Topic: Distributed Expertise

Black Sketch

Mountain View High School: School Profile

At Mountain View High School, each core team of educators collectively supports 90–120 students. Core teams are composed of three to four educators, each of whom specializes in one or two content areas.

Black Sketch

Mountain View High School: Spotlight on the Schedule

All 9th-grade teachers at Mountain View High School, located in Mesa, Ariz., are members of educator teams. Each core team of educators serves 90–120 students and includes three to four content area specialists. Explore how they organize their time with students.

Dynamic student groupings at Stevenson Elementary (Kindergarten)

Explore some of the ways an educator team grouped and regrouped 100 students over the course of a single day.

Dynamic student groupings at Mountain View High School

Explore how 100 ninth grade students are supported by a core educator team that includes a Spanish teacher, biology teacher and a dual-certified English and world history teacher.

Dynamic student groupings at Skyline High School

Explore some of the ways an educator team grouped and regrouped 100 students over the course of a single day.

Illustration of a Next Education Workforce model on a blue background

Driving Academic Progress

Learn more about how one school system leveraged bus drivers as literacy tutors between driving shifts.

Black Sketch

An examination of teacher engagement in Next Education Workforce models

This study leverages longitudinal administrative data on teacher leave within a single district. We use a two-way fixed effect design to examine the relationship between Next Education Workforce model participation and teacher engagement.

Grey Sketches

Results from a follow-up survey of Next Education Workforce teachers

This survey explores how Next Education Workforce team teachers compare to their district colleagues not on a Next Education Workforce team regarding teacher self-efficacy, job satisfaction, teacher-student interaction, and career plans.

Illustration of a Next Education Workforce model on a blue background

Community Circles

When a child enrolls at Jefferson Elementary, they are assigned to a community circle composed of at least one child from each grade level. Explore this resource to learn more about the program and its impact on learning for students and for staff.

Illustration of a Next Education Workforce model on a blue background

Literacy Accelerators

Two to four times per week, Skyline High School teacher academy students assume the role of community educator at their feeder school, Stevenson Elementary.

Illustration of a Next Education Workforce model on a blue background

Medical Innovations

To gain an understanding of a variety of medical conditions and how they affect the people who face them, the 4–6 grade teaching team assembled ten community educators to participate in interviews with their students.

Black Sketch

Results from the Year One Survey of Next Education Workforce Teachers

Educators in Next Education Workforce models are more satisfied, collaborate more and believe they have better teacher-student interactions than educators in traditional staffing models.

Self-organized learning environments

Learn to implement self-organized learning environments, an instructional approach in which students explore complex questions in self-organized peer groups.

Kyrene de las Manitas Innovation Academy: School spotlight

Kyrene de las Manitas Innovation Academy is committed to engaging students in a dynamic learning environment that promotes academic excellence and prepares them to be innovators and leaders of tomorrow. In this resource, you’ll learn how they’re implementing a Next Education Workforce model.

Smith Junior High: School profile

Smith Junior High is located in Mesa, Arizona, and serves about 900 students in grades 7-8. Each core educator team serves about 150 students and includes certified teachers with expertise in a specific content area, one of whom serves as the lead teacher for the team. In this resource, you’ll find out how they’re implementing a Next Education Workforce model.

Illustration of a Next Education Workforce model on a blue background

Connecting with Community Educators

Community educators can be found simply by asking around your own social networks and community. However, there are also resources made specifically to locate and connect with industry experts who are ready to support your learning environment.

Illustration of a Next Education Workforce model on a blue background

Mock Trial

Activating a lawyer for unit planning support is a great example of a community educator contributing to the distributed expertise of a team. Learn how.

Illustration of a Next Education Workforce model on a blue background

Living Library

The Living Library brought more than 35 community educators — from stay-at-home parents to investment bankers — to connect with high school students struggling to see the importance of learning math.

Bringing mindfulness into the learning space

Educators at SPARK School at Kyrene de las Manitas give students the opportunity to practice intentional mindfulness each day during Student-Selected Mindfulness Time.

Lead teacher role description

Lead Teachers are educators who guide the educator team in sharing responsibility for all elements of student support, instructional planning, and delivery; lead the team in maintaining high expectations for student learning; and ensure the team functions at a high level to serve all learners by strength and need. This description of the Lead Teacher role is intended to be customized based on the unique needs of each school district.