Selecting partner schools

The Initiative could not work with every school that might have benefited. Choosing well mattered, because a school that was not ready for deep change would struggle to sustain it.

Who was eligible

At the start, 83 comprehensive high schools in Oregon each enrolled more than 800 students. For schools that would convert, eligibility rested on the size of the campus and on the proportion of students of colour and students receiving free or reduced price lunch. The screen left 55 eligible high schools, all invited to answer a request for proposals. Thirty three did.

New starts were judged differently. There the Initiative looked at the proposed school design, the intended student population and its demographics, and the strength of the design team as revealed through interviews.

How decisions were made

Written applications were only one input. Teams visited each campus to assess how ready its leadership was for change and how firmly it was committed to the small schools model. They also examined the level of support the surrounding district was prepared to give. Along the way they met students and teachers, sat in classrooms, and spoke with community and business leaders.

Because both conversion and new start work carry real difficulty, the Initiative selected applicants that showed the clearest likelihood of success, rather than the most dramatic need alone.

Two rounds

Conversions and new starts were both chosen across two rounds separated by a year, so that lessons from the first could shape the second.

Not every plan reached the classroom. One comprehensive school did not complete its conversion, and two planned new starts did not open. The Initiative reported those outcomes as openly as it reported the successes.