Perhaps there is nothing more complicated than running a school. As I have written about previously, starting, scaling, and sustaining the performance of an excellent school is like asking an orchestra to perform the 1812 Overture while also playing full-contact rugby – for at least 180 days of the year, every year – and with musicians/players regularly being replaced.
To be excellent, a school must excel in nearly all of the design elements below simultaneously. And it doesn’t stop there. Not only must a school be excellent in these design elements, but every element must be aligned and integrated with all the others to work well.
The impact of an excellent curriculum can be limited if it doesn’t line up with assessments, teacher professional development, or school operations (as it turns out, it’s challenging to teach a curriculum if buses break down). To quote the wisdom of Lauryn Hill, sometimes, “Everything Is Everything.”
Design Elements of a School: (one way to organize them)
Governance and Leadership
Unifying Education Vision and School Design
What is taught, how it is taught, how it is supported, how it is assessed, what relationships look like in a school, how time is used by the school, how talent is deployed, and ultimately how a school provides an environment and a set of experiences that successfully prepares all students to achieve economic independence, to fully participate in democracy, and to pursue happiness as they define it.
School Culture and Community
Aligned Academic Content
Content
Formats
Assessment
School Structure
Differentiated Instruction
Experiential Learning
Specific Areas of Focus
Student Supports
Enrichment
Teachers and Talent
Pipeline and Hiring
Roles and Staffing Model
Growth and Performance
Supports and Compensation
Data and Information Systems
Finance, Facilities, Human Resources, and Operations
External Relationships
Structural Policies
Please view on a computer to be able to read it clearly
Note: I am using “parent” as shorthand for any family or community member taking responsibility for the education and future of a child.
Source: Significantly updated from Cortez, “Rock, Water, Pebble: Three Strategies for Scaling Innovations in Education,” New Profit, April 2021.
Build your own school design framework. This framework is not meant to be authoritative, and I encourage organizations to build their own (and remember – it’s not a small font; it’s an efficient use of space). You might organize these design elements with different groupings or less detail or even more detail in some categories. You could also organize it by stakeholder. The key is to have something that your organization can use as a common language to drive dialogue and decisions on design.