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In 1995, Paden Elementary School (K-8) was selected to participate in the initial work of the newly formed Bay Area Reform School Collaborative (BASRC). In 2001/2002 Chipman Middle School joined the Collaborative, while Woodstock Elementary (K-5) and Encinal High School joined in 2002/03. In addition, Alameda Unified School DIstrict was one of four other school districts selected to join the Collaborative as a District.

BASRC began with a focus on school-level change as an avenue for spreading change throughout the Bay Area. BASRC's years of experience with reforming schools has demonstrated that if schools are to sustain their progress, they need active support from their districts. Just as schools need to support teachers to collaborate and improve their practice, districts need to support schools to collaborate and foster instructional improvement and innovation. For additional work at a District level, visit Single School Plans.

At the end of each school year, participating schools are required to conduct a Review of Progress. One step in the Review of Progress for each site is the developement of key issues for the upcoming year. Here are the key issues for the four school sites at end of 2002/03 school year:

Encinal High School

  • Creating a culture of inquiry
  • Prioritizing and focusing
  • Professional development - instruction geared toward different ethnic groups
  • Collaboration time and accountability: what are all the norms around collaboration? What is done during this time and by whom?
  • Building leadership capacity within the school
  • Data and assessment - the best use of data to make appropriate decisions
  • Expansion of literacy program and how to address the strategic students

Chipman Middle School

  • Defining the purpose of the leadership team
  • Use of Cycle of Inquiry: schoolwide? By department and grade level?
  • How to prioritize organizational issues that need to be addressed (leadership team structures, collaboration time)
  • School culture and morale - creating a safe environment in this time of change
  • Using collaboration time effectively

Paden Elementary School

  • Evaluating the current programs (multi-age) given the changing demographics
  • Addressing the complexity of teaching 3 reading programs and evaluating the effectiveness?
  • Investigating programs that address skills gaps
  • Improving documnetation of Cycles of Inquiry

Woodstock Elementary School

  • Building teacher leadership capacity (changing the culture of the school - What does it mean to be a Woodstock teacher (leader)?
  • Consistency of implementation of teaching strategies
  • Building in on-going collaboration time to ensure sustainability
  • Support structures and systems for sustainability (build teacher leader capacity, coaching, data collection and assessment, Cycle of Inquiry)
  • From decoding to comprehension (diagnositc assessments, strategies, summative assessments)
  • How to coordiante with the local collaborative

Here is BASRC's focus on Woodstock Elementary School.

In June 2004, BASRC ended funding for individual school sites. However, Alameda remained a BASRC Focal district work on school reform continued at a District level.

Send mail to mikemcmahonausd@yahoo.com with questions or comments about this web site.
Last modified: June 24, 2003

Disclaimer: This website is the sole responsibility of Mike McMahon. It does not represent any official opinions, statement of facts or positions of the Alameda Unified School District. Its sole purpose is to disseminate information to interested individuals in the Alameda community.