Extraordinary Learning for All

Proven methods, hard-won lessons, and practical tools to create a better future of education

Extraordinary Learning for All: How Communities Design Schools Where Everyone Thrives delivers a hopeful, humane, realistic, and compelling portrait for how we must reinvent schooling for a new century, drawing on the voices and experiences of real school communities who are on that journey and illuminating the specific actions that school and system leaders can take to spark these journeys in their communities. The frameworks, concepts, and stories in this book, emanating from direct, in-the-trenches partnerships with innovators on the ground, show, in genuine detail, what makes this work hard—but also what makes it possible.

Written by the co-founders and Chief Learning Officer of Transcend, a leading nonprofit in school innovation, this book provides solutions to the major problems we face in education, including approaches that:

• Reverse declining enrollment rates and chronic truancy, especially in large urban districts, through better student engagement
• Mitigate our national mental health crisis through school designs that address higher-than-ever-rates of boredom, stress, and chronic anxiety
• Engage and collaborate with parents and communities to improve local schools
• Uplift the voices and expertise of teachers, 300,000 of whom left the profession between 2020-2022

For educational leaders in communities of all shapes and sizes, Extraordinary Learning for All: How Communities Design Schools Where Everyone Thrives is your blueprint to break free from the traditional model of schooling and build a better future for all.

About the Authors xv

Acknowledgments xvii

Authors’ Note xxi

Foreword xxiii

Introduction 1

Two Schools, Two Districts, Two Possible Futures 1

Our Case for Change 2

School and Its Industrial-Era Design 4

How to Read This Book 7

Who Is This Book For? 8

About Us 9

Part I Extraordinary Learning for All

Chapter 1 Extraordinary Experiences and Outcomes 13

Extraordinary Outcomes for All 14

Extraordinary Experiences for All 16

Chapter 2 Community-Based Design 33

The Basics of Community-Based Design 35

Part II Stories from Four Community Design Journeys

Chapter 3 DC Public Schools’ Van Ness Elementary | Washington, DC 55

Community and Leadership Context 59

The Blueprint: Overview of the Whole Child Model Learning Environment Design 60

The Blueprint: Goals and Guiding Concepts 62

The Blueprint: Student Experience 69

The Blueprint: School and System Elements 75

Chapter 4 Northern Cass | Hunter, North Dakota 81

Community and Leadership Context 84

Early Innovations Toward Competency-Based Learning: Pursuing Greater Learner Customization 85

How the Design Cycle Guided and Supported Northern Cass’s Design Journey 92

Chapter 5 Brooklyn STEAM Center | Brooklyn, New York 103

Community and Leadership Context 106

The Blueprint: Overview of Brooklyn STEAM’s Learning Environment Design 108

The Blueprint: Goals and Guiding Concepts 109

The Blueprint: Student Experience 115

Chapter 6 Intrinsic Public Schools | Chicago, Illinois 127

Community and Leadership Context 129

The Academic Model: How Community-Based Design Strengthened Learning 132

Part III How to Embark on a Community-based Design Journey

Chapter 7 Launching Your Design Journey 143

“Gear Up”: Lay the Foundation for Your Community Design Journey 145

“Map It”: Craft a High-Level Vision for the Entire School or System 150

Chapter 8 Deepening Your Design Journey 167

“Zoom In”: Craft a Detailed Vision for a Specific Aspect of the Student Experience 168

“Test-Drive”: Test and Refine the Student Experience 177

“Look Ahead”: Prepare to Continue the Journey 185

Chapter 9 Advancing and Sustaining Your Design Journey 189

Shift from “Test-Drive to Full Speed”: Advance a Component of the Student Experience from Testing to Multiple Cycles of Implementation 191

“Zoom In Again”: Design Additional Components of the Student Experience 199

“Map It Again”: Continue to Refine the High-Level Vision for the Entire School or System 202

“Perform Routine Maintenance”: Maintain the Process and Leadership Over the Long Haul 207

Part IV How to Turbocharge Your Community Design Journey

Chapter 10 Your Leadership Matters 213

A Special Kind of Leadership for a Special Kind of Challenge 215

What Do Learner-Centered Leaders Do? 215

How Do Learner-Centered Leaders Have Impact on Conditions? 220

The Source of This Framework 223

Be a Learner-Centered Leader 225

Chapter 11 The Policy Environment Around You Matters 229

Policy Impact 230

Assessment and Accountability Systems 231

Seat Time and Graduation Requirements 236

Funding for Innovation 238

Navigating Your Policy Environment 241

Conclusion 245

Conclusion: You Are Not Alone 247

Explore New Models that Make the Leaps 247

Find a Design Partner 248

Where Do I Find Design Partners? 250

Build Your Own Capacity 251

Join a Growing Network 252

Extraordinary Learning for All 252

Endnotes 255

Index 271

Aylon Samouha (Chicago, IL) is Co-Founder & Co-CEO of Transcend Education. Prior to co-founding Transcend, Aylon was an independent designer providing strategy and design services to education organizations, schools, and foundations. Aylon also served as Chief Schools Officer at Rocketship Education; leading the highest performing network of low-income schools in the state of California, designing the academic model and blended learning approach, and growing the network from 3 to 7 schools.

