The following article was written by Carol Abbott, education programs consultant, Middle and High School Improvement Office, California Department of Education. It is the final article in a series introducing the forthcoming reform project, “Taking Center Stage – Act II.”
This is the final article in a series about the reform project “Taking Center Stage – Act II: Ensuring Success and Closing the Achievement Gap for California’s Middle Grades Students.”
Previous EdCal articles outlined TCS II and profiled the first eight chapters that comprise the sections on Academic Excellence, Developmental Responsiveness, and Social Equity.
In this article, we explore the issue of “Organizational Structures and Processes” – the last of four parts of TCS II that mirror the organizational structure developed by the National Forum to Accelerate Middle Grades Reform to illustrate the criteria for high performing middle schools. Four chapters focus on the structures and processes that support teaching and learning.
Chapter 9 – Leadership
The chapter on Leadership outlines the interconnected layers of support needed for individual school success. Specifically, it highlights the importance of distributed leadership so that principals build a sustainable team for leadership and success.
For example, middle grades leaders need to consider the following questions: Is there a distributed leadership process so that the school continues on a trajectory to success even when leaders (both principals and teaching team leaders) retire or transfer? How do teacher teams organize for success and report progress to the leadership team? How well does the school team promote student and family leadership? How does the school’s professional development plan translate into weekly departmental or interdisciplinary team meetings? What structures support team collaboration on data analysis, instructional planning, and school climate building?
Sections of the chapter focus on leadership roles for school boards, district, county and site leaders, as well as for teachers, students and parents. The chapter contains more than 50 sections, including site planning, educational technology leadership, and the roles of leaders at each level in a distributed leadership system. The chapter contains many helpful links to leadership organizations, training opportunities, and best practices.
Chapter 10 – Professional Learning
The chapter on Professional Learning explores the kinds of professional development needed by all stakeholders responsible for middle grades education, including district and site administrators, teachers and school board members.
The chapter provides an overview and many links to information about professional learning communities. In addition, it discusses issues including the relationship of school design to professional learning, the role of instructional coaches, lesson studies, and peer observation, and the use of educational technology for professional learning. The chapter ends with a section that includes useful resources to help administrators provide professional learning opportunities for classified staff members.
Chapter 11 – Accountability
The chapter on Accountability includes links to many resources to help leaders meet the state, federal and local accountability systems.
The chapter provides easy access to many features of the accountability system that are sometimes difficult to find on official sites. It includes a discussion about accountability for providing fiscal resources, support for teachers, and for assuring that all students have equal access to learning. The chapter also talks about student accountability, and provides research and best practice information about student-led conferences.
Chapter 12 – Partnerships
The Partnerships chapter explores many of the roles that education and community stakeholders can play in helping middle grades students succeed. The section on partnerships with parents provides many examples and Web sites that illustrate how to show parents of young teens how to support student learning during the middle grades. The chapter includes a discussion about how to help immigrant and non-English-speaking parents. It also includes many school examples about how to integrate business, community, and higher education partners into a rich system of support for every student’s success.
Each chapter includes many school vignettes that illustrate the topic in action, and ends with appendices related to the recommendation, including teaming practices, online and print resources, recommendation in action, and the chart of related initiatives on middle grades reform.
ACSA is a proud partner in the development and release of TCS II and was involved in a three-year commitment to planning that included ACSA Middle Grades Council Presidents Steve Van Zant and Creig Nicks. They participated in planning and review sessions along with other member organizations of the California Middle Grades Alliance, Advancement Via Individual Determination, California Department of Education, California League of Middle Schools, California Middle Grades Partnership Network, California School Boards Association, California Teachers Association, Curriculum and Instruction Steering Committee of the California County Superintendents Educational Services Association, Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness For Undergraduate Programs, and the California Schools to Watch-Taking Center Stage Program.
ACSA participation included the design and facilitation of a Web conference that linked ACSA members in a dialogue about the proposed content of the 12 recommendations that form the foundation for each TCS II chapter and related video.
The world premiere of TCS II occurs on Feb. 29, when Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell will launch the TCS II Web portal at the California League of Middle Schools Annual Conference in Sacramento. Prior to that, however, ACSA will showcase this innovative, Web-based project at the November Leadership Summit in Santa Clara during several workshops and seminars.
EdCal will alert readers when the preview site for TCS II goes live. That “Coming Soon” page will allow users to log into the TCS II Web portal and join a listserv so that they get instant updates about new postings. It will also include a welcome video as well as downloadable files containing the TCS II recommendations and a promotional brochure. The portal will be accessible at http://pubs.cde.ca.gov/TCSII.