A Treasure Trove of Information About Unexpected Schools

In Huffington Post this week, I write about why I think it’s important to learn from what I call “unexpected schools,” which are high-performing and rapidly improving schools with large populations of students of color and students who live in poverty.

We, at Ed Trust, are working on creating a new website with information about the unexpected schools that have received our Dispelling the Myth Award. We’re still in the baby step stage; we have only 13 schools listed now. But fairly soon we will be adding another 20 schools. They are rural, urban, large, small, elementary, and secondary. Some have maintained their excellence since receiving the Dispelling the Myth Award; others have undergone dismaying drops in achievement since then — a vivid testament to how complicated schools are. None could be considered a perfect school. But collectively, they provide a treasure trove of information about the ways schools can help kids — all kids — achieve.