- Title: The Opportunity Makers: How a Diverse Group of Public Schools Helps Students Catch Up — and How Far More Can
- Authors: TNTP
- Access the original paper here
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Paper summary
This report from TNTP examines seven high-performing public schools that successfully help students catch up academically, even those from historically marginalized groups. The study identifies three key factors contributing to these schools’ success: fostering a sense of belonging, ensuring consistent high-quality instruction, and creating a coherent instructional program. These schools demonstrate that significant academic gains are achievable through a focus on these core elements, regardless of varying school contexts. The report offers recommendations and practical tools for other schools and systems seeking to replicate these successful practices. Ultimately, the goal is to improve student learning outcomes and increase opportunities for economic and social mobility.
What are the key implications for teachers in the classroom?
- Build relationships with each student: Teachers in trajectory-changing schools prioritize getting to know each student as an individual, understanding how they learn, what their academic needs are, and what their life is like outside of school. Principals in these schools also know which students are behind academically and how the school is providing support.
- Cultivate belonging through school structures and practices: The expectation of knowing students and their families is reinforced through school schedules and structures, like regular caregiver communication, advisory periods, and student information handoffs between teachers.
- Work collaboratively to support individual needs: Teachers in trajectory-changing schools work together to identify and address the full range of students’ unique needs. They have structures for collaboration and shared ownership of student support, including data review meetings focused on exceptional learners.
- Focus on individual growth over time: Rather than focusing on group proficiency in short testing windows, educators in trajectory-changing schools focus on incremental growth for each student. They break down large goals into smaller chunks and celebrate progress with students, teachers, and caregivers.
- Use data consistently to monitor learning and tailor support: Schools use frequent assessments linked to their primary growth goals and use simple tools to capture and analyze data. This data is used to understand what students are learning and to tailor support in real time.
- Deliver consistent, high-quality instruction: In trajectory-changing schools, all students are given grade-level content, with support to access it if needed. Consistency is reinforced by school-wide structures like a strong shared curriculum, structured collaboration, and focused feedback.
- Use structured professional learning communities to improve instruction: Professional learning community (PLC) meetings are used to analyze student work, address individual needs, and implement strategies. They are a key part of frequent cycles of improvement.
- Align intervention with core instruction: Intervention in trajectory-changing schools is focused on learning acceleration, starting with grade-level content and providing support when needed. The same materials and curriculum are often used for both Tier 1 and Tier 2 instruction.
- Create a coherent learning experience: Teachers in these schools make connections between subjects and learning activities clear to students. They work to ensure that all parts of the student’s learning experience are unified and support grade-level expectations.
- Communicate clearly with caregivers: Schools work to make caregivers partners in the learning process by communicating student progress, sharing learning strategies, and holding conferences.
These implications highlight the importance of a holistic, student-centered approach to teaching that focuses on building relationships, supporting individual needs, and providing consistent, high-quality instruction in a coherent learning environment.
Quote
To create new paths of opportunity for young people, we must learn from what’s already working. This diverse group of schools proves that it’s possible to get trajectory-changing results without a perfect curriculum or an ideal educational climate
