Message from Superintendent Arlene C. Ackerman – Single School Culture
Dear Colleagues:
Single School Culture is not a program but a way of organizing and running a school. It begins with shared norms, beliefs, values, and goals and results in agreed upon processes and procedures that produce consistency in practice. A Single School Culture results in consistency of both adult and student practices related to behavior, academic achievement and climate. The processes are designed to develop the knowledge and skills of adults and students simultaneously.
The School District of Philadelphia’s embrace of a Single School Culture supports schools, students and teachers by:
Targeted Professional Development
Teachers receive training and participate in regularly scheduled Learning Team Meetings that include the following procedures:
- Articulation of academic targets – unpacking of standards
- Development of a data stream
- Analysis of student data (strengths and weaknesses) and student work (rigor and relevance)
- Alignment of curriculum/instruction/assessment to standard
- Sharing strategies for corrective instruction
Promoting Student Involvement
Students also become partners in the assessment process and learn to lead conferences regarding their academic achievement. Students learn to:
- Articulate academic targets
- Analyze their own data
- Derive feedback and develop their plan for learning
Improving Behavior
Behavior is a uniform set of practices and procedures that are aligned to a school’s mission and goals. These practices and procedures are known and used by all staff to positively norm both student and adult actions. The Single School Culture for Behavior process serves to:
- Empower staff to uniformly address behavior issues
- Create an ethos of fairness in our schools
Improving School Climate
Climate refers to the emotional atmosphere we generate around us, the “context” of school. Climate involves the perception of stakeholders concerning the fairness, openness, friendliness, ethos of caring, and sense of welcome of the school. It also refers to the degree of satisfaction experienced within our organizational structure. A Single School Culture improves the climate in our schools by:
- Reducing risk factors for students and promoting positive factors
- Recognizing and valuing the contributions of all staff, students and parents
- Promoting an atmosphere that encourages positive relationships among all stakeholder groups
I urge you and the members of your school's staff to embrace the tenets and practice of Single School Culture.
Respectfully,
Arlene C. Ackerman, Ed.D.
Superintendent
The School District of Philadelphia