Great Expectations Recognizes 'Model Schools'

Schools acknowledged for commitment to Great Expectations methodology, which emphasizes mutual respect, academic excellence

NORMAN, Okla.Great Expectations, a non-profit foundation that provides intensive professional development to teachers and administrators, announces its 2013-14 highest recognition: Model Schools. Based on Great Expectations theory implementation, there are three categories of recognition, including Transitional School, Progressive School and Model School.

To be named a Great Expectations Model School, over 90 percent of the teachers must successfully implement all of the classroom practices. The school’s principal must also model the classroom practices, and the school needs to serve as a standard that other administrators and educators can visit and learn from.

The Great Expectations training model is guided by six basic tenets and 17 classroom practices. The tenets and practices provide guidelines for program training and implementation, and they serve as standards for evaluating Great Expectations schools.

The basic tenets include:

  • High expectations
  • Teacher attitude and responsibility
  • Building self-esteem
  • All children can learn
  • Climate of mutual respect
  • Teacher knowledge and skill

“We strive to transform teachers’ lives and remind them why they began this profession in the first place,” said Linda Dzialo, Ph.D, president and CEO of Great Expectations. “The Model Schools achieve the greatest excellence and create supportive, nurturing environments. Put simply, these schools lead by example.”

View all of the Great Expectations Model Schools for 2013-14 here: http://www.greatexpectations.org/schools_model.php.

View the complete schedule.

Featured

  • California School District Completes Elementary School Modernization

    The San Diego Unified School District in San Diego, Calif., recently held a ribbon-cutting for a whole-site modernization of Pacific Beach Elementary School, according to local news. The school first opened with one building in 1930 and added six more between 1938 and 1957.

  • DFW-Area District Opens New Replacement Middle School

    The Eagle Mountain-Saginaw Independent School District near Fort Worth, Texas, recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new replacement middle school campus, according to a news release. The new facility for Wayside Middle School, originally established in 1964, was built on the site of the former district administration building and funded through Bond Proposition A in 2023.

  • Children walking along bright school corridor with motion blur

    How Next-Gen Design Is Reshaping the Student Experience

    The environments where students learn play a crucial role in shaping their growth in and out of the classroom. By centering design on well-being, flexibility, and purpose, districts can ensure their facilities remain vibrant community assets for many years to come.

  • How a Portable Sink Helped an Art Classroom Run More Smoothly

    Classroom design decisions can have outsized effects on instructional time and safety at schools juggling mismatched infrastructure, strict budgets, and crowded schedules — particularly in the arts. Between spilled paint and dirty brushes, art classes run smoother with a sink in the studio. But many schools don’t have a sink in every art classroom.