

Imagine Prep at Surprise, a charter school in Phoenix serving grades 6–12, took up the challenge. "We were looking for an identity," says the principal, Chris McComb. "We talk about college, career, and life, but what does that mean? This was an opportunity to connect ourselves with something meaningful, and something right to do for kids."

The system Imagine Prep put in place is a qualification system. Such systems are common in high-performing nations but are a radical departure from traditional high schools in the United States. Putting it in place successfully requires rethinking almost every aspect of schooling because students have to hit real performance targets in the core curriculum.

At the heart of a qualification system are the assessments used to determine whether students can demonstrate college and career readiness. Based on NCEE recommendations, which had formed a national network of schools pursuing qualification systems, Imagine chose the examinations developed by Cambridge International Examinations, the organization that develops the International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) examinations used in Great Britain to determine students' qualifications for prestigious universities.

The Cambridge program, used by schools in more than 120 countries around the world, offers not only examinations scored by highly trained examiners but also a complete set of course syllabi on which the exams are based. The syllabi are in turn based on carefully constructed curriculum frameworks that step the students through a sequence of topics logically ordered to enable those who work hard to succeed on the exams. The exams are essay based, which means that they can measure kinds of student achievement that are difficult if not impossible to measure with multiple-choice exams. The standards for the courses and exams are internationally benchmarked. Students who do well on the exams are top candidates for admission to the world's leading universities.

To McComb, the examinations defined the system by setting clear expectations for students and enabling the school faculty to build a program of study that would enable students to reach those goals. "The assessments make clear what students need to know and be able to do," he says. "If you start there, you can build back from there to grades 9 and 10."

Unlike many tests used in the United States, the Cambridge examinations truly allowed students to demonstrate their competencies, McComb says.

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