Running Head: DINTERSMITH’S PEAK PRINCIPLES 1

Dintersmith’s PEAK Principles in Schools

Amanda Kazin

Loyola University Maryland

ET 690
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PEAK principles encompass purpose, essential skills, agency, and the knowledge that

empowers students to take charge of their education. Ted Dintersmith wrote “What Schools

Could Be” (2018) where he traveled to schools from all over the United States. He detailed

schools that are exhibiting the PEAK practices and how this style of learning is so successful in

their schools. PEAK principles are essential in schools because it gives students a purposeful,

engaging, and rigorous education. It de-emphasizes the need to ace the test, teach to the test, or

even take the test. As Bruce Dixon, (2018) stated there is a “wealth of evidence to show that

testing kills curiosity and motivation, and limits imagination and creativity” (p. 45). With PEAK

principles, students can help design their own learning, while still being held accountable in a

variety of ways. Standardized testing is not a testament of what students are capable of or what

they have really learned. Although difficult to achieve, PEAK principles can be implemented

into classrooms and schools at a gradual pace. It is work the time and effort that it requires

because it is what is best for students.

Mars Estates Elementary School has changed dynamically over the last few years. With

an emphasis on restorative practices, virtue language, and changes within administration,

students are thriving in the classroom. This means that it is the perfect time for teachers to focus

on how they are and how they can incorporate PEAK principles into their classrooms. Several

teachers are already incorporating aspects of PEAK into their lessons. Many utilize technology to

make the PEAK principles a possibility, while others use a more low-tech approach to engaging

and teaching their students. My hope is to bring the PEAK principles to teachers. Together we

can work together to incorporate technology in meaningful ways to help our students continue to

grow and enjoy their learning experiences. For Mars Estates, most of the PEAK principles are

happening through the use of restorative practices and the use of virtue language. After speaking
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to my principal, we discussed how the PEAK principles fit into the work we are currently doing,

where we are with the PEAK principles academically, and where we think Mars Estates can go

in the future.

Dintersmith (2018) defines the purpose principle to be when “students attack challenges

they know to be important, that make their world better” (p. xvi). I do believe this is one of the

areas that Mars Estates can grow in over time. Currently, students are taking pride in their work.

However, it is work that they are told to do and with very little, if any say in the content matter.

This is still a big shift in our school’s dynamic. Thanks to restorative practices, students are now

able to problem solve in the classroom and be there for more instruction time. This in turn has

resulted in students taking pride in their work and wanting to do the best they can. Within our

current curriculum, there are some opportunities for students to be proud of the work they are

doing, but there is room for improvement. In science, students in fourth grade create a prototype

of a trash collector using only renewable resources. They are able to collaborate with one another

and have genuine excitement knowing that the work they are doing is important. I would love for

Mars Estates to add more projects like this throughout the year. I believe that in order for my

school to improve, we need to start letting students have a say in what they learn. If they are able

to have a voice in the topics they learn about or if the learning is something that directly applies

to them, then they will have more pride and more sense of purpose in their education. I seek

motivation from schools such as Lab Atlanta, where they dreamed to build “a model that would

have the disciplines more integrated and the student learning experience more project-based,

choice-based, and connected to experts and the world outside the classroom” (Dintersmith, p.

198).
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Restorative practices are meant to “build community-based alternatives to punitive

discipline, rooted in opening up lines of communication across groups to examine and

understand harm created and to seek opportunities to transform that harm into good for a

community” (Bhandari, 2018). Mars Estates has been implementing restorative practice

strategies over the last few years and has had tremendous success. Students believe it is

important to problem solve. Justice circles are held between those who feel that they were

harmed and those who have harmed them. Students understand how difficult it is to continue

their work when something is left unresolved. They know that problem solving is important and

a key component of interacting with their peers and working together when in group settings.

They take pride in the fact that they can do so successfully.

