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Schools
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The
members of the National Forum to Accelerate Middle-Grades
Reform believe that youth in the middle grades are capable
of learning and achieving at high levels. forum members
share a sense of urgency that high-performing middle-grades
schools become the norm, not the exception.
To
that end, the Forum has identified a set of selection
criteria to describe high-performing schools that serve
students in the middle-grades. Learn more about each
of them below.
Academic
Excellence
High-performing schools with middle grades are academically
excellent. They challenge all students to use their
minds well.
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All students are expected to meet high academic standards.
Teachers supply students with exemplars of high quality
work that meets the performance standard. Students
revise their work based on feedback until they meet
or exceed the performance standard.
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Curriculum, instruction, and assessment are aligned
with high standards. They provide a coherent vision
for what students should know and be able to do. The
curriculum is rigorous and non-repetitive; it moves
forward substantially as students progress through
the middle grades.
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The curriculum emphasizes deep understanding of important
concepts, development of essential skills, and the
ability to apply what one has learned to real-world
problems. By making connections across the disciplines,
the curriculum helps reinforce important concepts.
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Instructional strategies include a variety of challenging
and engaging activities that are clearly related to
the concepts and skills being taught.
- Teachers
use a variety of methods to assess student performance
(e.g., exhibitions, projects, performance tasks) and
maintain a collection of student work. Students learn
how to assess their own and others' work against the
performance standards.
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The school provides students time to meet rigorous
academic standards. Flexible scheduling enables students
to engage in extended projects, hands-on experiences,
and inquiry-based learning. Most class time is devoted
to learning and applying knowledge or skills rather
than classroom management and discipline.
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Students have the supports they need to meet rigorous
academic standards. They have multiple opportunities
to succeed and extra help as needed.
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The adults in the school have opportunities to plan,
select, and engage in professional development aligned
with nationally recognized standards. They have regular
opportunities to work with their colleagues to deepen
their knowledge and improve their practice. They collaborate
in making decisions about rigorous curriculum and
effective instructional methods. They discuss student
work as a means of enhancing their own practice.
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Developmental
Responsiveness
High-performing schools with middle grades are sensitive
to the unique developmental challenges of early adolescence.
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The school creates a personalized environment that
supports each student's intellectual, ethical, social,
and physical development. The school groups adults
and students in small learning communities characterized
by stable, close, and mutually respectful relationships.
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The school provides access to comprehensive services
to foster healthy physical, social, emotional, and
intellectual development.
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Teachers use a wide variety of instructional strategies
to foster curiosity, exploration, creativity, and
the development of social skills.
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The curriculum is both socially significant and relevant
to the personal interests of young adolescents.
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Teachers make connections across disciplines to help
reinforce important concepts and address real-world
problems.
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The school provides multiple opportunities for students
to explore a rich variety of topics and interests
in order to develop their identity, discover and demonstrate
their own competence, and plan for their future.
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Students have opportunities for voice—posing questions,
reflecting on experiences, developing rubrics, and
participating in decisions.
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The school develops alliances with families to enhance
and support the well-being of their children. It involves
families as partners in their children's education,
keeping them informed, involving them in their children's
learning, and assuring participation in decision-making.
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The school provides students with opportunities to
develop citizenship skills, uses the community as
a classroom, and engages the community in providing
resources and support.
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The school provides age-appropriate co-curricular
activities.
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Social
Equity
High-performing
schools with middle grades are socially equitable, democratic,
and fair. They provide every student with high-quality
teachers, resources, learning opportunities, and supports.
They keep positive options open for all students.
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Faculty and administrators expect high-quality work
from all students and are committed to helping each
student produce it. Evidence of this commitment includes
tutoring, mentoring, special adaptations, and other
supports.
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Students may use many and varied approaches to achieve
and demonstrate competence and mastery of standards.
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The school continually adapts curriculum, instruction,
assessment, and scheduling to meet its students' diverse
and changing needs.
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All students have equal access to valued knowledge
in all school classes and activities.
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Students have on-going opportunities to learn about
and appreciate their own and others' cultures. The
school values knowledge from the diverse cultures
represented in the school and our nation.
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Each child's voice is heard, acknowledged, and respected.
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The school welcomes and encourages the active participation
of all its families.
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The school's reward system demonstrates that it values
diversity, civility, service, and democratic citizenship.
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The faculty is culturally and linguistically diverse.
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The school's suspension rate is low and in proportion
to the student population.
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Organizational
Structures and Processes
High-performing
schools with middle grades are learning organizations
that establish norms, structures, and organizational
arrangements to support and sustain their trajectory
toward excellence.
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A shared vision of what a high-performing school is
and does drives every facet of school change. Shared
and sustained leadership propels the school forward
and preserves its institutional memory and purpose.
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Someone in the school has the responsibility and authority
to hold the school-improvement enterprise together,
including day-to-day know-how, coordination, strategic
planning, and communication.
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The school is a community of practice in which learning,
experimentation, and reflection are the norm. Expectations
of continuous improvement permeate the school. The
school devotes resources to ensure that teachers have
time and opportunity to reflect on their classroom
practice and learn from one another. At school everyone's
job is to learn.
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The school devotes resources to content-rich professional
development, which is connected to reaching and sustaining
the school vision. Professional development is intensive,
of high quality, and ongoing.
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The school is not an island unto itself. It draws
upon others' experience, research, and wisdom; it
enters into relationships such as networks and community
partnerships that benefit students' and teachers'
development and learning.
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The school holds itself accountable for its students'
success rather than blaming others for its shortcomings.
The school collects, analyzes, and uses data as a
basis for making decisions. The school grapples with
school-generated evaluation data to identify areas
for more extensive and intensive improvement. It delineates
benchmarks, and insists upon evidence and results.
The school intentionally and explicitly reconsiders
its vision and practices when data call them into
question.
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Key people possess and cultivate the collective will
to persevere and overcome barriers, believing it is
their business to produce increased achievement and
enhanced development for all students.
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The school works with colleges and universities to
recruit, prepare, and mentor novice and experienced
teachers. It insists on having teachers who promote
young adolescents' intellectual, social, emotional,
physical, and ethical growth. It recruits a faculty
that is culturally and linguistically diverse.
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The school includes families and community members
in setting and supporting the school's trajectory
toward high performance. The school informs families
and community members about its goals for students
and students' responsibility for meeting them. It
engages all stakeholders in ongoing and reflective
conversation, consensus building, and decision making
about governance to promote school improvement.
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