Keeping Traditions While Innovating to Engage: Promising Practices from Alfred-Almond Jr. Sr. HS Case Study

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and related school closures, educators across the world continue to express concerns about keeping students engaged. For instance, a recent report by the Center for Reinventing Public Education at Arizona State University reports that both student- and teacher-reported measures of engagement have “declined considerably.” These declines are larger among historically underserved groups of students.

As this blog explores, however, there are ways which educators – such as those at Alfred-Almond – continue to foster student engagement. Researchers note that traditional models of schooling in which students sit passively and absorb content from teachers is no longer viable in a world shaped by technology and social media. Indeed, new technologies can be used in classrooms in innovative ways to promote creativity, student autonomy, and social relationships among students.

Second, shifts in pedagogy and curriculum can enhance student engagement as well. For several decades, proponents of culturally-responsive and relevant education have argued that content generated from students’ existing resources and knowledge will increase their engagement and academic performance. Similarly, models of place-based education that connect students to their surrounding community through hands-on and real-world lessons can also stimulate engagement

Alfred-Almond Jr. Sr. High School Case Study Highlights

“We’re different here.” – teacher

School Selection Criteria

NYKids studied Alfred-Almond Jr. Sr. HS in the 2017-18 College and Career Readiness study because their graduation rate data revealed significantly better outcomes for Black, African-American, Latino, Hispanic, and/or economically disadvantaged students.

In this study we used graduation rate data from 2021 and 2022 (the most recent at the time of study sampling), which included cohorts of students who started 9th grade in 2017, 2018, and 2019. This analysis yielded several persistent positive outliers, including Alfred-Almond Jr. Sr. HS.

Below we share a few highlights from the Alfred-Almond case study.

Academic Culture Steeped in Tradition

I think one thing that stood out to me that’s different about this school from other schools is it’s very… steeped in tradition. And I’ve worked in other schools. And I think when you have these things [traditions], it helps the school…it helps … because the kids know, ‘Hey, I’m gonna be able to do this’. – teacher

The Alfred-Almond school district has a long-standing history of being academically rigorous and proving that graduates are capable of academically challenging work. Despite recent challenges described above, as one teacher explained,

… we still stand for rigor. The kids pride themselves on doing well. And not only in academics, but with the musicals and the chorus concert.

Maintaining what might be characterized as an ‘academic culture’ through leadership changes (i.e. several superintendents and a new principal in the span of a few years), a global pandemic, and societal polarization around what should be taught and prioritized in schools has not occurred without purposeful attention to keeping true to Alfred-Almond roots, that are, in the words of one teacher quoted above as “steeped in tradition”. A hard won and earned reputation for academic rigor has produced multiplier effects – perhaps most importantly – on recruitment of talented and/or seasoned staff that can then contribute to the maintenance and even elevation of the academic culture. Teachers, like the one quoted above speak to how this culture acts as a strong pull for educators to come and stay in the school to carry forward their tradition of academic rigor.

Administrative Support and Teacher Autonomy

I think the most valuable and best part about this district is the autonomy you’re given.  – teacher

A deep-seeded academic culture and this being animated by teachers has, in the words, of one teacher lent whole departments the latitude to “…get left alone. And that’s a good thing for us”. This teacher autonomy could lead to discord, misalignment, lowered standards, and a multitude of other ill effects in a different context, but in Alfred-Almond, teacher after teacher spoke to how much their autonomy is treasured. Teachers associated this autonomy with inspiring them to innovate around the curriculum and their teaching and positively impacting their own stress levels – as one quipped “They [administrators] haven’t annoyed us.”  A teacher echoed the sentiments of several others on this point.

We [teachers] have high standards for ourselves; we want to do well. And we love what we teach. And we kind of baby it… and we want it to be ours. And I think the administration has left us alone in a lot of ways, but I also think school wide that there… was always an expectation that we do well.

While teachers spoke to varying degrees about “pressure” from school and district leaders over the years, most reported being supported by administrators to make their own professional judgements and being relatively unaffected, in part due to their autonomy, by administrative turnover.

Intimacy and Connection as the Norm

You stand outside your door before every class and you say hi to every kid that walks by. You say their name, you notice them you acknowledge them.” – parent/teacher

A key feature of Alfred-Almond then is how critical and valued relationships of intimacy and connection are between children, school staff and children; and school staff and parents. While routines like greeting students at the door every day are not that uncommon in public schools– what is important about Alfred-Almond’s approach is that it hasn’t changed over time despite leadership turnover– and such routines are coupled with district-wide policies, processes, and procedures that reinforce a norm of intimacy and connection. Alfred-Almond, as a district, benefits from a strong home-grown Positive Behavior Intervention and Support (PBIS) program (called SOAR) that sets a clear foundation for relationship-building early in children’s school experience. One leader described it and what it offers to young people as they advance from elementary into secondary school:

Safety, ownership, acceptance and respect- it’s S-O-A-R for the Eagles. We use golden tickets for students who demonstrate those expected behaviors. If you walk to the elementary, there are matrices that you see that have – what does it look like in every area. We do assemblies, which are just like huge celebrations for positive behaviors. We do a lot.

The entire Alfred-Almond Case Study is available on our website and keep an eye out for the final cross-case report on all findings from the emergent and persistent positive outlier schools in the coming weeks!

As always, we thank you for your interest in NYKids!  Please reach out to us at nykids@albany.edu or follow us on X, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn! We also encourage you to contact us if you are interested in NYKids direct school improvement support this summer.