A District Where Everyone's on the Advanced Track

As a superintendent of the Bellevue School District, the author discusses the Bellevue School District's curriculum and its ongoing development. The mission of the Bellevue School District is to give every student the kind of education traditionally reserved for America's elite class or, stated another way, to give every student a first-rate, college preparatory education--one that will allow the student to graduate from college, not just be admitted to college. The author shares the curriculum goals as well as its early success. When they began their work to make all students advanced learners, many of their smartest, best informed parents, teachers and administrators worried that they would experience increased dropout rates, lower grades and sagging student attitudes. Instead, they've seen their dropout rate cut in half--from 18 percent to 9 percent over 10 years, and grades have held steady. While AP and IB test-taking has skyrocketed, pass rates have stayed at or above national averages. Ninety percent of their graduates go on to college. According to him, they have a long way to go. Their curriculum remains riddled with imperfections, their staff development efforts continue to be limited by both time and funding, and their student support systems need to become more diagnostic-prescriptive in nature. However, past successes, which are the result of a comprehensive, coordinated, K-12 approach to improvement, give them confidence.