•A network of schools built on the concept of democratizing education by involving teachers, school administrators, parents, students and community members in decision making processes in order to reorganize schools to focus on curriculum and instruction•Changes in the ways all of these stakeholders interact lead to changes in teaching practices to improve student performance•The League does not advocate any specific teaching techniques, curricula or subject area

Structure of the League• The League is governed by a congress of

representatives from the member schools• The congress determines the League’s budget

and scope of services• An executive committee comprised of five

teachers, three administrators and one Program for School Improvement (PSI) representative select a chairman and cochairman

• The chairman and cochairman introduce resolutions to the congress, set meeting agendas, clarify current policies and liaison with PSI staff

Characteristics of League SchoolsThree Part framework:1 A Covenant of teaching and

learning2 Shared Governance3 Action Research

Covenant• Focuses on the governance process of a school• A statement of guiding principles concerned

teaching and learning processes in a school• Describes what the people involved with a school

want students to know and be able to do• Specifies preferred teaching techniques and

assessments of student performance• The process of developing a covenant should

include teachers, administrators, students, parents and members of the community

• The covenant should be felt throughout the school with everyone well aware of the guidelines for implementing the covenant

Shared Governance• All staff have a say in the implementation of the

school’s covenant• All parties have a say in agreements about the roles of

administrators, teachers, students, parents and community members and what form decision making bodies will take

• These agreements directly affect the teaching and learning process only

• The principal has a role in teaching and learning process but is responsible for a larger part of other decisions

• A sustained effort to make sure everyone knows the rules and how they were made

• Once the decisions about the teaching and learning processes are made the school monitors the effects through action research

Action Research• Collecting and studying data generated by

actions growing out of the school’s covenant• Teacher Research: Data from one teacher’s

classroom activities and assessments• Collaborative Research: Several teachers

working together by grade level or department

• School-wide action research: Data from all teachers and students in the school

League Services• Three annual conferences two of which require

attendance by member schools• Annual on site visits by League representatives

(staff, university associate or League teacher) to assist with action research and school development

• Information Retrieval System: provides member schools with research on educational issues, policies and practices to help decision making processes

• Publications by League staff and other educators, a biannual newsletter and a directory of member schools

History• The League of Professional schools was begun in

1989 by Carl Glickman consisting of 24 schools affiliated with the Program for School Improvement (PSI) at the University of Georgia, the league eventually expanded to more than 100 schools

• Dr. Glickman had formed PSI in order to help schools improve by giving teachers and administrators access to expertise in researching, planning and implementing their work in schools

• Dr. Glickman believed that for improvement to be sustainable decisions had to be seen as steps in a developing process to gain further information about positive and negative consequences of the actions taken to improve the school

Research: Indicators of Process• League schools did show wider participation

in staff development than schools in comparison groups

• Higher percentages of League faculties participated in school governance; differences were more pronounced in middle and high schools most likely due to generally high participation in elementary schools in all categories

Research: Indicators of Outcomes• League schools that showed high degree of

reform implementation did outperform general population comparison schools but did not outperform comparison schools in matched reform categories

• Low implementing schools did not outperform general population comparison schools or schools in matched reform categories

Research: League Outcomes• 94% of League schools emphasized reading• 79% of League schools emphasized

mathematics• 56% of League schools emphasized science• 41% of League schools emphasized social

studies• Only schools emphasizing social studies

showed a link between that emphasis and improved curriculum-based assessments in that subject (average 20% higher than schools that did not emphasize social studies)

Research: Conclusions• While not statistically significant, the data was generally

consistent the concept that high implementation of League norms and practices improves schools with students from lower socioeconomic status and previously high performance

• The League of Professional Schools does appear to improve student achievement compared to schools in general

• Only schools that with high implementation showed increases in performance

• It is difficult to show the League to be a causal condition of improvement due to the statistically insignificant differences in the performances of League schools and schools implementing other reforms

• Motivation and/or focus on curriculum may be necessary but insufficient parts of improved school performance

Impact on Teaching and Learning• The primary focus of the League of Professional Schools is

the democratization of the decision processes that design teaching and learning procedures within a school

• Students are given an increasing role in guiding their education as they progress through the school within parameters set by the teachers

• Teachers are also given a larger role in deciding curricula as well as assessments

• This increased involvement for teachers and students in decisions affecting them is designed to make the teaching and learning process more responsive to their needs

