Beyond Technology at TechBoston

We’re excited to have President Obama, Secretary Duncan and Melinda Gates in our town today visiting TechBoston, one of the 9 leading edge high schools ERS studied in 2008. While TechBoston has changed since that study, it remains a model that has now attracted national attention. Part of its sustained success comes from its ability to evolve. Like all high-performing schools, it will constantly revise its organization to fit changing student, teacher and district needs and to incorporate the lessons they have learned. The school is now grades 6-12, and it doesn’t look like it did three years ago.

What hasn’t changed, however, is that TechBoston’s success is as much about “personalization” and deep understanding of student needs as it is about technology. And while there might no longer be “Project Rooms” for students to review their work with teachers, there are advisories and other times set aside to give students the guidance and attention necessary.

For a snapshot of the school in 2008, take a look at our case study (PDF).  To see what we learned about how leading edge schools organize their resources—people, time, and money—take a look at the larger report, Strategic Designs: Lessons from Leading Edge Small High Schools.

Photo by Roger H. Goun and made available through a Creative Commons Attribution License. Here, Obama is speaking at a town hall meeting in New Hampshire in 2007.