V99 N2 kappanonline.org 65 Image: iStock A schoolwide investment in problem-based learning A comprehensive high school embraces problem-based learning as its strategy to improve student achievement. By Paul S. Sutton and Randy Knuth I n the freshman Advanced Placement Human Geography course, a district administrator listens as students describe how they would redraw the district’s attendance lines to relieve some schools of overcrowding and help other schools that struggle to attract students. These students have been working in teams to explore the district’s enrollment imbalances and now are presenting their pro- posals to district administrators, the school board, and the community. This group of students has proposed redrawing attendance boundaries laterally, effectively blend- ing socioeconomic and racial groups into each school. This would reduce the overcrowding in schools that serve primarily middle- to upper-class white and Asian students and add enrollment to schools that have empty seats. “So what would you tell parents who are concerned about how far they’d have to drive their child to school each morning?” asked the district administrator. “Why should their child be forced to attend a school not in their neighborhood, just because they’re wealthy, when a poor kid gets to attend the elementary school right across the street? How is that fair?” The students huddle together for a few seconds. “You’re right. Those parents might think our system is unfair,” responds the spokesperson for the students. “But we would tell them that there are more important benefits for their kids to learn with and from students who are different from them than the benefits they might get by spending less time in their car.” The administrator smiles, pauses a second, and then says, “That’s a good answer. I could have used you in a meeting last week.” Interactions like this don’t develop overnight. This grew out of years of curricular experimentation and iteration at Sammamish High School in Bellevue, Wash., where teachers embraced problem-based learning (PBL) and developed locally relevant, authentic, real-world challenge cycles through which students learned core content knowledge. The school made this switch after receiving an Investing in Innovation (i3) Devel- opment grant from the U.S. Department of Education in 2010 to design and implement PBL coursework across all content areas in the school. Teachers sought the grant as a result of formal discussions to address PAUL S. SUTTON (suttonps@plu.edu) is an assistant professor of education, Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, Wash. RANDY KNUTH is president of Knuth Research, Spokane, Wash.