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Freeman Elementary School Project, 1990-1995

 

Freeman Elementary School Project: A Case Study
Successful school change: Creating settings to improve teaching and learning
By Claude Goldenberg. New York: Teachers College Press, 2004.
The LT model was initially developed during a six-year, prospective case study of a single elementary school in Southern California. The case study began with a review of the effective schools and school improvement research, and identified the following four dimensions frequently associated with increases in student achievement:
  1. Goals that are set and shared
  2. Indicators that measure success
  3. Assistance from capable others
  4. Leadership that supports and pressures
These four dimensions were hypothesized to influence teacher practices and attitudes, which in turn were predicted to influence desired student outcomes, in particular academic achievement (Goldenberg, 2004; Goldenberg & Sullivan, 1994). Over the course of the case study, a fifth dimension was added:
  1. Settings that allow staff to get important things done
These five elements would come to comprise the LT model. From 1990 to 1995, the case study school shifted from lowest achieving to surpassing district averages on both standardized tests and performance-based assessments.