The Family Model of Schooling Revisited

Read about the success that Ashley Park PreK-8 has had using the family model. Principal Tonya Kales learned about the Family Model from ERS’ Karen Hawley Miles and Stephen Frank’s book The Strategic School. The model breaks away from the traditional classroom with one teacher and a group of students, and instead makes a group of teachers responsible for a larger group of students. This model provides a variety of benefits like creating more opportunities for students to work in small groups with teachers, giving the best teachers greater access to more students, and moving students into different groups that best meet their learning needs. Additionally, by making all adults responsible for the success of all students, there is a greater sense of community at the school.

For more on Ashley Park and another school making great progress in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, make sure to check out this video created by ERS.