An Educators' Guide to Schoolwide Reform

Co-NECT is a schoolwide approach that focuses on improving achievement by integrating technology into instruction, organizing lessons around interdisciplinary projects, and reorganizing schools into multi-grade clusters of students and teachers.

The Co-NECT organization reports that the approach is based on a large body of research on effective schools, primarily drawing from three research strands. First, it draws from research showing that schools can improve student performance when the whole faculty focuses on achieving challenging, concrete, and measurable results. Second, it incorporates research linking increased student achievement with schools that allow teachers to take responsibility for a common group of students and promote close, sustained relationships among teachers, students, and families. Third, it encourages authentic pedagogy, which requires students to think, develop in-depth understanding, and apply academic learning to important, realistic problems. According to the organization, the approach also incorporates two other "best practices": using multiple standards of assessment, and incorporating technology in ways that enhance student learning.

Co-NECT was founded in 1992 by members of the Educational Technologies Group at BBN (Bolt, Baranek, and Newman) Corporation. It is one of several approaches sponsored by New American Schools, a national initiative to develop replicable schoolwide reform programs. In the 1998-99 school year, 75 schools in eight states were using the approach. Of the 47 schools working with the developer in the 1997-98 school year, there were 25 elementary schools, 15 middle schools, five high schools, one K_8 school, and one K_12 school.

Strength of the Research Base. Co-NECT is a relatively new approach and has not yet built a rigorous research base on student achievement. Two studies conducted by the Co-NECT organization examined student outcomes; however, neither was considered rigorous enough to report the findings here. Co-NECT also is collecting and analyzing student outcome data gathered by districts. These longitudinal data can be obtained from participating districts and the developer.

There is a strong base of research on implementation. Seven studies (four conducted by independent researchers and three conducted by the developer) tracked the implementation progress of Co-NECT schools.

Effects on Students. At the time of this report, there were no studies of sufficiently rigorous methodology on which to base conclusions about Co-NECT's effectiveness in increasing student achievement.

Organizational Change, Staffing, and Administrative Support. Co-NECT encourages significant organizational changes, based on research and best practices, but does not require any specific action. Schools are encouraged to reorganize into small communities of teachers and students from different grade levels ("clusters"). Parents, teachers, and students also are asked to form a school design team to help plan and implement reforms. Although not required, schools are encouraged to hire a local facilitator.

Co-NECT also provides a full-time site director to work with a group of approximately five schools within a given geographic area. According to Co-NECT, a site director visits each school regularly, conducts training workshops, and guides teams. Many site directors have been teachers or administrators in Co-NECT schools.

Curriculum and Instruction. In the Co-NECT approach, students work on projects that can cover multiple content areas, solving real-life problems. According to the organization, this project work is designed to develop in-depth understanding in a range of content areas, higher-order thinking skills, and strong skills in reading, writing, and mathematics. Many projects apparently involve the use of technology, including using computers to share information with students in other schools and to communicate with experts in different fields. Students are expected to demonstrate their skills and knowledge with products and presentations.

Teachers are expected to develop three projects per year, using a common planning period to work together on them. Using the Co-NECT Exchange, the organization's Web site (www.
conect.com), teachers can choose from projects developed by Co-NECT staff or other teachers. Examples of projects recently available are Why Vote? The Co-NECT Election Project, a one month program for third through tenth grade, and The Underground Railroad Project, a year-long project for third through eighth grade.

Supplies and Materials. Two types of instructional resources are seen as vital to the approach: a technology infrastructure, and materials for project-based instruction. The developer requires schools to provide Internet access for teachers so that they can access Co-NECT's online services. It encourages, but does not provide or require, computers on every teacher's desk and in every classroom, suggesting an optimal user-computer ratio of 5:1. No specific materials are required or provided for project-based instruction.

Scheduling and Grouping. Co-NECT does not require any specific grouping or scheduling changes. However, the developer encourages schools to set up a common planning time for teachers to plan projects together and to schedule blocks of time during the day for students to conduct group projects.

To help students develop bonds with their teachers, Co-NECT recommends that students stay with the same teacher for at least two years. In this practice, called "looping," a teacher follows a group of students from one grade to the next, and then starts over. For example, a teacher might teach fourth grade one year, fifth grade the next, and sixth grade the next, then "loop" back to fourth grade.

Monitoring of Student Progress and Performance. Co-NECT calls for multiple forms of assessment, including standardized tests, student portfolios, exhibitions, classroom observations, and other indicators. The developer provides a comprehensive set of rubrics and a process for scoring student portfolios. The developer also helps schools develop assessments and provides workshops to help faculty use the assessment tools.

Beginning in the 1998-99 school year, Co-NECT helps schools create schoolwide portfolios of student work. Co-NECT staff will train panels of community raters (for example, parents and business leaders) to evaluate the quality of students' work and create a composite picture of student achievement that can accompany standardized test scores.

