Implementation Stage
At this next stage (implementation stage), like the awareness stage, two levels are outlined. Identified as "becoming a Basic School" and "leading the Basic School," schools at these levels would maintain active involvement in the efforts of The Basic School Strand by utilizing the following options:
- A Basic School Web Page where information about The Basic school is listed, linkages are provided with other Basic School web sites, a question/ answer bulletin board is available, and the process for further information-seeking is outlined with contact names and phone numbers or e-mail addresses. This will be one point of contact for schools or individual educators who are interested in learning about The Basic School.
- A set schedule of visitation opportunities at Jackson-Keller Elementary school will be established and schools interested in visiting a Basic School can reserve space on the scheduled days. Reservations will be handled through The Center for Educational Leadership at Trinity University-Basic School Strand.
- A monthly meeting hosted by The Center for Educational Leadership- Basic School Strand will be held for principals and a lead teacher(s). Discussion will center around the understanding and implementation of Basic School Goals and Priorities for Renewal. One of the goals of these meetings will be to provide guidance and further structure for the work of the strand.
- Seminars on specific topics related to the Basic School will be offered every other month to promote discussion and sharing of ideas across school and district lines. These seminars will be hosted by The Center for Educational Leadership at Trinity University and led by Strand Mentors or ideally, they will be hosted by schools within the strand and collaboratively led by the school and mentors.
- Symposiums will be offered at three different times throughout the year in an effort to maintain a commitment to professional growth and exemplary practice (staying abreast of the latest research in practice, researching one's own practice, experimenting with new approaches, and sharing one's insights). Tentative topics include technology, brain-based learning, character development, community building, change process, leadership, literacy.
- A Basic School Strand Newsletter will offer current information about Basic School Strand events, as well as, events hosted by Trinity University. Contributions from strand members will keep us abreast, for example, of our colleagues' efforts, progress, needs, and events. Articles related to our renewal efforts may also appear.
- A Basic School Strand Mentor will be assigned to each strand school to support their implementation of the Basic School Priorities for Renewal. Please see the attachment entitled, "The Role of the Mentor in the Basic School Strand."
- A Basic School Strand Summer Institute will be held to enhance learning within the tenets of the Basic School. A curriculum development focus will pervade to allow cross school, cross district teams to develop shared curriculum units based upon the Eight Human Commonalities. The curricular units developed will be distributed to all participating schools and will used for future learning opportunities for the strand.
- Following a year of mentoring, strand schools will be invited to send a leadership team to a "Trainer of Trainers" institute in the summer to provide additional ideas and tools to expand the implementation of the renewal process. These teams will then be expected to provide leadership and staff development for their campus with consultation from their mentor in the second year of the renewal process. (Mentors will then be assigned to a new campus for year two and will remain in only a consultant capacity during the second year with their original school.) This is a possible response to "building capacity" within schools and among the ranks of the mentors.
As mentioned earlier, The Basic School Strand seeks to align with and maintain the integrity of national conversation surrounding the stages and standards of commitment involved with The Basic School movement. With this in mind, The following is an outline related to this very issue:
At the "becoming a Basic School" level, schools would:
- Begin good faith implementation of the Basic School's Priorities for Renewal as delineated by their short and long term plans
- Document implementation of the priorities for renewal
- Establish a connection to an educational support agency partner (like our Basic School Strand), Regional Center, or:
- connect to the National Center for on-going support, training, and professional growth
- attend institutes for on-going support, training, and professional growth
- Engage in on-going self-assessment leading to the revision of short and long term plans for implementation as needed
At the "leading the Basic School" level, schools would:
- Maintain staff, administrative, and district commitment
- Serve as a demonstration site for other schools interested in the Basic School
- Engage in building capacity of mentors at the school site
- Participate in Basic School Leadership Institutes for renewal, training, and professional growth
- Train others in the philosophy, principles, and practices of the Basic School
- Seek feedback from peers in the movement on implementation and practice
Please note the nature of this document is a draft. Ideas in italics are still at a conversation level and/or are shared in an effort to support the work of The National Center for Basic School.