This book shares the compelling story of how a team of visionary educators turned the traditional education system inside out and created a dramatically different approach to schooling that would serve every child. The result is the Re-Inventing Schools Coalition (RISC) Approach to Schooling, a new paradigm in education that can be replicated anywhere, by anyone, for any student, under any set of circumstances.
Benefits:
- Examine the RISC Approach to Schooling through the inspirational story of the Chugach School District.
- Discover why the award-winning approach has proven to be successful.
- Learn how the approach can be effective in a variety of school environments--rural and urban, large and small.
- Compare the RISC system to a traditional education system, and learn why the pace at which each student learns is so critical to consider.
- Understand the foundational pillars of RISCs whole-child model: motivation, engagement, and shared leadership.
Contents:
Chapter 1: From a Time-Based to a Performance-Based System: A Necessary Transformation
Chapter 2: A Journey of Transformation
Chapter 3: The RISC Approach to Schooling
Chapter 4: Replication: Success, Lessons Learned, and Suggested Action Steps
Chapter 5: Student Stories: Individual Lives and Futures Transformed
Chapter 6: Hope for the Future: A Million Kids, a Thousand Districts
Appendix: RISC Organizational Self-Assessment Tool (OSAT)
Richard A. DeLorenzo is cofounder and consultant for the Re-Inventing Schools Coalition (RISC) and an internationally known leader in education and organization restructuring. He is best known for his uniquely comprehensive grassroots approach to reinventing school systems. Under Richard's leadership, Alaska's Chugach School District became the first K-12 district in the United States to move from a time-based to a performance-based system in which students must meet performance targets rather than earn credits to graduate. Richard has more than 24 years of experience working with youth at risk and students with disabilities of all ages in a wide variety of settings.
Often described as a visionary, he has the unique ability to involve others in his dreams for advancing the education system. In addition to guiding schools and districts in the United States, Richard has consulted with organizations around the globe. His account of a historically challenged rural district that made remarkable strides in student achievement using the RISC Approach to Schooling became one of the first-ever education recipients of the prestigious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.
Wendy J. Battino is a cofounder and executive director of the Re-Inventing Schools Coalition (RISC). Battino began her formal education career working with students who did not fit in the traditional system. She soon realized that a focus on innovations was imperative to meeting the needs of all students. Through this recognition, she began a journey to improve school systems across all boundaries. Experience at the classroom, school, and district levels provided Battino with an extensive background in standards-based instruction and assessment, school improvement planning, and curriculum design.
Battino seeks to solve educational problems through collaboration and research. As a testament to this commitment, she was integral in the initial development of the RISC Approach to Schooling through her grassroots efforts in team-building and continuous improvement.
Battino is the author of one of the first award-winning applications in education for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award for the Chugach School District.
Rick M. Schreiber is cofounder and director of operations for the Re-Inventing Schools Coalition (RISC). Schreiber has spent many years guiding and facilitating systemic school reform as a head teacher, staff and curriculum developer, consultant, and executive. Schreiber has a passion for helping schools and districts build cohesion through systematic processes to accomplish common goals, and he is well-versed in using standards-based approaches to carry out these goals. Schreiber has consulted with schools and districts, both in the United States and abroad, that are committed to transforming their approach to education.
Schreiber has extensive experience in using evaluative methods related to school improvement efforts. He has been the team leader for on-site evaluations of RISC implementation efforts since 2004. Schreiber co-wrote the Chugach School District's award-winning application for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. Schreiber was a head teacher with the district during the time that the district reinvented its education system.
Barbara B. Gaddy Carrio is a writer with extensive experience in the field of education, specifically standards-based approaches to schooling. Gaddy Carrio was director of development communications at the University of Denver. She subsequently joined the staff of Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL), where she worked closely with Robert Marzano and then was managing editor of publications with McREL.
