To view a Big Picture webinar, click here.

One of the biggest obstacles to opening a new school is establishing an effective support network. The Alliance of Model Schools is a cost-free membership that provides resources, advocacy and networking for schools that implement a new school design.  Learn more, click here.

 

About Big Picture Learning

The mission of Big Picture Learning is to lead vital changes in education, both in the United States and internationally, by generating and sustaining innovative, personalized schools that work in tandem with the real world of the greater community. To learn more, visit www.bigpicture.org

Recommended Reading

 
10 Things. Dennis Littky

 

Do you have specific questions about replicating a new school model?

Check out our list of Frequently Asked Questions. If you don't see your question on the list, or would like to discuss a model further, email or call us! Dawn Downes, Director of Innovative School Models, 302-656-4737 or ddownes@innovativeschools.org.

Big Picture School Model


Innovative Schools is proud to partner with Big Picture Learning to replicate this innovative high school model in Delaware.

  • Big Picture Model
  • Big Picture ModelVIEW NOW

The Big Picture High School Model is a dynamic approach to learning, doing, and thinking that has been changing the lives of students, educators, and entire communities since 1995. All components of the school design are based on three foundational principles:

  • First, that learning must be based on the interests and goals of each student;
  • Second, that a student’s curriculum must be relevant to people and places that exist in the real world; and
  • Finally, that a student’s abilities must be authentically measured by the quality of his or her work.

At Big Picture, there is no canon of information that all students must know. Instead, all students are taught how to reason, how to solve problems, how to be active members of the community, and — most importantly — how to learn. Each student follows a personalized curriculum designed to achieve five Learning Goals:

  • Empirical Reasoning
  • Quantitative Reasoning
  • Communication
  • Social Reasoning
  • Personal Qualities

Each year in two-day-a-week internship with a mentor, students complete authentic projects requiring deep investigations.  Small advisory groups complement the internships through the development of an individualized learning plan with input from the student, parents, advisor and mentor.