Description:
Different Ways of Knowing (DWoK) approaches reform from the perspective that student success depends upon the success of school leaders. It is a program dedicated to the Professional Development of teachers, principals and administrators. By providing leadership training, increased resources and positive support, Different Ways of Knowing helps improve overall attitudes toward school, making the learning process positive for everyone involved. DWoK provides modules that teachers use as foundations for the ongoing development of their own Inquiry-based, Integrated Curriculum. Students from preK to eighth grade engage in hands-on, collaborative activities that incorporate various subjects as well as visual, media and performing arts. Basic skills are attained through the strengthening of Multiple Intelligences. According to their website, DWoK seeks to meet standards without becoming standardized. (www.differentways.org)

Goal:
"We provide educators research-based tools, services, and Partnerships that dramatically increase their Capacity to develop all children to their full potential. [Our Vision is] a world in which every child and adult develops to his or her full potential."

(Mission and Vision statements, Different Ways of Knowing, retrieved November 22, 2003 from http://www.differentways.org/about/mission_vision.html)

Approach:
Different Ways of Knowing consulting services focus on 6 key elements:

1. Planning Standards-Based Curriculum, assessment, and Instruction for Every Student and Student Group
2. Individualizing Instruction to Support Student Inquiry and Self-Directed Learning
3. Teaching Strategies That Expert Learners Use in Reading and Writing to Close the achievement Gap
4. Teaching Strategies that Raise Performance in Mathematics to Close the Achievement Gap
5. Integrating the Visual, Performing, Literary, and Media Arts in All Content Areas to Accelerate Learning Gains for All Student Groups
6. Developing Leadership to Achieve Required Goals for Student Progress
   

(www.differentways.org)

The organization works with interested schools to ensure that DWoK is a good match for their need. Once an initial relationship is established a solid partnership begins to form. There are three phases in developing a partnership with Different Ways of Knowing:

1. Partnership Launch
2. Implementation and Partnership Assessment
3. Renewal
   

(www.differentways.org).

During the partnership launch data is collected about the school. This data may include information about school and state mandates, test scores, demographics and current instructional practices. This data is then analyzed and used to determine where the school is, what it needs and how those needs can be met. Multiple meetings are held with staff and school leaders to clarify goals and expectations, and the roles of each party involved (ie. teachers, principals, etc.)will have in the change process. A plan of "Adequate Yearly Progress" is agreed upon and signed off on that includes benchmarks for teachers and students to follow (www.differentways.org).

The implementation phase is meant to confirm what was established in the partnership launch through action. The instructional leadership group is launched and classrooms that will be using DWoK curriculum are oriented through content-specific learning sessions and an implementation "Road Map" is given to insure that instructors have concrete knowledge about how Different Ways of Knowing will function in each classroom (www.differentways.org).

Partnership assessment and renewal is based both on qualitative and quantitative research. It is meant to reflect upon the ways in which consultation services have impacted the school for the purpose of looking into the future and beginning to consider the following year's plan. (www.differentways.org)

Under the heading "Meeting Different Student Needs" at the website, DWoK offers their perspective on research and approaches to addressing the specific needs of low-income and Special Education students, girls, African-American and Hispanic students and English Language Learners (www.differentways.org).

Research:
James Catterall (1995) of UCLA led a longitudinal study of DWoK that tracked the progress of 1000 children from districts in Los Angeles and Boston over a three year period between 1991 and 1994. Students with one year in the program showed an 8 percent increase in test scores while students with two years in the program showed 16 percent. Comparatively, average test scores of students not in the program did not increase. Interviews and surveys also revealed improvements in overall student motivation and achievement levels in all areas.

Catterall, J. S. 1995. Different Ways of Knowing: 1991-94 National Longitudinal Study, program effects on students and teachers (final report). Los Angeles, CA: University of California at Los Angeles, Graduate School of Education and Information Studies.

(www.differentways.org; www.nwrel.org)

Another study conducted by researchers from the Universities of Louisville and Kentucky showed that during the time period of 1993 to 1995 test scores of fourth graders from a range of 24 different DWoK schools in Kentucky showed greater gains in all subjects as compared to statewide results (www.nwrel.org)

In 1997-98 the Program evaluation and Research Office of the San Francisco Unified School District studied the results of 3,036 students from 11 schools in the district, 87% of which were minority and 34% of which were Limited English Proficient. At the end of 1998 these students showed more than a year's growth in reading and made a significant gain in Normal Curve Equivalent (NCE) scores (www.nwrel.org).

Costs:
Although cost may vary depending on school size, the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory (NWREL) estimates an average 70,000 dollars a year for the first three years of program implementation. This estimate covers all training and material. Time for professional development, costs to cover teachers' planning time, support groups, and on-site coaching sessions would add to program costs. Additional expenses also include any desired independent evaluation, additional leadership training, preservice partnerships with local universities and colleges, and/or summer school program support (www.nwrel.org).

Implementation Sites:
Eastside Elementary
6743 East Avenue H
Lancaster, CA 93535
661-946-2813
Contact: Alfonzo Gamino

Betz Elementary School
605 West 27th Avenue
Bellevue, NE 68005
402-293-4587
Contact: Jolene Heibel

Jason Lee Elementary School
2222 NE 92nd
Portland, OR 97220
503-916-6144
Contact: Chris Bodganow

Roy P. Benavidez Elementary
6262 Gulfton
Houston, TX 77081
713-778-3350
Contact: Diana De La Rosa

As listed in NWREL's catalogue of school reform Models, November 21, 2003: NWREL catalogue 11/21/03