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Snapshots of a School To Watch
High-performing middle grade
schools are:
Academically Excellent
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They challenge
all students to use their minds well. providing them with the
instruction, assessment, support, and time they need to meet
rigorous academic standards.
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The curriculum and
extra-curricula programs in such schools are challenging and engaging, tapping
young adolescents' boundless energy, interests, and curiosity.
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Students learn to
understand important concepts, develop essential skills, and apply what they
learn to real0world problems.
Developmentally Responsive
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They provide
comprehensive services to foster healthy physical and emotional
development.
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They have time to be
reflective and numerous opportunities to make decisions about their learning.
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Developmentally
responsive schools involve families as partners in the education of their
children.
Socially Equitable
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These schools
make sure that all students are in academically rigorous classes
staffed by experienced and expertly prepared teachers.
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They work to educate
every childe well and to overcome systematic variation in resources and outcomes
related to race, class, gender, and ability.
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They engage their
communities in supporting all students' learning and growth.
Organizational Structures and Processes
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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 not an
island unto itself.
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The school holds
itself accountable for its students' success. The school intentionally and
explicitly reconsiders its vision and practices when data call them into
question.
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The school includes
families and community members in setting and supporting the school's trajectory
toward high performance.
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