Schools Using EASE
A Dozen Schools Using EASE and the EASL approach
to teaching and learning:
Several schools in New York City and Chicago have adopted the EASE approach to teaching, learning, and assessment for the 2009-10 academic year.
In Chicago:
Chicago Talent Development High School 
opened its doors on Chicago's west side in August of 2009. Using the Johns Hopkins University's Talent Development model, students also benefit from external partnerships with City Year, the Service Employees International Union Local 73, the Chicago Teachers Union, and Communities in Schools.
Manley High School, along with Chicago Talent Development HS, is a member of the Network for College Success. The Network, a project of the University of Chicago's School of Social Service Administration, has provided support to Manley's Freshman Academy teachers as they have worked to implement outcomes-based assessment for Manley's 9th graders.
In New York City:
The Young Women's Leadership School of Astoria is expanding its enrollment to 9th grade in 2009-10, after starting in 2006 with 6th grade. After starting with an EASE pilot this spring, teachers will do a two-day intensive training to prepare for a broader roll-out in the fall of 2009. Click here to go to the TWYLS Astoria user page, or click here to go to the pilot student assessment website.
The Urban Academy School for Green Careers 
UA Green Careers offers students a unique curriculum designed to prepare them for 21st century careers which will support a healthy environment, with a problem-based course of study based in real world issues and challenges. Outcomes-based assessment supports their approach in the classroom. As the school's website explains,
As a demonstration site for The Mayoral Task Force on Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century, we recognize the need to prepare students to be lifelong learners. Given that the technologies involved in “green careers” may change rapidly in the future, it is imperative that students graduate from high school with the ability to retool their skills, learn new technologies and adapt to changing labor demands and trends. We are proposing a new model for CTE schools, one that will prepare students for careers that may yet be created.
The Global Learning Collaborative 
GLC students all learn a new language which they will study for all their 4 years at their school. The school's partnership with the Asian Society reinforces its goal of building citizens with an international perspective. The EASE approach to assessment supports their project-based approach to teaching and learning.
Bronx International High School 
BxIHS celebrates 3 years with EASE. In that time the Principal Joaquin Vega and Outcomes Coordinator Leah McConaughey have welcomed visitors from schools around New York City who are contemplating adopting the approach. Click here for access to the BxIHS user page; or click here to go to the student assessment website for BxIHS
The Urban Assembly High School of Music and Art 
(UAMA) moved from a pilot project in the spring of 2009 to full implementation in grades 9-11 ifor 2009-2010 Principal Paul Thompson decided that students' grades were not painting a true picture of students' learning, and he turned to the approach outlined by the EASL Institute and Small and Farrington's paper on the problems with traditional grading and credit structures.
Brooklyn School for Global Studies 
has 600 students in grades 6-12. Global adopted EASE school-wide at the beginning of the 2008-09 school year. For 2009-10, school leaders have formed a faculty steering committee to deepen the school's practice with outcomes-based assessment.
Lighthouse Community Charter School 
Lighthouse Community Charter is a K-12 school in Oakland, California. Its first senior class graduated in June of 2009. School leaders adopted EASE because it supports the school's focus on explicit learning targets and standards-based assessment as a key element in student achievement.
Chattanooga Girls Leadership Academy is the first charter school authorized in Chattanooga. It opened to students in July of 2009. The CGLA Dean of Student Support is shown here working with Dr. Small at the inservice for staff in May, 2009
Click here to get to the CGLA user page, or click here to go to the student assessment website for CGLA.
Boston Day and Evening Academy 
BDEA is a well-established school serving a largely over-age student population. School leaders adopted EASE several years ago as a complement to BDEA's competency-based approach to supporting student success. Click here to get to the BDEA user page, or click here to go to the student assessment website for Boston Day and Evening Academy.
Young Women's Leadership Charter School 
The Young Women's Leadership Charter School was the birthplace for EASE. When it was founded in 2000, the YWLCS faculty and co-directors agreed that they wanted to create an approach to assessment which would encourage struggling students to work hard to learn, and to believe that they could and would learn. They developed 3 indicators for student learning: high performance, proficient, or not yet proficient, and the increasing levels of overall student proficiency required to progress through high school. The YWLCS track record of student success in postsecondary work at colleges around the country provides evidence of the validity of their approach. Click here for access to the YWLCS user page; or click here to go to the student assessment website for YWLCS