In some districts all schools are involved in the pilot and in other districts only one school is participating. The pilot also includes some vocational schools and other schools that serve a special population of students. The Transitions Endorsement is a school improvement model based upon the credentialing of individual students. In the language of Transitions this is called articulation. Teachers, administrators, and community members representing all school levels must work together continuously to build the structures needed to help students make successful transitions to the next level.
Articulation is an easy thing to talk about but a rather difficult thing to accomplish.
However, schools participating in the pilot are finding ways to communicate effectively and work together to enhance student performance. The transitions process provides a means for regular articulation between grade levels and between school buildings. We now do a better job of documenting meetings that have a clear focus. The process has begun to link our buildings together to better function as a school district rather than individual buildings with no connection to the rest of the district. The program has moved us to work much more closely with our middle and high school in designing student outcomes.