Center for School Improvement and Educational Policy

From the 9 Dimensions:
Create Small, Personalized Communities for Learning

Research has shown that students in personalized learning environments achieve at higher levels and are better adjusted than their peers in large, impersonal schools. Middle school, for example, is not viewed by improvement initiatives as a dry run for the large high school; to the contrary, high performance high schools look to the most effective middle and elementary schools as models of small communities. Among recommendations by most whole-school change reform initiatives are that students be grouped into "houses" of less than 300 students, with houses in turn divided into teacher teams. These teams ideally have 4-5 teachers and less than 100 students. In a small, personalized learning community, each student has at least one trustworthy adult who knows him/her well. Instruction is coordinated and organized in ways which foster group cohesion and harmony, such as small group discussions and projects, cooperative learning, and peer tutoring.

The 5 Components for Analysis and Interpretation 
of this Dimension:

Return to 9x5: The HiPlaces Model