The School within Us: The Creation of an Innovative Public School. SUNY Series, Democracy and Education. SUNY Series, Restructuring and Social Change

The inspirational story of a group of teachers, parents, and students who face and overcome many challenges in their struggle to create a very unconventional school within a school.This book tells the story of a community of teachers, parents, and students who thoughtfully took charge of their very conventional circumstances and created a very unconventional school. With authority and liveliness, Nehring, a veteran teacher who led the development of the school, describes the many challenges faced and overcome in The Bethlehem Lab School from its inception as a proposal in 1988 to the graduation of its first senior class. Working on the fault line between theory and practice, Nehring and his colleagues built a school on performance-based assessment in a state resurgent with standardized testing. Committed to small scale in a suburban community with a typically large high school and wide elective offering, the Lab School--which functions as a school within a school--offered a highly focused, integrated curriculum, culminating in a senior internship program and thesis project. With students and parents closely involved, the school developed a democratic culture attuned to many voices and a high degree of collaboration. Throughout its development, the Lab School faced skepticism from colleagues and community members but continually proved them wrong as it raised private foundation money, won crucial faculty votes, attracted a diverse student population, succeeded with competitive college admissions for its graduates, and won strong support from students and parentsJames Nehring is Principal Teacher of the Francis W. Parker Charter Essential School and Regional Teacher Center in Devens, Massachusetts. Founding teacher of The Bethlehem Lab School in Delmar, New York, he has also written The School We Have, The Schools We Want: An American Teacher on the Front Line; and Why Do We Gotta Do This Stuff, Mr. Nehring: Notes from a Teacher's Day in School. Annotation This book tells the story of a community of teachers, parents, and students who thoughtfully took charge of their very conventional circumstances and created a very unconventional school. With authority and liveliness, Nehring, a veteran teacher who led the development of the school, describes the many challenges faced and overcome in The Bethlehem Lab School from its inception as a proposal in 1988 to the graduation of its first senior class. Working on the fault line between theory and practice, Nehring and his colleagues built a school on performance-based assessment in a state resurgent with standardized testing. Committed to small scale in a suburban community with a typically large high school and wide elective offering, the Lab School - which functions as a school within a school - offered a highly focused, integrated curriculum, culminating in a senior internship program and thesis project. With students and parents closely involved, the school developed a democratic culture attuned to many voices and a high degree of collaboration. Throughout its development, the Lab School faced skepticism from colleagues and community members but continually proved them wrong as it raised private foundation money, won crucial faculty votes, attracted a diverse student population, succeeded with competitive college admissions for its graduates, and won strong support from students and parents This book recounts how a community of teachers, parents, and students took charge of a conventional school and created an unconventional one. It describes the challenges faced by the Bethlehem Lab School--from its inception in 1988 to the graduation of its first senior class. The school was conceived as a performance-based-assessment school, and its supporters were committed to a small-scale environment in a suburban community with a typically large high school and wide elective offerings. It is a story about six teachers and the families who joined them to create a new type of school. Their creation, the Lab School, functions as a school within a school, offering a focused, integrated curriculum that culminates in a senior-internship program and thesis project. The book recounts the many practical issues faced by the stakeholders and thus dwells on political and institutional concerns, such as building support, raising funds, addressing the needs of various interest groups, recruiting students, and implementing the philosophical and curricular ideas that were generated. The text is primarily a narrative, offering a first-hand account of the planning, opening, and evolution of the Lab School. Four appendices offer information on graduates and samples of student evaluations. (RJM)