SREB’s Making Schools Work school improvement process employs a distributed leadership approach to involve the whole school in identifying problems of practice that impact student engagement and achievement and developing plans to solve them.

With designs for elementary grades,* middle grades, high schools and technology centers, Making Schools Work empowers school teams to create improvement plans that address five focus areas:

• motivating students through engaging instruction
• aligning curricula with state readiness standards
• ensuring that students can explore careers and complete career pathways that align with their interests and aptitudes
• providing student supports that promote readiness
• creating and supporting cultures of continuous improvement

By putting a strong focus on teacher collaboration and challenging college- and career-preparatory curricula like our nine Advanced Career pathways, Making Schools Work helps schools transform their practices so that students never have to ask, “Why do I need to know this?” With Making Schools Work, students connect what they learn in the classroom with their personal interests and goals.

What Makes It Work – Our Problem-Solving Process

In schools that adopt Making Schools Work, focus teams of teachers, counselors and school leaders examine school and classroom practices and student outcomes related to the five focus areas.

Our facilitated problem-solving process draws on engineering design principles to support focus teams as they determine actions to take to foster supportive learning environments, integrate academic and technical content, improve student achievement and empower youth to explore and achieve their career goals.

Customizable Support

Many districts and schools choose to implement the Making Schools Work process after participating in a comprehensive curriculum and instruction review or a career pathway review that examines instructional practices and opportunities across the district or school.

States, districts and schools can adopt the process at any grade level or in any setting with the exact level of support they need.

Most sites opt to receive direct support from SREB’s instructional and leadership coaches through a series of customized site development workshops and follow-up coaching and professional development services that support teams in implementing their improvement plans.

We can also prepare state or district leaders to provide support.

“When educators design and implement engaging learning experiences that align with students’ interests and aptitudes, students find purpose in their learning and meet readiness standards.”
— Dale Winkler, Vice President, SREB