2019 ISN National Conference on Educational Innovation

When I was offered the job of principal at the Urban Assembly High School for Green Careers in 2013, the place seemed like a lost cause: it ranked in the bottom 1 percent of New York City schools, and had a 39-percent graduation rate. Although it may seem counterintuitive, we successfully put in place radically progressive methods at Green, based on a framework I call the Five Principles of Freedom. By 2017, the graduation rate had risen to 83 percent, 9 percent higher than the citywide average. Our presentation offers an introductory exploration of how I used each of the Five Principles to create a teacher leadership culture of freedom on day one, and how you can adapt our practices to become drivers of innovation at your own schools. This presentation, based on our book, The Rise of the Phoenix (currently under review), is geared toward principals, teachers, parents, and anyone interested in preparing all students for the challenges of a twenty-first-century economy.