According to Dintersmith, essential skills and mindsets are when students partake in

learning experiences that foster the competencies that are essential in adulthood. Some of these

competencies include creative problem solving, critical analysis, communication, collaboration,

citizenship, and character. At Mars Estates and within Baltimore County, I believe that progress

in occurring in this domain. In math, students are switching their mindsets. There is no longer

just one way to solve a problem. Students are actively encouraged to problem solve using

strategies that work best for them. Students are also exposed to real world life problems. Within

the fourth-grade fraction unit, I have my students physically recreate recipes to determine

equivalent fractions using measuring cups. Essential skills are abundant in mathematics and

science. In reading, however, there is room for improvement. I think it would require replacing

texts with topics that students are interested and want to invest their time in. I also think students

need more opportunities to practice speaking and listening skills. Project-based learning can

make essential skills more prevalent within the language arts class. In the past, a teacher at Mars
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Estates had students participate in a “Create Your Own Emoji” project. Students had to create an

emoji for an under-represented population. It required research, reading, art, and speaking and

listening to present their final product. Assignments such as these engage students and help them

work on the skills that will make them more successful in the future.

By using restorative practices at Mars Estates, students are partaking in learning

experiences that foster a multitude of competencies essential in adulthood. They are able to learn

problem solving skills, collaboration, communication, empathy, and understanding others’

perspectives. These skills are translated from school to home and within the community.

Restorative practices also involve virtue language. We teach them virtues such as kindness,

integrity, and perseverance. These are also the type of skills that are essential in the work-force.

Our school’s Climate Night, a school-wide event to highlight family relationships, included a

station where students and parents worked together to make talking pieces to bring home. The

talking piece is used as a key component of a justice circle, where everyone gets a turn to speak.

We aim for students to not only use restorative practices at school but at home as well. By

learning restorative practices, students, parents, and teachers have all changed their mindset

when it comes to “discipline” and problem solving.

The next aspect of Dintersmith’s PEAK principles is agency. Students with agency create

their learning experiences, set their own goals, manage their progress, and evaluate their work.

This is another aspect that Mars Estates can work on in regard to academics. In recent years, I’ve

had an end of the year project where students get to “teach the teacher.” They pick their own

topic, do the research, and create a presentation where they can teach me about something they

enjoy. For my school to grow in this field, students need to have more agency in the topics,

skills, or tools they learn with. I would love to be able to match student interest with the novels
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we read, while still teaching the required standards. A “Question of the Week” activity can spark

students to use their imagination and research the answers to the questions they have or the

topics they want to learn more about. In math, students can continue to learn multiple ways to

solve a problem, but they then need to explain and evaluate its effectiveness dependent on real

world scenarios. To give our students agency, we need to give them more of a voice in their

education. Then, we can start to make a difference little by little.

Over the last few years, I have seen students become advocates for themselves because of

restorative practices. Students are actively seeking justice circles with an adult or sometimes

even on their own. I’ve seen student take their recess time to problem solve with one another.

Many of them are eager to be the “mediator” of the situation and go through the process all on

their own. Students are also taking ownership of their weekly commitments. They pick a virtue

they want to work on, create a goal, and measure their progress throughout the week. In the

future, my principal and I would love for students to become a “restorative coach” and teach

minilessons to younger grades on how to problem solve. They can even guide the younger

students in a justice circle. Morning meetings are a time for the class to share ideas and set the

tone for the day. Another idea to continue student agency would be to have students lead their

own morning meeting. Student agency within problem solving has skyrocketed at my school

and I hope that drive and ambition will translate into our academics in the future.

The final component of Dintersmith’s PEAK principles is knowledge. Students develop

deep, retained knowledge. They develop mastery of certain topics, can apply it, can ask

thoughtful questions about it, and can teach others. This is the one of the areas Mars Estates

needs to focus on the most. Right now, students are mastering curriculum-based topics. Not all

students are mastering these skills which could be due to the fact that there is little buy-in and
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interest in what they are learning. To help get there, students need to be invested in the topic in

which they are learning. This may mean that curriculum needs to be rewritten and adapted to

ensure student engagement. It will require a lot of time on teachers’ parts. It will also require

time for the students to practice, to learn with hands-on opportunities, and to have access to the

resources that will help them succeed.

