EdVisions Schools is a 501(c)(3) non-profit educational development organization (EDO) that has been successfully serving the public high schools market in the U.S. since 2000. We have helped create and sustain a network of small, innovative high schools modeled after our flagship school, The Minnesota New Country School (MNCS), established in 1994. EdVisions Schools, Inc is located just outside the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area in Henderson, MN. EdVisions Schools is currently working in a dozen states and with 50 schools in our network serving roughly 5,232 students primarily in grades 6-12 with a few sites also serving k-5. EdVisions has created a model combining a highly personalized education using a project and technology-infused learning program with a teacher-led governance system.

The EdVisions Model

The founders of EdVisions are truly the first educators to implement a structured self-directed project learning model, using advisory-based and experiential learning, along with a high-tech personal workspace for each student.
The EdVisions Schools Design Essential:

• Small Learning Community
• Self-Directed Project Based Learning
• Authentic Assessment
• Teacher-Ownership-Democratic Governance

The traditional course-based, bell-driven system is replaced by a series of individual and group projects designed to meet or exceed state standards. The teachers lead an advisory and are responsible for the student outcomes of 15-20 students, often serving the same students for multiple years. The students have a personal learning plan, connected to Project Foundry (project management system), with a very tight standards tracking system (portfolio), accessible by parents. This model, now in place for nearly fifteen years (at MNCS), has seen admirable results and is becoming more popular as one of the many choices available to chartered and district schools. The EdVisions Schools are becoming well known for challenging conventional thinking about teaching, learning, assessing and governing schools.

Data & Assessments

Each student has a PLP, which includes short-term goals, long-term goal (both academic and non-academic), a reading plan, post secondary planning and student data to assist in the goal setting process. Students have an academic accountability plan, which is set in motion if a student falls behind in accumulation of credits. Students earn credits for completion of projects based on time, knowledge acquired, skills learned and their ability to demonstrate the knowledge and skills gained. Student projects are assessed by themselves and multiple teachers. Students work with their teachers to generate a rubric for each project which they then use for assessment of the project upon completion.

Students are also assessed on a 21st century/life skills rubric, which includes basic skills, thinking skills, personal qualities, managing resources, interpersonal skills, and technology. Students are required to present a project to the public, which is assessed, by peers, parents/guardians and others in attendance via a presentation/exhibition rubric. This rubric assesses presentation skills, knowledge and application skills, organization and problem solving as well as display and or product assessment. Students take the Northwest Evaluation Association assessments twice a year for diagnostic and growth data. Students also take the hope survey upon enrollment for baseline data and then each spring to measure student engagement and hope growth, which is then used for school improvement planning and interventions. Some EdVisions Schools sites also utilize the College and Work Readiness Assessment (CWRA). Standardized test scores as required by the state department of education are also administered. This data is used for goal setting and reporting as well as informing continuous school improvement planning. EdVisions Schools sites use various data systems to track and monitor student performance including but not limited to Project Foundry, CWRA, & College Tracker.

EdVisions Results

EdVisions Schools’ flagship school, MNCS was named by the U.S. Department of Education as one of the nation’s top eight charter schools in 2006 for its efforts in closing the achievement gap in a report entitled Charter High Schools: Closing the Achievement Gap. Read the full report here.

Despite a third of the students currently qualifying for free or reduced lunch and a 40% special education rate, 100% of the students have passed the Minnesota Basic Skills Test. 96% of the school’s alumni have gone on to post-secondary education. New Country is highly recognized as one of the most successful charter schools anywhere. Most recently, the Ladies Home Journal named The Minnesota New Country School one of “America’s Most Amazing Schools” which LHJ cited “exemplify what American education is doing right. Read the full article from Ladies Home Journal.

EdVisions Schools has significantly positive results from the mature sites in the network. We can show that schools are meeting the needs of students, parents, state departments, sponsors, and NCLB. Our schools are accountable for meeting academic content standards, thinking skills (such as creativity, problem-solving, finding information, etc), personal qualities (such as responsibility, self-directed learning, leadership), and in dispositional hope. EdVisions has been carrying on a long-range study of school climate that has indicated that the model has a significant impact on positive attitudes that affect one’s future. The Hope Survey has shown that adolescent developmental needs such as autonomy, belongingness (adult and peer support), mastery goal orientation (intrinsic motivation), academic press (press for understanding) and engagement are higher in an EdVisions school than in traditional schools.

The study showed a significant correlation between higher autonomy, belongingness, mastery goal orientation and levels of engagement. Engagement showed a high correlation to dispositional hope as measured by the Hope Index. Young people who have high levels of hope on the Hope Index have been shown to be more successful in college and careers than those with lower levels of hope. The study showed that students who attend an EdVisions School for any length of time will increase engagement and growth in dispositional hope, therefore giving them a better chance for success beyond high school.

Tools & Resources

• EdVisions Design Essentials
• The Hope Survey

Contact Information

Keven Kroehler, Director of Operations
keven@edvisionsschools.org
507.248.3738 x8