The National Education Policy Center is inviting high schools to apply for recognition as a “school of opportunity.”
A School of Opportunity is one that works hard to make sure that all children have equal opportunity to succeed.
The deadline for applying is May 1.
Learn more by going to this site: schoolsofopportunity.org
High schools still have three weeks left to apply for recognition for working to close opportunity gaps: schoolsofopportunity.org @NEPCtweet #schoolsofopportunity
Here are the criteria:
At the most basic level, a School of Opportunity must strive to ensure that all students have access to rich, challenging and supported opportunities to learn. This means that the school’s best opportunities cannot be exclusive or rationed. For this reason, we will recognize a school as a “School of Opportunity” only if it declines to restrict or stratify student access to those best opportunities. In addition, we seek to highlight schools with strong and welcoming cultures, therefore we will only recognize schools if they reject “zero tolerance” policies and other discipline policies that unnecessarily exclude students from opportunities to learn.
Accordingly, all applicants need to address the first two practices, Criterion 1 and 2. Then applicants may choose which four of the remaining eight criteria they wish to highlight in their application.
Criterion 1: Broadening and Enriching Learning Opportunities, with Particular Attention to Reducing Disparities in Learning Created by Tracking and Ability Grouping
Criterion 2: Creating and Maintaining a Healthy School Culture, with Attention to Diversity and to Reassessing Student Discipline Policies
Criterion 3: Provide More and Better Learning Time During the School Year and Summer
Criterion 4: Use a Variety of Assessments Designed to Respond to Student Needs
Criterion 5: Support Teachers as Professionals
Criterion 6: Meet the Needs of Students with Disabilities in an Environment that Ensures Challenge and Support
Criterion 7: Provide Students with Additional Needed Services and Supports, Including Mental and Physical Health Services
Criterion 8: Create a Challenging and Supported Culturally Relevant Curriculum
Criterion 9: Build on the Strengths of Language Minority Students and Correctly Identify their Needs
Criterion 10: Sustain Equitable and Meaningful Parent and Community Engagement
Diane Ravitch's blog 
All schools should be presently working toward being “schools of opportunity”, in fact, all schools should take initiative within each classroom to address as many of the above criterion as they can. And the ones that they feel they’re lacking most should be the area of most concern. I particularly like how student-oriented this School of Opportunity model is. Criteria one in particular is most attentive to eliminating bias in education based on tracking and initial expectation, which can be rather detrimental to student success. These strategies comes full circle to attack issues of inequality, and create a more effective learning environment for everyone.
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