The Redesign Strand: The Foundation for All Three High School Strands.
The Redesign model of the EdWorks model focuses on using existing resources in new and more effective ways. Because it works with existing human, financial and physical resources, the Redesign process is a key strategy for helping districts and states create great high schools at scale. Redesign Strand participants move through a tightly scripted process to form multiple independent small high schools in what was previously a traditional large, low-performing campus. The EdWorks Redesign goes beyond structures to focus on the development and implementation of a rigorous, standards-based curriculum, delivered in a way that provides early college experiences for all students and builds strong relationships between students and adults in the school community. Because they are nestled in facilities that have strong meaning and history within communities, Redesign schools are closely connected to the world beyond the classroom. Heavy emphasis is placed on ensuring that multiple leaders on the Redesign schools work collaboratively across the autonomous organizations to coordinate daily activities, policies and procedures in a way that ensures smooth operation campus wide.
The focus is heavy, in Redesign high schools, on changing traditional leadership styles and systems. School-based and district-level curriculum leaders participate in a full year of intense professional development focused on transforming them to adaptive, collaborative, courageous leaders of innovative systems. The Redesign process itself is the learning laboratory for leadership development as central office administrators, school principals, teacher leaders and others change the district- and school-level high school policies, practices and resource allocations in the process of designing and implementing multiple great high schools in the same facility.
One hundred percent of students in Redesign high schools will participate in early college experiences, ranging from seminars on partner colleges and universities, to college visits, college credit through advanced placement courses, dual credit courses and completion of college courses.
The EdWorks strategy for high school redesign touches all grade levels in a school from day one. Even in years one and two, as primary redesign transitions focus on incoming ninth and tenth graders, targeted interventions with upper classmen help identify students who demonstrate the capacity to be successful in more rigorous courses and engage them in an accelerated curriculum, either in the high school or its higher education partner.