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Indiana State Board of Education Recognizes Three New Tech High Schools
By Christine Marson

The Indiana State Board of Education recognized three New Technology High Schools during its “Spotlight on Learning” at the March 4, 2009, meeting. New Tech High @ Arsenal Tech, New Tech School of IDEAS, and Zebra New Tech High were honored for each receiving a Distinguished Implementation award from the New Technology Foundation. State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett shared his support for the New Tech work. “I thank all the administration and teachers and community members who support this kind of innovation. Thank you for doing what you do every day to bring … solutions to student learning. We appreciate your vision and diligence for stepping outside the box and supporting great learning opportunities for kids.”

To achieve the status of Distinguished Implementation, each school participated in a rigorous evaluation process conducted by New Technology Foundation. The four hallmarks of the process include:

• Creating a professional culture of trust, respect and responsibility among staff and students that mimics the environment of a highly successful, innovative and collaborative workplace.
• Implementing a rigorous, cross-curricular, relevant and engaging project-based curriculum that seamlessly integrates state standards and 21st Century Skills.
• Creating a technology-rich environment that is used to support and reinforce student-centered collaborative learning and authentic assessment practices.
• Achieving student academic growth benchmarks including literacy and numeracy and demonstrating student mastery of 21st Century Skills.

Mark Morrison, director of leadership development at New Technology Foundation, noted the critical importance of this recognition. “It’s important that these schools be showcased now because the future of reimagining teaching and learning in Indiana needs to be built upon a solid foundation of well-designed and well-implemented school models, like these three schools,” he said. “These schools are the foundation upon which future Indiana New Tech schools will build.”

Morrison cited one major difference between Indiana and other states. "(Indiana New Tech schools) are recognized as thought leaders and as designers and as new American pioneers in creating, teaching, learning, and doing this critically important work.”

Scott DeFreese, principal of New Tech High @ Arsenal Tech, runs the school as a small learning community within Indianapolis Public Schools. “This recognition is an award for my staff and students that highlights the work they do to really go wall-to-wall with project-based learning in the classroom,” DeFreese said. “Distinguished Implementation status says that we’re at the forefront of this reform movement. We’re out there leading the charge in how high schools work in the State of Indiana. We’re really honored that the State Board of Education and CELL recognize our hard work and reform efforts.”

The Metropolitan School District of Decatur Township's New Tech School of IDEAS operates as one of five small learning communities within the district. Principal Tom Wachnicki credited his students with achieving this award. “One of the crowning points of being a New Tech school is giving students real-world leadership opportunities. And we fully embrace that. Our students’ hard work made this recognition possible,” Wachnicki told the State Board of Education. He noted that when the New Tech model is implemented correctly, students feel ownership of and responsibility for the school. “It’s through interaction with our students that others begin to understand what a difference a different way of teaching can make in students’ lives,” he said.

Zebra New Tech High, part of Rochester Community Schools, represents Indiana’s first rural New Tech and the state’s first total high school conversion to the model. Daniel Ronk, principal of Zebra New Tech High, noted that this recognition shows that the school is doing the hard work necessary to transform a modern high school into one performing at an exceptionally high level. “Public education is under the spotlight now more than any other time,” Ronk said. “The harshness of the world economy is going to force American schools to perform much better than past performance. We are extremely excited and proud to receive this recognition.”

In addition to being honored with certificates from New Technology Foundation and recognition at the Indiana State Board of Education meeting, the schools also received a five-foot-by-two-foot banner from CELL for display in the schools as recognition of this important accomplishment.