Uplifting the expertise of all educational partners in community schools through shared leadership
Anaheim Union High School District defines community schools as, “a safe place at the heart of a community where students, staff and families are connected and work together to expand […]
A tale of teacher-powered sisters: Collective teacher leadership key to keeping teaching a family affair
Kelley (Kell) Cusmano and Sarah Giddings are twins and both Michigan teachers. Kell was recently named 2024-2025 Michigan Teacher of the Year. Sarah is now the director at her school, […]
In San Diego, collaborative leadership and community schools go hand in hand
San Diego Education Association (SDEA) represents more than 7000 certificated district educators in San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD). The union has a long history advocating for the schools their […]
Give them power and they will stay
An educator’s perspective on teacher-powered schools The vast majority of teachers go into education because they want to postively impact young people’s lives. This enthusiasm is often dampened by unrealistic […]
Integration with Integrity: Reflections on a Decades-long Design Journey
Seeing is Believing While many societal institutions would benefit from systemic reform, my life’s work focuses on engineering learning systems that support secondary, undergraduate and adult learners. Twenty-three years ago, […]
Student Empowered School via Town Hall
It’s a Friday afternoon. Normally, students are abuzz, packing up at the end of the day, chatting about weekend plans, waiting impatiently for the clock to hit 3:00. Not this […]
Teacher Evaluation Reimagined
This is the second of a two-part set of articles on Teacher Evaluation. See the first entry here. Contact Greg Fisher at schoolempowerment@gmail.com. Is there more than one way to design […]
Teacher evaluation can (and should) be way more meaningful
Peer observation and collaboration succeed where top-down reforms fail. This is the first of a two-part set of articles on Teacher Evaluation. Contact Greg Fisher at schoolempowerment@gmail.com. Teacher Evaluation is at […]
A Letter to Madam Tracy Lake
Cultivating creative, curious learners outdoors at a teacher-powered school Sometimes, people give up on kids. I have twenty of them in my little school, Class ACT. We call it a […]
In teacher-powered schools, many hands move ideas forward
A student meets with their teacher-advisor at Avalon. “How’s that working out for you?” Any time I explain to anyone in traditional public schools how Avalon School — where I’ve […]