atwell believes this gets them to invest in what they are learning. >> and not just invest arbitrarilynvest in the way a literary critic does, a writer does, a mathematician does, a historian does, a scientist does out of real curiosity, real passion, a real sense of motivation. >> forester said they really fit a specific kind of role. >> reporter: atwell also does not believe in tests and quizzes. teachers assess their students progress daily, as english teacher glenn powers did in this discussion on flat versus round characters which ended up crossing many literary genres. >> in the beginning of the trilogy he's a flack character, and by the end he changes how he thinks and how he feels about other people. >> when we evaluate our student it's on the basis of portfolios of their work, and students self-assess as part of the portfolio process. >> these are the first and second graders who have just come back from swimming. >> reporter: the way students are evaluated isn't the only unusual feature of this school. the environment is, too. atwell designed it to encourage interaction and c