Giving Compass' Take:

• Urban communities often lay off teachers and administrators at schools that consistently perform poorly, but rural districts have a limited supply of staff and cannot do this. At Lake County High School they changed the teaching methods used by teachers and provided wraparound services to dramatically improve student success. 

• How can other rural and urban schools follow their examples? What are the most impactful wraparound services?

• Learn more about community schools.

School leaders at Lake County High School felt that the sort of disruption that was typically used to turn around schools in urban settings wouldn’t work for their isolated mountain community.

What makes the turnaround in Lake County so appealing to observers is that the district bucked the conventional wisdom of the day. Unlike most places working to improve schools, there were no mass layoffs of teachers or principals. No schools were closed.

School leaders felt that the sort of disruption that was typically used to turn around schools in urban settings wouldn’t work for their isolated mountain community.

“We could have fired everyone,” said Amy Frykholm, the school board’s president. “But then we’d have to hire them right back. And that’d be devastating for morale.”

Instead, district officials adopted a new way of teaching — one they hoped would better engage students. Teachers were given more training on how to teach core subjects with a unified curriculum, in some instances from groups known for their work in urban school improvement. The district added more services for students and families, including a health center. The district applied for and was awarded millions of grant dollars. And the district’s staff and governing board received coaching to focus on the difficult work of school improvement.

Read the full article on rural districts by Nic Gacia at Chalkbeat.