Teaching and Learning as Central to Transcend's School Design Collaborative

Abstract

Founded in 2015 by two Teach For America leaders, Transcend is a national nonprofit virtual organization that supports communities to create and spread extraordinary, equitable learning environments so that all young people can learn in ways that enable them to thrive in and transform the world. Among other things, Transcend engages with schools that are beginning to design or redesign their learning environments by providing powerful learning experiences, coaching, inspiration visits, and research-driven tools. The main vehicle for this work is a cohort-based program known as the Transcend School Design Collaborative. My strategic project is grounded in the Transcend School Design Collaborative (“The Southwest Collaborative”). The Southwest Collaborative is composed of design teams from four existing district schools and one new charter school who have come together to build their conditions for innovation in order to develop “extraordinary and equitable learning environments” within their respective communities. Central to this work are the principles of the instructional core and task, as well as instructional rounds as a practice for improving student learning at scale. I sought to expose the fact that teaching and learning are often overshadowed in the process of school (re)design. I showed school leaders that teaching and learning are the nucleus of a school. While I identified this nucleus through research, I proved it through practice. The Southwest Collaborative was the ideal venue to lead multiple school design teams to develop a “school model articulation” informed by valuable classroom observation and student perspective. It is not only the understanding of the instructional core and the Science of Learning and Development, but also the experience of it through exercises such as instructional rounds that illuminates the critical role that teaching and learning play in the well-being of a school environment.