I heard Bill Gates give a speech (Feb 2005) in which he called for small schools to deliver relevance, rigor and relationships.

Then I heard an interview with Dennis Littky (founder of Big Picture Schools) on April 25, 2005. I was stunned. What a cool school. He was using the phrase that Bill Gates used: Rigor, relevance and relationships. It turned out that Gates got the idea from Dennis Littky.

So it's worth your time, if you believe in education's value as a force for transformation, to visit the Met Center.

Here is the recent Melinda Gates interview

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9821578

in which Mrs. Gates calls for a debate about alternatives in education. Her foundation is placing $60 million with non profit groups to stimulate discussion about what will work in education.

Look at the description from the NPR header for the Dennis Littky interview from 2005

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4618720

LITTKY

All Things Considered, April 25, 2005 ? It's hard to imagine a school with no tests, no grades and no classes. But those familiar elements of education are missing at two dozen Big Picture schools in six states, each with no more than 120 students.

They emphasize work in the real world, portfolios, oral presentations and intense relationships between students and advisers. Margot Adler visits one of the schools, called The Met, the 10-year-old model for the schools, in Providence, R.I.

Students are encouraged to discover their passions, interning two days a week with mentors in the community who relate those passions to the real world. The student might work at a hospital, a bakery, or an architectural firm. School projects are designed by the mentor, the adviser and the student together -- and are presented orally, along with a portfolio, every nine weeks.

Vimar Rodriguez, an 11th grader interested in medicine, has a neighborhood pediatrician as a mentor. Dr. Hector Cordero says she knew little when she started interning at his office.

"I think she's learning a lot," Cordero says. "I think it is motivating her to go to medical school, which is the most important thing."

Rodriguez contrasts her own life with those of her friends at other schools. "They don't know [what college they are going to], if they are going to get financial aid, and here I can look at different opportunities and different choices."

The school measures its success in many ways -- standardized achievement scores are higher than those at the three largest Providence high schools -- but parents are most excited by these statistics: Almost every senior gets into college, 80 percent go to college, and five years later, most of those students are still in college or have graduated.

I visited the location in 2005 and made a short video ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch'v=XYQCynOf0CI

This youtube video shows a visit to Dennis Littky's school

http://www.youtube.com/watch'v=xvKCCQ2p2q4

This is a three-minute workshop about 3 Rs

http://www.youtube.com/watch'v=fYRsKZYeECw

This video explains the need for small schools.

For more information, contact me, Steve McCrea,

roadlovers.com

freeenglishlessons.com (where people can be prepared for travel as ESOL teachers)