Mobilizing Resources for District-wide Middle-grades Reform

Mobilizing Resources for District-wide Middle-grades Reform PDF Author: Holly Hatch
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 246

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Mobilizing Resources for District-wide Middle-grades Reform

Mobilizing Resources for District-wide Middle-grades Reform PDF Author: Holly Hatch
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 246

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Resources in Education

Resources in Education PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 760

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This We Believe in Action

This We Believe in Action PDF Author: Thomas Owen Erb
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 208

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Book Description
NMSA's position paper This We Believe has come to be recognized as the best articulation of the middle school concept, the accepted standard. But inevitably, a position paper speaks in visionary generalizations; to move these ideals into actual practice is a very demanding task, but one that has to be undertaken if needed and fundamental changes are to be made. This resource will help in the process. Altogether This We Believe in Action is a comprehensive resource, the tool we have been waiting for to assist middle level schools in implementing the characteristics of This We Believe. Every middle school should have a copy, not just to be read, but to use in site-based professional development activities. --Publisher description.

Policy Statement on Grade Configuration

Policy Statement on Grade Configuration PDF Author: National Forum to Accelerate Middle-Grades Reform
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 6

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In recent years, several large urban districts, including Cincinnati, Cleveland, Milwaukee, New York City, Philadelphia, Portland, and Kansas City, Missouri have converted their middle schools (generally grades 6-8) to K-8 schools in the hope of improving student achievement, attendance, and behavior, while also enhancing parental involvement. The National Forum to Accelerate Middle-Grades Reform, which supports all bona fide efforts to improve schooling for young adolescents (ages 10-14), recommends that such efforts be grounded in evidence-based research. Current research on grade configuration, however, is not definitive. More evidence is needed to document the positive outcomes achieved by 6-8 and K-8 schools on young adolescents, as well as by other organizational structures. The National Forum believes that what is most important for the education of young adolescent learners is what takes place inside each middle-grades school, not grade configuration per se. The National Forum has put forth a comprehensive policy agenda for middle-grades education designed to bring about positive and lasting school improvement. This paper summarizes the history and research surrounding grade configuration, along with the Forum's own experiences in identifying high-performing schools that serve young adolescents. These suggest that focusing on changing grade configuration as the solution to middle-grades problems and challenges may not achieve the intended results. [For "Small Schools and Small Learning Communities. Policy Statement. Issue 4," see ED528790.].

Middle Grades Reform

Middle Grades Reform PDF Author: Nikola N. Filby
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Educational innovations
Languages : en
Pages : 115

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Safe to be Smart

Safe to be Smart PDF Author: Anne Wheelock
Publisher: National Middle School Association
ISBN: 9781560901266
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 222

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Believing in Ourselves

Believing in Ourselves PDF Author: Anne Chambers Lewis
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Educational change
Languages : en
Pages : 134

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From the Desk of the Middle School Principal

From the Desk of the Middle School Principal PDF Author: Kathleen Marie Brown
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 224

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An honest and insightful look at the real world of middle school leadership. Grounded in the belief that schools should be responsive to the developmental needs of their students, the authors explore the distinct nature of the middle school, the appropriate responses required from middle school principals, and introduce a model for developmentally responsive leadership.

Integrating Districts in Comprehensive School Reform in the Middle-Grades

Integrating Districts in Comprehensive School Reform in the Middle-Grades PDF Author: Pritha Gopalan
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 15

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Book Description
This report compares district leaders' perspectives on changes in school capacity, student outcomes and district policy over three years of implementation of Middle Start (MS), a comprehensive school reform program to demonstrate the potential for improving the effectiveness and sustainability of CSR at the school level through integrating districts more effectively into the school-CSR program partnership. Middle Start CSR is a school improvement program focused on improving teaching and learning in the middle-grades and seeks to foster academic excellence, developmental responsiveness, and social equity in schools through the implementation of four core principles: (1) reflective review and self-study; (2) effective small learning communities; (3) rigorous curriculum, instruction, and assessment; and (4) distributed leadership and sustainable partnerships. The report is based on a study sponsored by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation as part of a larger three-year qualitative study of 19 rural and urban high-poverty schools in 13 Michigan districts from 1999 to 2002. The author worked with a team of researchers to document coaching strategies, school-based planning and implementation, changes in school structures and leadership, instructional approaches, social supports for students, and social and academic outcomes in all 19 schools, and conducted intensive case studies of four of these schools over the three years. The findings of this study show that the majority (9 out of 13) of district leaders became highly supportive of Middle Start CSR's work in their middle-grades schools over the three years of implementation despite very little contact with CSR program staff such as Middle Start school improvement coaches.

A Middle Mosaic

A Middle Mosaic PDF Author: Elizabeth Close
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 148

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Book Description
Offering 16 essays by presenters at the first Middle School Mosaic (held in Detroit, Michigan, in 1997), this book connects the themes of literacy, reflective practice, and the special characteristics of middle level teaching. In the first section, Literature and Literacy at the Middle Level, the authors examine questions of literacy by looking at ways to improve reading, broaden the definitions of literacy and literature, and address important issues through choices of literature. In the second section, Reflective Practice in the Middle, the authors focus on ways in which teachers can learn more about themselves, their students, and the ways to support students so that students can, in turn, learn more about themselves and each other. The writers in the third section, The Nature and Needs of Students at the Middle Level, give readers a glimpse of middle level concerns and address the needs of both middle level students as they struggle with who they are, and educators as they struggle with the day-to-day growth of their students and provide a learning environment conducive to a population in transition. Essays in the book are: (1) "When Reading Is Stupid: The Why, How, and What To Do about It" (Jeffrey D. Wilhelm); (2) "From Hall Talk to Classroom Talk to Book Talk: Helping Struggling Readers Connect to Reading" (Kylene Beers); (3) "Teaching Literature through Thematic Units" (Mary Santerre); (4) "Nonfiction and Young Readers" (Robert C. Small, Jr.); (5) "Literature and Lessons of the Holocaust: Theory and Practice" (Marlene B. Hartstein and Karen Zelde Schejtman Sultan); (6) "Telling Lewis Hine's Story: Russel Freedman's 'Kids at Work'" (Myra Zarnowski); (7) "Footprints in the Mud: Reading Science" (Petey Young); (8) "Sweating the Small Stuff: When Spelling Is More Than Small Stuff" (Rebecca Bowers Sipe); (9) "Literacy Narratives" (Cathy Fleischer), "Literacy Narratives: Knowing Students" (Jennifer Hannick Walsh), and "Literacy Narratives: Working with Parents" (Julie A. King); (10) "The Writer's Notebook: A Place To Think" (Janet Angelillo and Anna Danon Reduce); (11) "The Middle Schooler" (Jim Johnston); (12) "A Habit of the Heart: Service Learning" (Martha M. Magner); (13) "Interdisciplinary Teaming in the Middle School" (Lois T. Stover); (14) "Advisory: Building Relationships" (Martha M. Magner); (15) "Middle Level Teacher Preparation" (Judith A. Hayn); and (16) "Vertical Connections" (Lanny van Allen). Appendixes provide a brief history of the Middle School Mosaic, and the conference program. (RS)