The School Design Puzzle: How CES Can Help

Schools seeking help with issues of school design can find help through the Coalition of Essential Schools in a variety of ways:

  • The new CES School Benchmarks spell out detailed “indicators” for how the Ten Common Principles play out in school structures and practices. To obtain the latest working copy, contact Adam Tucker by email at atucker@essentialschools.org, or telephone  510-433-1451  510-433-1451 .
  • The CES Web site (www.essentialschools.org) posts publications, discussion groups, and a “field book” of examples from Essential schools in action.
  • Ten years of the CES journal Horace have been published as The Collected Horace in five spiral-bound volumes, arranged by theme for easy reference. Volume 3, titled School Structure and Design, includes issues on small schools; new schools; getting reform started; reform in elementary schools; “what works, what doesn’t”; heterogeneous grouping; school-to-work; advisory groups; schedules; school culture; student roles in reform; equity issues in school design; and research supporting Essential School ideas. To order Volume 3, send $60 plus $5 shipping to CES Publications, 1814 Franklin St.  Suite 700 Oakland, CA 94612; MC and Visa orders phone 510-433-15-1451. The complete set of five volumes is $310 plus $20 shipping.
  • School coaching by experienced consultants is available through both the CES national office and CES Regional Centers. For more information, telephone Victor Cary at  510-433-1451  510-433-1451 or e-mail vcary@essentialschools.org.
  • The Trek, a year-long guided journey for school teams in the process of change, is offered by, among others, CES Regional Centers in Indiana ( 812-856-8216  812-856-8216 ), Ohio ( 614-855-7331  614-855-7331 ), Missouri ( 816-453-7733  816-453-7733 ), Florida ( 954-382-6260  954-382-6260 ), New Jersey ( 732-445-2071  732-445-2071 ), and the San Francisco Bay Area ( 510-208-0160  510-208-0160 ). For more information, contact the appropriate Center or Victor Caryat the national CES office ( 510-433-1451  510-433-1451 ; e-mail vcary@essentialschools.org).
  • School Design and Leadership Institutes in the summer and during the school year are sponsored by CES national offices ( 510-433-1451  510-433-1451 ) and by the Michigan Regional Center ( 517-780-9814  517-780-9814 , e-mail bbleyaer@online.emich.edu).