Centennial Middle School
Middle School Structures Team
Final Report
May 2008
History
The MSST
came into being in June 2007 as an outgrowth of our
dialogues at CMS during the 2006-2007 school year. The
dialogues during that year repeatedly returned to key issues
in the education of adolescents, such as assessment,
scheduling, collaboration and student support.
Since
these issues clearly interrelated and are fundamental to any
middle school experience, our building adopted an action
plan that identified the creation of the MSST to research
adolescent brain development, explore effective middle
school practices, and compare current practices with
findings in the research
The
action plan guiding the committee’s work set up an
aggressive time-frame for our research that called for
recommendations to the staff at the end of January 2008. In
reality, this work continued until May 2008 because the
learning process for the MSST, as well as the whole staff,
was very valuable, gave meaning to our research, and
established a higher level of readiness for change.
The MSST
consisted of the following members throughout the 2007-08
school year:
Scott
Peacock Principal
Mike
Bongi Parent
Tina
Erickson Parent
Matthew
Hamlin Student
Alana
Fouts Student
Carolyn Coombs
Teacher/Admin. Intern
Shelley Barker Teacher
Terri Clayton
Registrar
Monica Jaramillo
Teacher
Erica Fortune
Counselor
Heather Bird
Teacher
Larry Taylor
Teacher
Karen Taylor
Teacher
Ian Cameron
Teacher
Kathy Williams
Teacher
Information Sources
The
research that we conducted included the following books:
Sylwester,
Robert. The Adolescent Brain: Reaching for Autonomy.
Corwin Press, 2007.
Van
Hoose, John; David Strahan; Mark L’Esperance. Promoting
Harmony: Young Adolescent Development and School Practices.
National Middle School Association, 2001.
Erb,
Thomas O. (Editor). This We Believe in Action:
Implementing Successful Middle Schools. National Middle
School Association, 2005.
Additional resources incorporated into our recommendations
include:
1.
Student
Survey given on Surveymonkey.com in December 2007.
2.
Staff
input recorded during monthly staff dialogues during the
2007-2008 school year.
3.
Presentation given by Elaine Johnson on January 11, 2008 to
the entire CMS staff.
Themes
and Characteristics of Adolescence
The following themes were prominent
throughout our research, and verified in various ways on the
student survey. These themes and characteristics were
central to our analysis of our strengths as a school, and to
our identification of growth areas:
- Students
are moving from dependence to independence in their
lives
- Students
are severing overtly loving relationships with parents
as they shift toward more romantic and sexualized
relationships in adolescence
-
Independence
must be balanced and fortified by strong adult guidance
-
Adolescence is like a “second toddlerhood” in many ways
Adolescents
need choices and feedback in order to experience the
outcomes of their decisions
-
Strong role models are necessary to support the healthy
development of mirror neurons
-
Adolescents must have opportunities to create and
reinforce learning through interaction and integration
of concepts
-
Social opportunities are critical to adolescents and
must be built into daily experiences
-
Teenage stress is a reality that must be acknowledged
and addressed by adults
-
Adults must be aware of and willing to openly address
“the big lie” of adolescence—the pervasive sense of
inadequacy that is a reality in teen life
-
Variety in the forms of media that adolescents interact
with or relate to is critical in their ability to engage
with the world in a meaningful way
CMS
Strengths
The
following list is a compilation of our school’s strengths,
identified by the whole staff at our September 2007 dialogue
session, and revisited by the MSST in meetings throughout
the year:
-
Life
Fitness, sports, electives and clubs that provide
opportunities for student activity
-
Priority is placed on interactive experiences such as
dances, social events (Life Skills), projects and
fundraisers
-
Student mentor assistant program to support students and
teachers in the classroom
-
Adults teach and maintain clear boundaries for behavior
with fairness and consistency
-
Value
is placed on professional development and collaboration
among staff
-
Commitment to teamwork in support of students such as
grade level meetings, conferences and IEP’s
-
Strong counselors and counseling program
-
Cultivation of role-modeling and student involvement in
leadership classes
-
Pyramid of Interventions that provides systemic support
for students
-
Purposeful cultivation of the partnership between
students, staff and parents
-
Desire to balance the needs of individual students with
the needs of all students
-
Safe
learning environment—physically and emotionally
-
Strong communication tools such as handbooks, website,
announcements
-
Awareness of and commitment to role modeling on staff
and with student leaders
-
Focus
on respect as school theme
-
Staff
commitment to accepting student mistakes/choices as
learning opportunities
-
Strong focus on community and family
-
Instructional focus on critical thinking and process
skills
-
Cultivation of organization and use of the student
planner as a priority
-
Maintaining a balance between academic and social growth
in student development
-
Overriding value is on nurturing the whole child
Focal
Points for Future Growth
What
follows is a list of focal points that address broad
conditions or areas that would enrich or expand our school’s
alignment with the developmental needs of our students
Condition
#1
-
Making time for community and interactive learning
opportunities during the school day and in classes
Condition
#2
-
Helping students and teachers make connections between
disciplines
Condition
#3
-
Creating opportunities for students to develop a
relationship with an adult advocate
Condition
#4
-
Developing an assessment system that provides meaningful
feedback to both students and parents
Condition
#5
-
Extending collaboration more fully throughout our school
community and extending further into the district
MSST
Recommendations for Further Consideration
The
recommendations that follow represent ways in which CMS
could create or enrich conditions within our school that are
more consistent with the lives of our students. These
recommendations are not endorsements of particular
programs that we believe should be adopted, but represent
strong checkpoints for future school-wide planning. It has
been the position of our group throughout our research that
our school will need to adapt in its effort to change,
rather than adopt pre-existing programs or curricula. Our
school is strong and unique. Any changes we consider need
to build on and accentuate our strengths as a caring,
compassionate community committed to developing the
capacities of the whole child.
Condition
#1
-
Making time for community and interactive learning
opportunities during the school day and in classes
-
Implement block
schedule to increase flexibility (adopted Spring “08”)
-
Identify service
learning opportunities in the curriculum
-
Develop an activities
program within the school day (advocacy, student-led
activities, intramural activities)
-
Plan a school-wide
interdisciplinary unit
Condition
#2
-
Helping students and teachers make connections between
disciplines
1.
Plan a
school-wide interdisciplinary unit
2.
Schedule
opportunities for team-teaching (adopted Spring ‘08)
Condition
#3
-
Creating opportunities for students to develop a
relationship with an adult advocate
1.
Develop an
activities program within the school day (advocacy,
student-led activities, intramural activities)
2.
Explore and
consider advisory/mentor programs
3.
Explore and
consider student-led conferences
4.
Create
opportunities for non-teaching staff and students to
interact in different environments
Condition
#4
-
Developing an assessment system that provides meaningful
feedback to both students and parents
1.
Encourage
student and parents to attend conferences in spring
and fall
2.
Explore and
consider student-led conferences
3.
Develop a
school-wide standards-based assessment rubric
4.
Evaluate and
possibly expand alternative grading rubric for special
education students (piloted in ’08)
Condition
#5
-
Extending collaboration more fully throughout our school
community and extending further into the district
1.
Provide
opportunities for teaching and non-teaching staff to
interact
2.
Investigate
opportunities for service learning outside of the school
community
3.
Develop more
opportunities for student leadership (assemblies, school
projects, community service ideas)
4.
Increase
opportunities for student/parent involvement in school
improvement