Every month at Mars Estates, a new virtue is highlighted. Teachers use morning meeting

time to explicitly teach students about the virtue. We define the virtue and discuss what it looks

like, sounds like, how to apply it, and how to evaluate it. We also incorporate time to role-play

and act out how each of us would react in certain scenarios. Students can have that deep, retained

knowledge on the virtues because they all build upon one another. They also don’t just disappear

once the month is over. Students use previously learned virtues throughout the year. I would love

to expand on the knowledge students are already building by bringing in literature that aligns to

the virtues and even involving virtues in other content areas. For example, we can incorporate

integrity into math problems where students need to solve a problem and evaluate how the

people in the scenario should demonstrate that virtue. Our main goal at Mars Estates is for

students to continue to develop mastery of problem solving strategies, so they can apply it on

their own as children and into adulthood.

When it comes to improving PEAK within Mars Estates and within my own classroom,

technology can be used in a variety of ways. In my classroom students are using technology to

enhance projects with choice in their forms of presentation. We also use technology to excite and

engage in the learning. To continue to foster PEAK principles, I can have students create

commercials on their renewable energy prototypes. I could also have them do a project-based

learning assignment having them create infographics using a website like Piktochart to present
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their work. Our morning meetings can consist of videos from former students that demonstrate

the virtue of the month. Students can create their own Kahoots to present to younger grades to

teach them all about virtue language and justice circles. There is no limit on how technology can

help improve the PEAK principles within my school. I look at schools such as the Alt Schools

for guidance and inspiration. These nation-wide schools encourage students to create their own

learning. They also utilize experts in various fields to help educate students. One of the Alt

Schools in Brooklyn had an experience where a guest came in “to lead several students in a 3-D-

modelling project, using a Web site called Tinkercad” (Mead, 2016). I would love to have

someone come to Mars Estates to help teach them something like 3-D printing or other skills that

require technology or even bring my students on a real-world field trip. They would be able to

see some of the skills and concepts that we can learn in class being used in real time. Overall, I

think to bring technology into the classroom, my school needs to adapt more of the PEAK

principles within our curriculum and allow for more flexibility within it. Then, teachers can

become more creative in the ways that their students can add technology into their learning in

more meaningful ways.

A majority of Dintersmith’s book stresses that standardized testing does not benefit

students nor teachers. His sentiments are similar to Dixon’s who believes that standardized

testing “not only fails to meet its goals but […] does harm to students, teachers, and education

systems” (2018, p. 47). This is why Dintersmith’s PEAK principles are so essential. Schools

need to focus on encouraging students to learn with a purpose, teach them the essential skills

they need to succeed, the agency they deserve, and the knowledge to apply their learning. I’m

very proud of the work that Mars Estates has done in terms of behavior and using restorative

practices to help our students. I believe that now we have the power to do the work necessary to
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include more PEAK principles into our academic areas. I’m hopeful and eager to challenge

myself to bring these principles to my classroom and my school. Integrating PEAK principles

into the learning demonstrations that our students deserve to be active partners in their education.
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References

Bhandari, A. (2018). Restorative practice: Developing a community of storytellers. Teaching

Artist Journal, 16, 3-4. doi: 10.1080/15411796.2018.1535645

Dintersmith, T. (2018). What school could be. Princeton; Oxford: Princeton University Press.

Dixon, B. (2018). The testing emperor finally has no clothes. Education Digest, 83(9), 45-50.

Mead, R. (2016, March 7). Learn Different. The New Yorker, 92 (4). Retrieved from

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/03/07/altschools-disrupted-education
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