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When LAUSD began its efforts to define and create effective Small Learning Communities (SLCs), it looked within its borders for evidence of where students were attending, learning and prospering in smaller, more personalized learning environments. One of the models from which the District could replicate best practices was that of its own Career Academies.
The characteristics that constitute an LAUSD Career Academy also meet the criteria for an LAUSD Small Learning Community. Career Academies contain the following attributes of SLCs:
· Individualized learning environments within larger school settings
· Themed instruction to engage youth and give them a context for academic learning
· "Cored” classes where the same students spend most of their school days together and provide and receive peer support
· Teachers who plan together and integrate the instruction and provide coordinated adult support
· Business partners whose involvement expands the students’ world to include the whole community
Evaluations of Career Academy students, in those academies that contain the thirteen components (as seen on the District Academies page), attend classes more frequently, drop out of school less frequently, have a higher graduation rate and claim to feel more like they belong to their communities. They also are more likely, due to internships and mentors, to keep the jobs that they get and/or maintain relationships within the adult world of work.
LAUSD has developed and published attributes for all of its Small Learning Communities as well as guidelines for designing and implementing them.
For a list of the required attributes that compose a Small Learning Community, click on Attributes.
To see the District’s guidelines for Small Learning Communities, click on Bulletin.
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