We speak with Anna Allanbrook, longtime principal of Brooklyn New School (BNS). Learning at BNS is inquiry-based and cross-disciplinary. As well, BNS is known as the “opt-out school” because 95% of families opt out of standardized testing. The school offers no test preparation.
References
Find more about the Brooklyn New School on bns146.org
Overview
00:05-01:11 Intros
01:12- 01:58 Key principles of Brooklyn New School
01:59-04:05 Relationships
04:06-06:05 Who seeks the school out and why
06:06-07:30 Why the special needs population is relatively high (30%)
07:31-09:15 English Language Learners
09:16-11:29 Making parents comfortable who are used to a more traditional teaching style
11:30-13:28 Differentiating reading instruction
13:29-21:12 Standardized testing and opt-out
21:13-22:38 Performance-based assessment
22:39-25:18 Social emotional learning (SEL)
25:19-27:04 Relationship between SEL and opt-out
27:05-28:52 “Trust is at the heart of everything”
28:53-30:30 Outro
Transcription
Click here to see the transcription of the episode.
Soundtrack by Poddington Bear