A week ago I had the privilege of attending the Winter Symposium sponsored by RISC (Re-Inventing Schools Coalition) in Portland, Maine. The purpose of the symposium was to provide an overview of the RISC model for school reform. This model was developed and first implemented in the Chugach School District in Alaska. The book, Delivering on the Promise, shares the story of this transformational journey. The RISC model is a standards-based approach to learning and reporting progress. Students don’t move ahead based on seat time, but rather upon the demonstration of mastery of clearly defined standards. Grade levels and numeric grades are not part of this system.
The four defining components of the RISC model are:
- Shared Vision: All stakeholders, including students, parents, and teachers, must work together to create the shared vision so that there will be ownership, not just buy-in.
- Leadership: All stakeholders develop leadership capacity, especially students.
- Standards-Based Design: Standards are the focus of instruction, assessment, and reporting.
- Continuous Improvement: Constant evaluation leads to constant, ongoing improvement.
This model has now been successfully replicated in other areas. One of the most powerful examples is the Adams 50 School District in Denver, Colorado. This district has an excellent website that provides details about the model, supporting videos, and a link to the Learner-centered Standards-based Toolkit. A similar model has been used in other places around the world, including Quality Learning Australia.
As my district moves toward a new 5 year plan that focuses on self-directed learning, 21st Century learner skills, and 1:1 computing for all high school students, I am convinced that this is the time to question, explore, and re-invent the way we conduct elementary education. Success for all students has not happened in the current model. It seems that “grades” don’t accurately reflect a meaningful representation of learning. In the RISC model, students become responsible for tracking their own learning through documentation on a learning capacity matrix. One of the most significant changes that needs to take place is a change from a focus on teaching to a focus on learning. As students begin to accept responsibility for their own learning, and teachers become guides instead of lecturers, we will then begin to see improvements in student achievement.
