The Correlates of Effective Schools are a set of best practices made up of the leading organizational and contextual indicators that have been shown to influence learning. The extent to which these Correlates are in place in a school has a dramatic and positive effect on student achievement.
Focus On Success from Orleans Public Education Network on Vimeo.
What does excellence look like? The Correlates of Effective Schools. OPEN has adopted these guiding principles as a pillar of our commitment to excellence based on evidence. We believe that they are guiding principles to which all educational institutions should adhere. All recommendations we make are aligned with their ideals, which are derived from over two decades of research.
The 7 Correlates of Effective Schools
• Clear mission
An effective school has a clearly articulated and focused mission through which the staff shares an understanding of and commitment to the school’s goals, priorities, assessment procedures, and accountability. The staff in the effective school accepts responsibility for the students’ learning of essential curricular goals.
• High expectations
The school has a climate of high expectations in which the staff believes and demonstrates that all students can obtain mastery of the school’s essential curriculum. They also believe that they, the staff, have the capability to help all students obtain that mastery.
• Strong instructional leadership
In the effective school, the principal acts as an instructional leader and effectively and persistently communicates the mission of the school to staff, parents, and students. In addition, the principal understands and applies the characteristics of instructional effectiveness in the management of the instructional programs.
• Frequent monitoring of student progress
Pupil progress over the essential objectives are monitored and measured frequently, and the results of those assessments are used to improve the individual student behaviors and performances, as well as to improve the curriculum as a whole.
• Opportunity to learn / time on task
A significant amount of class time is given to essential curricular areas. For a high percentage of this time students are engaged, there are teacher-directed, planned learning activities in an integrated, interdisciplinary curriculum.
• Safe and orderly environment
In the effective school, there is a purposeful, orderly climate which is free from the threat of physical harm. Desirable student behaviors are consistently articulated and expectations are clear. The school atmosphere is interactive, cooperative, and learner-focused.
• Strong home-school relationship
Parents understand and support the school’s partnership with the home. Trust and communication between the two allow family members to play a vital role in the shared mission of effective education for children.
Correlates of Effective Schools: Resources
• Correlates of Effective Schools: The First and Second Generation, Lawrence W. Lezotte
• Correlates of Effective Schools: The First and Second Generation PowerPoint Presentation, Lawrence W. Lezotte
• Revolutionary and Evolutionary: The Effective Schools Movement, Lawrence W. Lezotte
• Levine, Daniel U. and Lawrence W. Lezotte. Unusually Effective Schools: A Review and Analysis of Research and Practice. The National Center for Effective Schools Research & Development, Madison, WI, 1990.
Click here for a more in-depth explanation and reading list on the Correlates
