Powerful learning expeditions like this enabled Clairemont students to outperform the district and state averages in every curriculum area. In 1996, Clairemont fifth graders scored in the 99th percentile in reading, 95th percentile in math, 98th percentile in science, and 95th percentile in social studies on the Georgia Curriculum Assessment Test.
In a school that has deeply implemented Expeditionary Learning and is continuously improving, curriculum and instruction focused around producing high quality work in learning expeditions, reflection and critique, school culture, school structures, and school review create a seamless whole that supports powerful teaching and high achievement in every domain for every student.

When implemented together, the five core practices of Expeditionary Learning (Learning Expeditions, Reflection and Critique, School Culture, School Structures, and School Review) create vibrant centers of Expeditionary Learning where rigorous, engaged learning becomes the norm for each and every student. The core practices provide direction on how a school transforms itself into a center of powerful teaching and rigorous academic achievement and character development for all students.

All of the core practices revolve around the first practice, learning expeditions. Creating a powerful web of curriculum, instruction, and assessment centered around learning expeditions is not, by itself, enough to transform a school however. The core practices are interdependent and build on one another. Taken together, they enable schools to place learning expeditions, student work, and teacher practice at the center of teaching and learning. All aspects of the school work together to support high expectations and high achievement in every domain.

School culture and school structures support changes in curriculum, instruction, and assessment, while reflection, critique, and school review drive continuous improvement in teaching practice and student learning.

Schools go through a developmental process in implementing the core practices, starting with planning, teaching and revising high quality learning expeditions, aspects of school culture and school structures essential to learning expeditions, and creating an environment of continuous improvement through reflection and critique and ongoing school review. Over time, schools implement other core practices and strengthen the work of each practice until the Expedition Learning model for comprehensive school improvement is deeply implemented and the schools continually improve teaching and learning. As they proceed, schools assess their work and progress in relation to benchmarks that describe criteria for implementing the core practices and Expeditionary Learning design principles in various stages of development.

Transforming an entire school into a center of Expeditionary Learning requires shared leadership from teachers, parents, students, and the principal. The principal and leadership team guide, foster, and coordinate whole school change, while facilitative leadership and shared decision making ensure that all school community members take responsibility for recreating the school.

In the process of becoming an Expedition Learning school, all faculty engage in continuous professional development, in and out of school, framed around learning expeditions, the design principles, and the core practices. The most effective professional development takes place when teachers are lifelong learners, and when they are learning in the context of teaching. Teachers experience Expeditionary Learning themselves in order to create a school where expeditions are at the center of student work. Outward Bound courses enable teachers to experience the adventure, teamwork, solitude, and reflection their students will find in learning expeditions. Week-long summits on the Cherokee Nation, architecture, or physiology enable teachers to experience learning expeditions from the perspective of students, and to create and display meaningful products of learning. Sharing work and discussing teaching practices show teachers the power of reflection and peer critique in improving the quality of work. These experiences as well as ongoing professional development opportunities such as institutes, mini-sabbaticals, and reflection days help teachers provide powerful learning experiences of a similar kind for their students.

Planning, teaching, and improving learning expeditions
Engaging and motivating students
Assessment, critique, and revision
Expecting high achievement of every student
Meeting or exceeding local and state standards
Fostering strong literacy
Encouraging critical thinking and problem solving
Developing character
Tapping parent and community resources
In a school that has deeply implemented Expeditionary Learning and is continuously improving, high quality learning expeditions are the core of teaching and learning. All students are strong readers and writers, meet rigorous academic and character standards, are deeply engaged in active learning, and produce high quality work. Students and teachers regularly reflect on their work, give and use constructive critique, and revise work in the context of clear standards of excellence.

Learning expeditions are long-term, in-depth investigations of a single theme or topic that engage students in the world through authentic, projects, fieldwork, and service. The work students do within learning expeditions centers on rigorous academic achievement, critical thinking, essential skills and habits, character development, and producing high quality original work.

