Common Principles in Uncommon Places

A CES Big Idea, by George Wood Ideas and strategies for improving schools often fall victim to the “Yes, but…” phenomenon. It goes like this: after finishing a talk about the importance of student engagement through making time for advisory, the first comment from the floor is dismissive. “Well, that sounds good, but it won’t work here because [name a local condition].” My experience with CES has taught me that of all the paths for school change, commitment to the Common Principles is the one that stands up to the “Yes, buts.” When I became principal at Federal Hocking High
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A Call for Progressive Voices from Schools

As part of our Year of Demonstration, we’re putting out A Call for Progressive Voices from Schools. Throughout the year, we will publish the voices of educators exploring the power of the Common Principles and aligned approaches to animate teaching and learning. You need not be a CES member to participate; voices from K-12 educators in any setting are welcome. We invite teachers, current and former students, administrators and other individuals involved in schools to share their voices about the work of progressive education. These pieces will be shared in a variety of ways – on the CES web site, through social media
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The Common Principles in Spanish / Los Princípios Generales en Español

We’ve posted a version of the Common Principles in Spanish for those school communities that would find this useful for communicating with Spanish-speaking families and community members. We’ve received a number of request for this resource, and we hope it’s useful. If your school or organization has versions of the Common Principles in other languages or formats, please share! We’d love to spread the word in as many ways as possible.
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CES School Benchmarks

The CES School Benchmarks are an assessment tool designed to address the challenge of helping schools translate the Coalition’s guiding tenets, the Common Principles, into practice by describing what their implementation “looks like” in a school. The benchmarks are divided into two categories: Classroom Practices and Organizational Practices. Classroom Practices are focused on instruction and address the question “What does a CES classroom look like?” by sharing how each practice is reflected in teacher work and student outcomes. Organizational Practices are those schoolwide practices that support and enable the Classroom Practices. Click here to explore the CES School Benchmarks.
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Fall Forum 2016

Fall Forum 2016: Year of Demonstration December 2-3, 2016 Providence, Rhode Island   Click here to register for Fall Forum now! Fall Forum 2016: The Highlights In December 2016, the Coalition of Essential Schools will hold an extraordinary national gathering in Providence, RI, where our work began in 1984. As part of a national effort to highlight the strength and success of progressive education, we are gathering teams from schools across the country, advocates for progressive education, and national thinkers for two days of networking, professional learning and movement building. This will be the CES’s final Fall Forum, and we expect
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