There's a public high school in New York City that's unlike any school you've ever seen. Teaching and learning at this school happen in ways that make perfect sense but do not follow the typical traditions of the American high school. And the role of technology is even more interesting.

I have learned in, taught in, and visited hundreds of high schools in the United States and around the world. They harbor surprising similarities. With few exceptions, they organize themselves according to the 25/C/1/1/1/6 plan:

• Twenty-five students or the same age are grouped together, in a
• Classroom of 900-square feet, with
• One teacher, learning
• One subject, for about
• One hour, and they repeat this about
• Six times per day.

And the technologies of learning under this popular plan focus on the printed book and the chalkboard; seldom do networked digital technologies invade these rooms or the teaching that goes on in them. Likewise, the furniture is the same: 25 tablet chairs, a bookcase or two, and a teacher's desk.

Compare this environment and this style of working with what goes on in the world of work in the information economy, or in the modern university. Everything's different in the real world: there's little age segregation; seldom do 25 people work together as a group in a large undivided space; seldom is one person in charge up front; seldom to people restrict themselves to one discipline for a full hour; and seldom does the day repeat itself hour by hour.

And yet it's hard to find high schools that don't follow this ubiquitous 25/C/1/1/1/6 plan. Unless you're at the corner of Broome Street and Sixth Avenue in New York City. On the fifth floor of the old Chelsea High School you'll find a group of educators and students who follow a very different model. Their unique way of working is based on some guiding questions posed by the school's co-leaders, Alisa Berger and Mary Moss:

• How do we best prepare students for the new world they are graduating into?
• What do they need to be successful in the world of college and work that has changed so much in the last few years?
• What should we really be teaching? How? When? Where?
• How do we at the same prepare them for the state exams that they must pass to graduate?
• How can technology best contribute to learning what they need?

The answers to these questions led them to a very different model of organization, time, teaching, and technology. The learning approach at the iSchool centers on five components:

1. Short-term, intensive interdisciplinary challenge modules, based on real-world problems. The problems become the curriculum, developing subject-matter concepts as well as 21st century skills, and getting students involved in the world outside the walls of the school. For example:
   • In the Voices and Memory module students gathered adolescents' perspectives on the September 11 disaster, which happened not far from the school. They compared with these with other events in history, they used videoconferencing to gather reactions from students in the US and around the world, and transcribed the interviews. The students presented their findings to the 9/11 museum board, where they will be will be on display at the opening. This module was carefully designed to develop knowledge of history, literature, psychology, reading, writing and other subjects in the standard curriculum, as well as 21st-century skills of group problem-solving and information analysis.
   • In the Green Roof module, groups of students designed a green roof for the 100-year old building that housed the iSchool. They consulted with engineers, architects, and the city department of education. They researched online the role of a roof in shelter and in the urban environment. Students' presented their fully-developed solutions to the people in charge of replacing the roof. This challenge focused on the knowledge from the sciences, mathematics, and the arts, while developing skills in data analysis, group work, and decision-making.

1. Online instruction to master the traditional subject-matter covered on the state Regent's examinations. The online work enabled students to move through the material more quickly, at their own pace, with more interactivity, and more opportunities for individual support. The faculty was able to target carefully what they need to know for the test. Online coursework has also allowed the iSchool to expand what their small school can offer: AP courses, advanced subjects, and so forth. The courses material is available to students all day, every day, from school or from home, and includes many sample assessment activities drawn from questions on previous years' exams. A teacher is always available at the school for support as necessary.

1. Core experiences. Not everything a student needs to know is best is learned through the challenge modules or the online courses. So students are scheduled for core experiences, such as science laboratories and Shakespeare seminars, led by a teacher and designed to develop not only the subject-matter but the nature of student conduct in a serious classroom -- an essential skill for success in college.

1. Field experiences. Each student at the iSchool participates in an internship outside of the school. This required component helps nurture a spirit of community service, allows students to develop expertise in a specialized field, and lets them practice the social and workplace skills so important to success.

1. Advisory. To provide the adult guidance so necessary to adolescent development, and to develop the meta cognition necessary to self-understanding, each student at the iSchool works with a faculty advisor. In the advisory period, students develop individual learning plans in which they understand what they know, what they need to know, and how to learn it. Advisory helps students take more responsibility for their learning.

The role of technology

At the iSchool, digital networked technologies enable everything that students do. The school believes in ubiquitous access to technology and the information it brings to bear on the learning experience. The faculty did not simply place devices in the classroom, but thought differently about what how, and where students could learn, and designed a system to let that happen. So the school's lessons are all posted on their Moodle learning management system, everything from readings to video clips to notes from the SmartBoard in the classroom. The Moodle has become a repository of curriculum materials developed by teachers: lessons, activities, resources, notes, all online for students, all the time. The online environment encourages teachers build upon each others' work. A virtual desktop gives students access to their school files from anywhere. Each classroom houses 30 devices that can connect to the rest of the school (and to the world) through the wireless network that reaches into every classroom.

Results

Good news travels fast. The success of the iSchool in proving that a new model for high school can work has generated 1500 applicants for the 100 seats in next year's entering class. Current students have worked through the required Regents material at a faster pace, and with a higher pass rate. The iSchool's 95% attendance rate outshines the other high schools in the city. Scores on the parent and student satisfaction surveys conducted citywide show excellent results for this new and experimental approach. Parents report that students actually talk about their schoolwork at the dinner table. The connection between schoolwork and the real world figures strongly in the minds of these students.

Conditions for success

A new learning approach is just part of the picture of success at the iSchool. Some of the contributing factors include:

• Co-leadership. The principalship is shared by two leaders, who can apply four hands to the critical keys that need to be sounded to make such a school work.
• Partnership with Cisco Systems. This corporate partner supported the school's vision, and helped the school find and configure the resources it needed to get started and to thrive.
• Department of Education support. The iSchool is part of the iZone, a conscious effort on the part of the New York City Department of Education to initiate and support high schools that work on innovative principles.
• On-site technical support. To keep all the computers and networks working, and to help the teachers make the best use of them, knowledgeable people at the school site are essential.

The 25/C/1/1/1/6 plan for high school is not set in stone. For many students, it's not the best way to learn. And for the changing nature of the college and the workplace, it's probably not the best path of preparation. The success of the iSchool proves that other models can work. You can learn more about the iSchool at http://schools.nyc.gov/NR/rdonlyres/8E87BD1E-4DAC-41D9-903C-B2FC3DCE08FA/0/NYCiSchool_finalv2.pdf