Ongoing assessment is woven throughout the expeditions, pushing students to higher levels of performance in pursuit of standards of academic excellence. Teachers hold high expectations for all students, and provide the time and structure for the long periods of sustained effort needed to achieve high levels of work through multiple revisions.

Learning expeditions are the central focus of curriculum and instruction, not an add-on or enrichment. They are the primary way that students learn the content and skills they need to understand, and an important part of the strategy to prepare students for mandated tests. The topics, questions, and learning goals that give shape to learning expeditions are informed by district and state standards.

In a school that has deeply implemented Expeditionary Learning and is continuously improving, collaborative assessment and critique of student work, learning expeditions, and instructional practices are the driving forces for continuous improvement of teaching and student learning. The faculty is a collaborative community of learners who regularly reflect on curriculum, instruction, and the work students produce in order to do their individual and collective work better. Teachers model a culture of reflection, critique, revision, and collaboration. Sharing and critiquing student and teacher work plays a significant role in helping to improve the quality of student work and educational practice.
Sharing and critiquing student and teacher work
Assessing student work
Peer critique of teacher work

Teachers improve instructional practice and student learning by looking collaboratively at student and teacher work. Sharing and assessing student work helps teachers discover what students know and how they learn, and provides teachers with information on how to improve instruction and curriculum. Sharing and critiquing teacher work, instructional practice, and learning expeditions help teachers improve their craft in a collegial and respectful forum. Both of these processes emphasize that teachers are learners whose knowledge and craft continue to deepen.

In a school that has deeply implemented Expeditionary Learning and is continuously improving there is a culture of effort, high quality, community, collaboration, and reflection. The culture fosters a community of adults and students who work collaboratively toward a common vision of high expectations, high quality, and continuous improvement in every domain. The design principles are evident throughout the school, in the way people treat one another, and in every aspect of teaching and learning. School structures, policies, and rituals support an environment where adults and students feel emotionally and physically safe, and free to take risks and go beyond their perceived limits.
Building an Expeditionary Learning school culture
A culture of high expectations and excellence
A culture of community and collaboration
A culture of reflection and revision
A culture of parent participation
A culture of diversity and inclusivity
A culture of service and compassion

The culture of a school -- its shared beliefs and practices -- has a tremendous impact on the learning, teaching, and assessment of all students. Expeditionary school cultures are based on collaboration, high expectations, service, and reflective practice.

The school is a community of teachers, students, administrators, and parents pulling in the same direction to attain powerful teaching and high achievement in every domain for every student. Students and teachers alike hold themselves and each other to high standards. Quality student work is displayed throughout the school as a reflection of the pride the school takes in student creations. Students regularly provide peer critique and do multiple drafts until work they care about is good enough to present in public. All students are challenged to accomplish more than they thought possible, and supported in achieving success.

Students feel physically and emotionally safe within the school, free to take intellectual and physical risks without fear of ridicule or harm. People treat each other with respect in critique sessions, in the halls, and on the school bus.

Teachers take collective responsibility for the learning of every student and have time to reflect on their practice, and to continually ask, "Does our school culture make all students feel safe, challenged, and respected?"

In a school that has deeply implemented Expeditionary Learning and is continuously improving, teachers, administrators, parents, and students have a shared vision of high achievement for every student. All members of the school community are engaged in continuous improvement through a system of shared decision making and ongoing school review. The staff is skilled in managing change and working collaboratively toward a common goal. Time, space, relationships, decision making, and resources are reorganized to foster powerful teaching and learning. All school policies and structures support the school vision of continuously improving student learning by deepening implementation of Expeditionary Learning.
Developing Expeditionary Learning school structures
Block scheduling
Common planning time
Staff development
Shared decision-making
Looping
Inclusive student grouping
Community building
Site-based management and school-based budgeting

Expeditionary Learning is a design that calls for the complete reorganization of time, space, and relationships in order to support high quality learning expeditions. Expeditionary Learning school structures foster fieldwork, lasting relationships, and high standards for all students. For many schools, implementing these support systems may require a substantial refinement of existing structures. Building and strengthening facilitative leadership ensures that the principal and leadership team guide and foster whole school change and spread the responsibility for leadership throughout the school community. A new Expeditionary Learning school assesses current structures to determine which ones promote the core practices and which ones are obstacles to school transformation, and then begins to put appropriate systems in place. Some of the structural changes do not happen at once, but occur over a period of years through a long term change process.

