100
The percent of North Star Academy seniors accepted to four-year colleges. Some grads were accepted to Cornell, Howard, Lehigh, Morehouse, Rutgers, Temple, and Trinity.

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As Uncommon As They Come: Principal Julie Trott and WCCS

Principal Julie Trott of Williamsburg Collegiate Charter School runs the number one school in the city.

At least that’s what the New York City Department of Education said this past fall, after completing its first ever set of progress reports for 1,200 of the city’s district schools and twenty of its charter schools. Williamsburg Collegiate (WCCS) came out blazing, racking up an overall score of 117.42 points out of a possible 100, based on an assessment of student academic progress, school environment, and school performance.

As any Williamsburg middle-schooler can tell you, that’s plain impossible. But the DOE structured the progress reports such that a school can receive extra credit for demonstrated success in closing the achievement gap. In a school with 83% of the student body qualifying for free or ...

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1% Solution: Strong Voice

One look at Robert Zimmerli, middle-school math teacher at True North Rochester Prep, and it’s clear he means business. His straight back and direct eye-contact are hints that he’s in control.

Now, take Colleen Driggs, an English teacher at the same school. Petite and blond, she wears her hair in a girlish ponytail, and always seems on the brink of a smile.  The two teachers couldn’t be farther away from each other on the appearance spectrum. Yet both employ a specific teaching technique seamlessly: “Strong Voice.”

Managing Director Doug Lemov coined this technique, which encompasses four sub-techniques (economy of language, intolerance of interruptions, refusal to engage, and facing up) in his Taxonomy of Effective Teaching Practices, a document delineating distinct instructional practices.

Leah Shalev, former TFA corps member and now Associate Director of Recruitment at Uncommon, praises Lemov’s articulation of the Strong Voice technique: “He takes something that is really hard to communicate and tells you what specific actions to take to command a classroom. I hadn’t come across anything like that in my experience teaching, and looking at it now, I realize how valuable it would have been to me while in my classroom.”

So, how does it work in action?
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