• Action research provides data that can used to defend teaching techniques, activities and assessments used in League schools making the school less vulnerable to unwelcome outside pressures

Philosophy• The League of Professional Schools does not advocate any

one overall method of teaching and learning• The essentialist ideal of making students valuable members

of society and progressivism’s goal of students becoming citizens of society and problem solvers are reflected in the emphasis that students be engaged in the processes that guide their education

• The League emphasizes process over specific philosophy which is in line with reconstructionism pragmatism – the idea is that the people actually in the schools (teachers, students, principals) will care more about how the schools run and have more accurate knowledge of the school’s strength and weaknesses – input from these superior sources of relevant information (utilizing action research) should lead to improvement of school performance

Purpose of School• League schools should establish a connection

with the community by demonstrating public learning and involving students in community improvement

Role of the Student• Work with teachers to make a contribution to

the community• Exhibit learning in public settings and invite

feedback from the community• Attain high levels of achievement and

community involvement• Self assess learning• Gain and use academic skills in the

community• Connect the relevance of learning to life in

the community

Role of the Teacher• Create classroom environments of democratic

learning facilitating students making connections to each other and the community

• Encourage critical thinking• Facilitate a shared vision of learning goals

between students and teachers• Locate learning resources• Help students gain academic skills• Be a partner with students, parents and

community members in improving schools

Role of Curriculum• The central focus of teachers, League staff,

students, administrators and community members

• Specific aspects of curriculum not as important as all stakeholders being involved creation of the curriculum

Role of Assessment• Essential to the collection of data for action

research• Assessment yields data to measure how the

reforms implemented affect the improvement of the student achievement and the overall performance of the school

• Sustained analysis of assessment data identifies successful teaching techniques and activities as well as ineffective methods and over time tracks progress

Shortcomings• The statistically small number of schools participating

in the League make it difficult to measure the effectiveness of the reform

• The lack of guidance from the League leads to lower levels of implementation in members schools

• The lack of guidance also leads to many disparate curricula, teaching methods and activities that cannot easily be integrated

• League participation does not seem to have much impact on high school improvement in particular

• Elementary schools already showed higher involvement of teachers without League membership so may be an added expense that has no significant advantage

Costs for Implementation• First year cost of joining: $13,000; Includes

release time, travel, membership fee for training

• Annual membership fee: $1,000• Estimated value of annual membership:

$5,000; $4,000 is covered by foundations and private donations

• Approximately 10% of members are supported by a League scholarship fund

• Additional expenses by member schools are incurred for travel to the three conferences annually

Training Requirements• Teams of six members from prospective

League schools are required to attend an orientation/training session before presenting a proposal to the staff of the school

• Teams of representatives from each member school must attend two of the three annual conferences for training

Level of Commitment

• Each school chooses a team of six representatives, a majority of which are teachers but also includes the principal and possibly parents or district staff, to attend a two day orientation workshop typically in December that is presented by the League and schools that have been League members for some time

• The team members present what they learned to their school and a school-wide, secret ballot vote is held

• 80% of a school’s staff must approve along with district administrators in order for that school to join the League

Level of Commitment: Member requirements• Collect data to assess school development• Establish democratic decision making processes• Use those processes to improve instruction• Set instructional goals for the school• Work collectively toward the school’s goals• Share data and experiences with other member

schools• The requirements necessitate a very high level of

motivation to maintain the collaboration of the many groups involved with deciding the direction of teaching and learning in the school

Miscellaneous• The main advantage of membership in the

League of Professional Schools is the knowledge and expertise in matters of education possessed by the staff and professors at the Program for School Improvement (PSI)

• PSI being based out of the University of Georgia has access to very high quality information to help members improve their schools

SourcesAllen, L. (1999) League of Professional Schools. In An Educators’ Guide to

Schoolwide Reform (pages 85-89). Retrieved from http://www.aasa.org

Calhoun, E. F., & Glickman, C. G. (April 1993) Issues and Dilemmas of Action Research in the League of Professional Schools. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (Atlanta, GA April 12-16, 1993)

Harkreader, S. A., & Henry, G. T. (2000) Using Performance Measurement Systems for Assessing the Merit and Worth of Reforms. American Journal of Evaluation, Vol. 21, No. 2. DOI: 10.1177/109821400002100203

League of Professional Schools; http://leagueschools.com

Lunsford, Barbara (April 1995). A League of Our Own [Electronic version]. Educational Leadership