Family and Community Involvement. According to the developer, Co-NECT emphasizes parent and community involvement. Parents and community members are encouraged to volunteer in the classroom and serve on the school design team or the portfolio and implementation review panels. Businesses are encouraged to provide schools with access to resources and to work with students on community projects, internships, and other activities.

Professional Development and Technical Assistance. Co-NECT offers both on-site and online assistance to help participating schools implement five evaluation criteria (see the Implementation section, below) within a three-year period. In addition, Co-NECT schools participate in Critical Friends, which provides an opportunity for schools to learn from each other. Each year, through Critical Friends, schools send three staff members to another Co-NECT district for three days to evaluate that school's implementation of Co-NECT.

Each year, Co-NECT begins with a two-day training session for faculty. Co-NECT provides three three-hour professional development sessions spread across the school year on topics such as standards-based projects, portfolio assessments, use of test results, and technology. According to Co-NECT, the sessions can be scheduled by the schools to take place during or outside of regular school hours during the school year.

A Co-NECT site director provides regular on-site support, meeting with teachers during their common planning time, and coordinating three meetings per year with principals and district personnel. To meet other professional development needs, Co-NECT offers online training modules developed to meet needs identified across schools.

Implementation Requirements and Schools' Experiences. Before implementing Co-NECT, a school must meet several conditions. The Co-NECT organization requires that 75 percent of the faculty vote to adopt the approach. Co-NECT prefers to work with at least five schools in the district or region, to keep costs down, leverage resources, and ensure that the transforming schools are not isolated. The organization expects schools to have a concrete plan to ensure that they will have the necessary computers, networks, and software to implement the approach.

During each year of implementation, progress is reviewed against evaluation criteria in five areas: (1) high expectations for all students and schoolwide accountability for results; (2) schoolwide emphasis on practical application of academic knowledge to authentic problems; (3) use of assessments that measure actual student and school performance; (4) organization of the school into small houses of students and teachers from different grades; and (5) sensible use of the best available technology for everyone. The organization hopes that schools using the model will be able to continue on their own after three years of implementation; however, according to Co-NECT, schools may continue to participate in various Co-NECT activities after the third year.

For the schools studied in the research, progress toward implementation was promising. In the first year of implementation, schools showed moderate progress, using some components of Co-NECT (project-based instruction, student portfolios, teacher teams, and Critical Friends). Multi-age grouping was not implemented in all Co-NECT schools during the first year.

Two years after adopting Co-NECT, according to these studies, most of the central parts of the approach—instruction, standards, student assignment, and professional development—were consistent with Co-NECT's ideas. However, some schools still had not fully implemented the approach in regard to changing instruction across the curriculum, assessment, and community involvement.

One study identified several obstacles to implementation, including difficulty organizing the curriculum into projects and using technology to support the projects.

Beginning in the 1998-99 school year, Co-NECT is coordinating reviews of implementation in Co-NECT schools. Similar to the Critical Friends process, a panel of stakeholders from the school board, community, and developers will evaluate the implementation of the approach against evaluation criteria in all Co-NECT schools.

The first-year cost of adopting Co-NECT can be as high as $588,000. This cost covers professional development, including staff release time; participation in the Critical Friends network; and an estimate for installing start-up technology in a school that has no hardware or software.

An average school of 500 students pays Co-NECT $55,000 for each of the first three years. This fee covers the salary of the site director (which is shared across five or more schools), unlimited access to the Co-NECT Exchange, professional development, registration for three teachers at Co-NECT's national conference each year, and participation in the Critical Friends component (meals and hotel).

Other costs differ by school, depending on the technology already in place, level of professional development needed, strategy for compensating teachers for professional development, and level of guidance needed to integrate school change with district strategies.

Schools are responsible for additional expenses, including: travel and hotel costs for the national conference; release time and travel costs for Critical Friends visits; release time for on-site training; and compensation for teacher attendance outside of regular school hours. Co-NECT estimates that a school of 500 students will need 75 substitute days in the first year and 65 days in each of the next two years for training. Critical Friends and the annual conference are estimated to cost $7,500 for each of the first two years and $6,500 for the third year (hotel and airfare). Travel expenses for the site director (if not local) are estimated to be $4,800 for the first year and $3,500 for each of the next two years. In addition, Co-NECT advises schools to budget time for teachers to develop projects for their classes.

The fee paid to Co-NECT does not cover hardware or software beyond the organization's Web-based tools and resources. The estimated cost for an average classroom, including a teacher presentation station and four student stations, is $20,000. Co-NECT estimates that start-up technology costs for an elementary school of 500 students with no wiring, hardware, or software could be as much as $500,000. According to the organization, however, many schools and districts that work with Co-NECT have already made these technology investments. In addition to start-up costs, the school might expect to pay for Internet service, upgrades, and maintenance.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Ms. Tricia Ferry
Co-NECT Schools
70 Fawcett Street
Cambridge, MA 02138

Phone: 617-873-5612
Fax: 617-873-2589
E-mail: info@co-nect.com
Web site: http://www.co-nect.com