The Schools for a New Society (SNS) initiative was created in 2000 by Carnegie Corporation of New York. Seven urban districts (Boston, Hamilton County/Chattanooga, Houston, Providence, Sacramento, San Diego, and Worcester, MA) received funding from Carnegie over five years to restructure their secondary schools with support from a team of technical assistance providers, including the Annenberg Institute.

Goal
SNS was designed to help reimagine and reinvent the high school experience for American students. At the heart of SNS was the idea that in order to improve education for all students, entire school districts must reinvent the way they deliver education and must involve the whole community in those reform efforts.

What We Do
The Annenberg Institute, in collaboration with the Academy for Educational Development, is currently preparing a case study on findings from the SNS high school transformation effort, scheduled for completion in the fall of 2007.

During the five-year initiative (2001-2006), the Institute in partnership with the Academy for Educational Development and the Institute for Education and Social Policy at New York University provided technical assistance for high school redesign and community engagement, designed and put into use tools and processes to advance the work (including a comprehensive framework for the SNS initiative), and planned and facilitated a cross-site learning network for the seven districts, their core partners, and community members, involving school officials, teachers, parents, students, and community stakeholders such as unions, college personnel, elected officials, business leaders, and leaders of community-based and youth development organizations.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE INSITUTE’S WORK WITH SNS INITIATIVE

Site-based technical assistance
Institute staff provided primary on-site technical assistance and support to Boston and Houston and facilitated the Central Office Review for Results and Equity (CORRE) in Sacramento and Chattanooga.

Tools to advance the work
A Framework for Action: Institute staff were the architects of the SNS framework that was used to support high school redesign in the seven sites and were major contributors to Framework for Success for All Students: Collected Papers from the Technical Support Team, produced in conjunction with Collaborative Communications Group.

Coaches in the High School Classroom, prepared and produced by the Institute, portraying the experiences of six literacy coaches in Boston and Houston on the progress and challenges of their practice.

Building a System of Excellent High Schools: A Framework and Tool for Discussion and Action, co-produced by the Institute and the Academy for Educational Development as a guide for school districts and communities undertaking systemic high school transformation.

Adolescent Literacy Matters, an electronic newsletter, prepared by Institute staff, providing information on resources, events, materials, and strategies for literacy learning. Distributed monthly during the life of the initiative to literacy leaders in the sites.

Cross-site learning networks
The Institute co-hosted the annual SNS Learning Institute, a three-day cross-site learning experience for teams from the seven districts to share best practices, visit local high schools in the host site, and plan strategies for implementing their own redesign work.

The Institute developed and facilitated a two-day regional meeting for the three New England sites on “Building Coalitions for Student Success” to intensify the sites’ capacity to engage the community in high school reform.

Partners & Funders

• Academy for Educational Development (AED)
• Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
• Carnegie Corporation of New York
• Collaborative Communications Group (CCG)
• Community Involvement Program (formerly part of the Institute for Education and Social Policy (IESP) at New York University)