- Iowa City Community School District
- High Reliability Schools
What is High Reliability Schools?
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High Reliability Schools is a framework that supports fulfilling our district vision of equitable outcomes for all students. It gives us a common language to name what we’re doing, assess our current reality, align our initiatives, and determine where to go next. It is a vehicle that allows us to balance shared responsibility and autonomy to make decisions that best meet the needs of all our students.
Our Framework
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Level 1: Building a Safe, Supportive, and Collaborative Culture
During the 2022-2023 school year our District will focus on HRS Level 1. Level 1 of the Marzano High Reliability Schools framework addresses the factors considered foundational to the well-being of a school. The most crucial step at Level 1 is to build a safe, supportive, and collaborative school culture by operating as a professional learning community (PLC).
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Level 2: Ensuring Effective Teaching in Every Classroom
High quality instruction is the most important tool educators have at their disposal to positively affect student learning. Level 2 of the Marzano High Reliability Schools framework details how to develop and maintain teacher effectiveness in every classroom by building a shared language of instruction and using this common language to raise the level of pedagogical skill both individually and collectively.
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Level 3: Designing a Guaranteed and Viable Curriculum
At Level 3 of the Marzano High Reliability Schools framework, schools focus on developing a guaranteed and viable curriculum. The work at this level ensures teachers have the time they need to teach the curriculum, and all students, no matter the teacher to whom they are assigned, have access to the same high-quality curriculum.
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Level 4: Achieving Standards-Referenced Reporting
At Level 4 of the Marzano High Reliability Schools framework, schools shift from a whole-school perspective to an individual student perspective. Staff work to develop an effective system of grading and reporting and closely monitor each learner’s progress using assessment data.
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Level 5: Implementing a Competency-Based Education System
Level 5 of the Marzano High Reliability Schools framework calls on schools to implement competency-based education. This critically important shift not only allows educators to monitor individual students but also provides opportunities for each student to take part in personalized learning and move through the curriculum at their own pace.
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"This framework shows how best practices work together and provides indicators to empower districts and schools to measure their progress on attaining five increasing levels of reliability."
The High Reliability Schools Concept