When David O'Hara took the helm of the Expeditionary Learning School for Community Leaders in Brooklyn in the spring of 2011, only 38 percent of its students were graduating on time. His goals, he said, were to improve the climate and hire the best teachers.

Less than four years later, the school's graduation rate is over 80 percent. It's doing so well that O'Hara was among 15 principals from around the country invited to meet with Education Secretary Arne Duncan and other officials Wednesday because of their ability to turn around their schools.

This first-ever conference was called Principals at Ed. The agency said the goal was for the principals to learn more about federal programs for technology, English Language Learners and Special Education while sharing their experiences with each other and the policy-makers.

The attendees represented schools from urban and rural areas, and even a Native American reservation. Despite their different backgrounds, O'Hara said they shared one big concern: the focus on high-stakes testing. He said they raised this with Secretary Duncan.

"He came to the meeting, the roundtable, with his sleeves rolled up and it really symbolized that he wants to be in the trenches as well," he observed. "The first thing that he said to us is please be as candid as possible, your feedback is extremely important to me."

But the Secretary didn't announce any new changes at the meeting.

Expeditionary Learning School for Community Leaders is part of the NYC Outward Bound Schools Network. Leaders, as it's known, serves a diverse population of students near the Coney Island area, representing 36 different countries who speak more than 22 languages. The vast majority are poor enough to quality for free lunch.

The students go on camping trips and take alternative assessments instead of the Regents exams for every subject except English. The school also switched to using restorative justice practices instead of suspensions, which O'Hara said has been very successful.

The U.S. Department of Education wants the principals to share what they learned at the D.C. meeting with their colleagues. O'Hara said he was impressed by all the school leaders he met and plans to stay in touch with them, as well.

"I think the most of the learning I took away today was from my colleagues," he said.

The U.S. Department of Education made this video about the attendees.

Principals from Emily Davis on Vimeo.