About ISSN

The ISSN School Design

The mission of ISLC and each ISSN school is to create an environment for learning and development in which every student is prepared to succeed in college or other post secondary education and to understand the world and how it works as the foundation for success in a global era. To achieve this mission, the ISSN school design begins with a definition of “what success looks like” in the form of a Graduate Profile that delineates the knowledge, skills, and habits of mind needed to be college and career ready and globally competent. In turn, the ISSN school design, documented in the ISSN School Design Matrix, provides a comprehensive approach to school organization and culture, curriculum and instruction, teachers’ professional development, and parent and community involvement that guides the implementation of practices needed to achieve the tenets of the Graduate Profile. The design provides clear guidance on how to accelerate achievement within any state’s framework of standards and accountability, while thoughtfully infusing global perspectives.

The core learning technology within each ISSN school is the ISSN Learning System. The system is comprised of the Graduation Portfolio System, which provides clear criteria and a reliable process for students to produce work that demonstrates college readiness and global competence and drives instruction to enable students to reach that goal; curriculum frameworks and related tools that reframe traditional courses to add rigor and integrate international content and skills; specific courses including a literacy sequence to ensure that all students have access to the full curriculum; and other elective resources. Taken together, the ISSN Learning System is an aligned system of curriculum, assessment, and instruction predicated on best practice in secondary school education and international education.