Whole-School Wellbeing: How Education Leaders Can Create a System Where Students and Teachers Thrive
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| Title: | Whole-School Wellbeing: How Education Leaders Can Create a System Where Students and Teachers Thrive |
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| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Georgia Heyward, Sivan Tuchman, Michael Dylan Rogers, Fig Education Lab, Datability |
| Source: | Grantee Submission. 2024. |
| Peer Reviewed: | Y |
| Page Count: | 22 |
| Publication Date: | 2024 |
| Sponsoring Agency: | Washington State Charter Schools Association Department of Education (ED) |
| Contract Number: | U282A190002 |
| Document Type: | Reports - Research |
| Education Level: | High Schools Secondary Education |
| Descriptors: | Well Being, Charter Schools, Educational Environment, Public Schools, High Schools, Student Needs, Personal Autonomy, Professional Autonomy, Teacher Competencies, Interpersonal Relationship, Leadership Responsibility, Teacher Persistence, Minority Group Teachers, Students with Disabilities, Interpersonal Competence, Team Teaching, Faculty Development, Mentors, Restorative Practices, Grouping (Instructional Purposes) |
| Geographic Terms: | Washington |
| Abstract: | At a time when so many other schools are struggling, this report tells the story of two diverse public charter schools in Washington State that cultivated whole-school wellbeing: Catalyst Public Schools and Lumen High School. Drawing on their experiences, researchers developed a model that conceptualizes whole-school wellbeing as meeting student and teacher needs of autonomy, competency, and connectedness. This broad framework helps schools assess and reorient organizational choices, pedagogical techniques, and school practices. Through profiles of the two schools, we show how leaders at Catalyst and Lumen created the conditions for students and teachers to thrive through creative staffing and budgeting, coherent structures, and a commitment to belonging and inclusion. Leaders' whole-school approach to wellbeing had positive results for both teachers and students. In 2023-24, Catalyst's whole-school approach helped the school retain 91% of teachers who identify as BIPOC and support students with disabilities in achieving similar growth rates in their NWEA MAP tests as students without disabilities. At Lumen, the school maintained a 100% teacher retention rate from the fall of 2020 to the fall of 2023. From 2022 to 2023, students increased their social awareness skills by 77%. However, these schools did not act alone. They benefited from the support of state policy and regional organizations that helped them measure wellbeing, leverage their decision-making authority, and learn what worked in their own school setting. Despite the uniqueness of their contexts, we believe the schools' experiences offer a roadmap that any school or district can follow. For this to happen, we recommend that education leaders, policy makers, and nonprofits take three steps: (1) Help schools measure wellbeing (2) Support school leaders in using their decision-making authority and (3) Learn how other schools promote wellbeing. |
| Abstractor: | As Provided |
| Entry Date: | 2024 |
| Accession Number: | ED662992 |
| Database: | ERIC |
| Abstract: | At a time when so many other schools are struggling, this report tells the story of two diverse public charter schools in Washington State that cultivated whole-school wellbeing: Catalyst Public Schools and Lumen High School. Drawing on their experiences, researchers developed a model that conceptualizes whole-school wellbeing as meeting student and teacher needs of autonomy, competency, and connectedness. This broad framework helps schools assess and reorient organizational choices, pedagogical techniques, and school practices. Through profiles of the two schools, we show how leaders at Catalyst and Lumen created the conditions for students and teachers to thrive through creative staffing and budgeting, coherent structures, and a commitment to belonging and inclusion. Leaders' whole-school approach to wellbeing had positive results for both teachers and students. In 2023-24, Catalyst's whole-school approach helped the school retain 91% of teachers who identify as BIPOC and support students with disabilities in achieving similar growth rates in their NWEA MAP tests as students without disabilities. At Lumen, the school maintained a 100% teacher retention rate from the fall of 2020 to the fall of 2023. From 2022 to 2023, students increased their social awareness skills by 77%. However, these schools did not act alone. They benefited from the support of state policy and regional organizations that helped them measure wellbeing, leverage their decision-making authority, and learn what worked in their own school setting. Despite the uniqueness of their contexts, we believe the schools' experiences offer a roadmap that any school or district can follow. For this to happen, we recommend that education leaders, policy makers, and nonprofits take three steps: (1) Help schools measure wellbeing (2) Support school leaders in using their decision-making authority and (3) Learn how other schools promote wellbeing. |
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