Scheduling for learning expeditions provides longer and more flexible blocks of learning time for project-based learning and fieldwork, common planning time for teachers, community circles, and the like.

Heterogeneous grouping eliminates tracking so that all students are grouped to receive a rigorous curriculum that enables them to meet high standards in every domain. Multiyear teaching allows highly effective personal relationships to develop over time between teachers, students, and families, increasing the likelihood of academic success. Site-based management and decentralized budgeting allow schools to structure all practices and the entire school budget to support transformation into a continuously improving center of Expeditionary Learning.

Innovative models of teacher support and supervision foster a climate of reflection and growth. Strengthening shared decision making helps build a school culture in which all faculty, students, and families feel ownership in the decisions, practices, and values of the school. School-wide reporting and assessment provide an opportunity to track student progress. Designing school space to promote learning expeditions greatly enhances Expeditionary Learning school culture.

In a school that has deeply implemented Expeditionary Learning and is continuously improving, teachers, student, principals, and parents are a collaborative community of reflective learners engaged in an ongoing cycle of reflection, planning, and action to continuously improve teaching and learning. The school regularly collects and analyzes quantitative and qualitative evidence about student learning and instructional practices to assess progress toward a common vision, set priorities for improvement, and develop a comprehensive school improvement plan centered around achieving school goals by strengthening Expeditionary Learning. An inclusive school review process drives continuous improvement.
Conducting a school review
Creating a shared vision
Collecting and analyzing evidence
Assessing school progress
Creating an action plan

Assessing progress helps leadership focus the school's attention on its strengths, challenges, and future goals. Assessment is both a tool for improvement and a measure of accountability. Schools use the Expeditionary Learning benchmarks to conduct an initial assessment to gain baseline data, an annual review of school progress to reflect on their practice and plan for the future, and a periodic peer review to get outside critique. Schools also develop a whole school portfolio to give families and the community a picture of the school.

The benchmarks help schools use the powerful cycle of reflection, planning, and action to drive continuous improvement schoolwide by:

Developing a shared vision of where the school wants to go -- a picture of what a center of Expeditionary Learning would look like in different stages of development.

Looking at change as a developmental process -- assess how far the school has come, where it is now, and the journey that remains ahead.

Setting focused priorities, the key leverage points for improving performance that are realistic and that will make a significant difference.

Deciding what evidence to collect and analyze to get an accurate picture of current reality, a snapshot of where the school is in relation to its vision and standards of quality.

Developing a comprehensive evidence-driven school improvement action plan with measurable goals.

Using the benchmarks to drive continuous school improvement through an ongoing cycle of self-assessment, planning, and action could look something like this:

Looking at the design principles and core practices, decide what core practice(s) are your key priorities for improvement.

Looking at the benchmarks for those core practices, decide what aspects you want to focus on improving.

Using the benchmarks as a starting point, decide what evidence you want to look at to assess where the school is now and to set measurable goals for improvement.

Using what you learned analyzing data, develop an action plan to achieve your goals. Looking at the action plan, follow up to ensure that the actions agreed on were actually implemented, and implemented effectively.

School improvement planning incorporates Expeditionary Learning design principles and core practices and the school's plan for strengthening implementation of them. All school constituencies review the plan annually to assess the school's progress in attaining the Expeditionary Learning benchmarks, to set priorities and goals for the future, and to approve drafts of the plan.