The external review is both a culmination and a beginning, as seen in the experience of Hope and other schools. The review team consists of administrators, teachers, parents, and community members with training in SSA. During the week of the review at Hope, members of the external team shadowed students, visited classrooms, and studied the school profile and student work samples compiled by Hope staff. They also interviewed staff, administrators, community members, and students, always keeping in focus the school’s goals. At the end of the week, the team presented an oral report to the school, along with questions for reflection. The senior reviewer, the leader of the external review, sent Hope a copy of the report in writing a few weeks after the review.

With the assistance of its SSA partner, the school embarked on follow-up planning and implementation to improve teaching and learning in ways that spoke to the goals. The immediate impact of the review was a schoolwide meeting to debrief the report. Principal and staff agreed that the questions raised in the report were pressing. They decided to base their school improvement plan on priorities that came from the report and also formed faculty study groups to focus on instructional improvement. The principal said that it was the first time that the entire school participated in the development of the plan and that there was real ownership among teachers of the goals and strategies outlined in the plan.
 


In addition to the activities described above, AED organized other opportunities throughout the year for participants to discuss follow-up strategies and refine the frameworks that guide self-assessment. A core team from Hope continued to attend these institutes, including a training for senior reviewers and a follow-up institute for reviewed schools. A teacher leader from Hope was the senior reviewer on an external review team in 2001, and the principal of Hope attended the advanced follow-up institute, during which reviewed schools developed an action plan to address instructional improvement.