Jeff Wetzler (Hastings on Hudson, NY) is Co-Founder & Co-CEO of Transcend Education. Prior to Transcend, Jeff spent a decade in senior leadership roles at Teach For America. Jeff was a founding board member of Leadership Prep Charter Schools and has served on the boards of Uncommon Schools NYC and the National Academy of Advanced Teacher Education. He currently serves as board chair of New Classrooms Innovation Partners.

Jenee Henry Wood (New Haven, CT) is Head of Learning at Transcend Education, an organization which helps schools across the country build & share innovative new models of learning. Transcend has served over 800,000 students through their work with nearly 400 districts & schools. Transcend directly supports schools and systems in their design work, democratizes design support through resources, tools, and professional learning, and catalyzes systemic change by engaging funders and system leaders to understand and advance innovation.

Reimagine the future of schooling through community-based design

Extraordinary Learning for All lays out a powerful approach to transform education through community-based design. Written by the co-founders and chief learning officer of Transcend, a leading nonprofit in school innovation, this book imparts proven tools and hard-won lessons that inspire school systems to pursue their own journeys. The methods come to life through vivid stories of the design journeys that four school communities—from urban to rural—have undertaken to create extraordinary learning for all young people.

“I have witnessed firsthand the powerful impact of Transcend’s work…. I am thrilled that their approach is now captured in this book. It’s essential reading for leaders at every level of the system who care about ensuring that ALL young people thrive in the 21st century.”
—SUSANA CÓRDOVA, Colorado Commissioner of Education

“Transcend has played a pivotal role for years as a key partner in our journey, and I’m thrilled that this book will enable far more communities to benefit from Transcend’s insights and actionable tools. If you are a leader looking to put your learners first, this book is for you.”
—TOM ROONEY, Superintendent, Lindsay Unified School District

“This book breaks through clichés and misconceptions about what it takes to create a meaningful learning environment … the authors provide a smart mix of science- and professional-based practices we must consider to truly place a premium on supporting principals, teachers, students, and families.”
—GERARD ROBINSON, Former Secretary of Education in Virginia and Florida Education Commissioner

Transcend supports communities to design extraordinary, 21st century learning environments where all young people thrive. Since 2015, Transcend has supported the journeys of hundreds of districts and schools—from district, to charter, to independent—throughout the United States. Tens of thousands more leaders and educators worldwide make use of Transcend’s tools and network, reaching millions of students every year. Visit www.TranscendEducation.org for more information.

“In my experience as an educator and leader, I’ve seen bold visions for educational change fall short when the community is not part of the solution. That is what makes this book so important: it shares lessons about how communities come together to make lasting, meaningful change so every student has the ability to succeed.”

—Kaya Henderson, Chancellor of the District of Columbia Public Schools

“The future of public education depends upon communities coming together to learn, envision, and develop approaches that truly put learners at the center. As a leader with decades of experience in public schools, I have witnessed firsthand the powerful impact of Transcend’s work. Transcend is my “go-to” organization for innovative thought-leadership, and I am thrilled that their approach is now captured in this book. It’s essential reading for leaders at every level of the system who care about ensuring that ALL young people thrive in the 21st century.”

—Susana Córdova, Colorado Education Commissioner

“As a system leader driving innovation and transformation across multiple districts, I saw the profound power of community-based design. This book offers you inspiring stories of real districts doing this work combined with practical tools and insights that you and your community can implement immediately. This is required reading for any system looking to move beyond the industrial model towards one that truly unlocks the potential of each and every learner.”

—Christine Fowler Mack, Former Superintendent of Akron Public Schools

“At a moment in American history when the clarion call to help “all children” has morphed into a rhetorical placeholder for polite conversations between legislators, researchers, and philanthropists, this book breaks through fashionable clichés and decades-old misconceptions about what it takes to a create a meaningful learning environment for urban and rural communities. By utilizing a school design framework, the authors provide a smart mix of science- and professional-based practices we must consider to truly place a premium on supporting principals, teachers, students, and families.”

—Gerard Robinson, Former Secretary of Education in Virginia and Florida Education Commissioner

“If our transformation journey in Lindsay Unified has taught us one thing, it would be that engaging the community in a design process with learners at the center matters deeply. Transcend has played a pivotal role for years as a key partner in our journey, and I’m thrilled that this book will enable far more communities to benefit from Transcend’s insights and actionable tools. If you are a leader looking to put your learners first, this book is for you.”

—Tom Rooney, Superintendent, Lindsay Unified School District

“Systems produce the outcomes they're designed to produce. That's a truism when it comes to our schools, but fortunately Jeff, Aylon, and Jenee offer us a roadmap to reinvention so that all students can thrive through a robust and practical design process with inspiring real-life examples of educators doing the work. It's time to design our way to success for all!”

—Michael Horn, Author of From Reopen to Reinvent: (Re)creating School for Every Child

“Too often, our field looks for silver bullets that do not exist. This book doesn’t fall into that trap. Rather, it shares practical methods and powerful examples of communities coming together to imagine and build a promising future for public education. The book expresses wisdom that Transcend has accumulated by working with hundreds of school systems across the country. I hope it spreads far and wide, so innovators know they are not alone!”

—LaVerne Srinivasan, Vice President, National Program, and Program Director, Education, Carnegie Corporation