That advisories in secondary schools are fairly pervasive around the country may be one of the great unintended consequences of the Coalition of Essential Schools (CES) reform effort. While no CES Common Principle explicitly states that advisories should exist in schools, as Coalition Schools evolved, advisories became one of the logical ways for…

In this article, the author profiles the Francis W. Parker Charter Essential School in Devens, Massachusetts. Parker School opened its doors in September 1995 after a year of planning by its founders and prospective members of the community. It began with 120 students in grades seven and eight, and now, ten years later, enrolls 368 students in…