MiddleView

For many years, March has been proclaimed by NASSP as Middle Level Education Month and this month’s theme is Shining the Spotlight on Middle Level Education.  How do we do this?  It all boils down to our efforts at advocacy.  The dictionary defines advocacy as “active verbal support for a cause or position” and I think the key word is active.  Middle level leaders can no longer sit on the sidelines and let others take up the cause – we all have to get involved.  In talking with legislators on the Hill, I consistently hear that they are not hearing from middle level people in the field – and while everyone is not in a position to visit with their representative, everyone can write a letter or make a phone call. To encourage your representative to support the Success in the Middle act, go to NASSP’s Principal’s Legislative Action Center and use the tools and guidance found there to send off your letter of support.

How else can we shine the spotlight on middle level education, and not only in March but all year long?  Here are a few ideas to consider:

·    Get the word out that your middle school is doing good things for students.  Develop a few message points you want to share about your school.  Put them on business cards for the staff, on your fax cover sheet, on your website, in parent newsletters, etc. 

·    Develop a brochure “50 Great Things about Our Middle School” and distribute it at registration, open house, conferences, etc.  Give copies to your district office and the local realtors to pass on to those considering moving into your attendance area.

·    Host a breakfast or lunch for your local realtors – give them a tour of the schools and share programs that you are proud of.  They are often the ones asked questions about the schools in the area.

·    Keep your superintendent and board informed of effective middle level practices.  Pass on articles or websites you think would interest them.  Invite district office personnel to attend a middle level conference with you.  Offer to share results of a successful program at a school board meeting – and bring along students to help with the report!  Send board members copies of your school newsletter.

·    Invite a student to join you at a civic club meeting. Help civic organizations feature students at their meetings.  Encourage student performance groups to reach out to community organizations for meeting programs.  

·    Build a relationship with your local media. Find out who is in charge of the education news and ask them how they want you to keep them informed of happenings at your school. 

·    Stay in contact with your state representatives.  Invite them to visit your school to speak with classes during the off session.

·    Spread your message in the form of op-ed articles in your newspapers or in letters or emails written to state representatives.  Make your written communications personal. Facts and figures can be impressive but a story about how those facts impact the students in your school will make a more lasting impression.

This is not a time to be shy or modest!  If we want the general public to understand what quality middle level education is all about, then we need to direct the spotlight on the good things that are happening in countless middle level schools across the country.

Posted by Patti Kinney at 02:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

In the previous blog entry, Michael shared ideas to increase parent involvement with the school.  Let me add another example to the mix – student-led conferencing.  Schools using Breaking Ranks in the Middle^© as a framework for school improvement will find this practice clearly helps implement several of the recommendations found in the Core areas of Personalization and Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment.    My former school has used this practice for nearly 15 years – the first year we went school-wide, conference attendance rates jumped from 45% to about 95% - that’s a 50% increase in the number of parents/guardians attending their child’s conference!  A colleague of mine at NASSP has a daughter who teaches 5^th grade in a diverse, high-needs elementary school.  This past fall she implemented the practice with her class – and much to the surprise of the rest of the staff, she had 100% attendance.  When students are put at the center of the conference, parent participation increases.

Assessment specialist Richard Stiggins says student-led conferencing "… is the biggest breakthrough in communicating about student achievement in the last century.  When students are well prepared over an extended period to tell the story of their own success (or lack thereof), they seem to experience a fundamental shift in their internal sense of responsibility for that success.  The pride in accomplishment that students feel when they have positive story to tell and tell it well can be immensely motivational.  The sense of personal responsibility that they feel when anticipating what it will be like to face the music of having to tell their story of poor achievement can also drive them to productive work." (Phi Delta Kappan, November 1999)

I’ll say upfront that the practice does take time and energy to implement but the payoffs are worth it.  In addition to increasing parent participation, students learn and demonstrate the real life skills of organization, communication, and leadership as well as gain in their ability to be self-reflective and set goals.  Parents who do not speak English feel less threatened with this conference format as their child can present the conference in their native language.

To implement this type of conference requires a collaborative effort among a staff to design a plan that speaks to the needs of their particular school and community – not always easy, but well worth the effort for schools looking to improve their conferencing process and increase parent involvement.  I have been involved in the creation of several resources available to help schools implement this practice.  For NASSP members, an article called Letting Students Take the Lead can be found in the archives of Principal Leadership.  Other resources can be purchased at the National Middle School Association website.

Posted by Patti Kinney at 01:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

One of the big obstacles schools face is community and parental involvement.  Sometimes it is easy–drive by your local high school on a Friday night.  Depending on where you live, you may see the entire town (or close to it) at the school.  There is excitement in the air and everyone is pumped up about your school.  This is to easy!  However, we know why the people are there. 

Sometimes the crowd gathers in the school auditorium.  Once again there is excitement in the air and everyone is there to see the hard work of the students.  Hours and hours have been spent rehearsing for the gathering.  The work has been done and the playbills are ready for distribution.  Wow, it is really easy to get families in our schools!

There are many examples where we are successful at bringing the community and families into our schools.  However, we all know the previous examples deal with athletics and the arts.  These are important functions of schools and are worthy programs.  Once the crowd leaves and the administrative staff is ready to head home their thoughts turn to the next evening.  Science Night!  Experiments are planned and there is even a guest speaker from the prestigious university.  The crowd should be huge!

The following evening rolls around and Science Night is set to begin. The anticipated reality then sets in.  There are only a handful of families in attendance.  The same can be seen at School Improvement Council meetings, PTA meetings, Curriculum Nights and the list continues.  Apparently, we have the ability to get families in our school (see first two examples) but it is the rare exception rather than the norm.  How can we increase attendance at ALL of our school events?

Publicize, Publicize, Publicize

If you are having an event at your school, you need to work extra hard in getting the word out.  Simply putting it in a newsletter and on the school marquee is not enough.  Advertise in the local paper. Post it on your school blog (you have one, right?).  Most importantly, reach out to your community!  Go to the places your community goes.  Post a flyer at the local grocery store.  The local restaurants often have community message boards.  What about the dry cleaners?  Everyone has to get their hair done or cut.  I am sure the salon would allow you to post your information.  Local churches?  Gas stations?

Truly Welcome Them In

Many people are intimidated by schools.  We are not always the most welcoming places.  We need to work to change that perception.  If the only time a parent hears from us is when their child is in trouble, why would they want to visit us?  Connect with the community and families often.  We must spread our good news because if we do not, who will?  And of course, a free meal never hurts!

What about the parents who work during the evening?  If a parent works second shift, are we catering to their needs?  If everything is planned for after school, when can they participate?  I do not think we are going to plan anything that starts at midnight, so we need to think of something else.  Why not run the program twice, with the first one mid-morning?  This would only work for certain events, but it is a start.

Engage Them

We work hard to create programs and courses that will engage our students.  We need to focus this same energy on our efforts to bring the community to our schools.  If we are fortunate to get them in the door, we better show them an exciting time!  Some events are more inclined to engage the audience, but we must make every effort to engage them no matter the reason for their visit.  We expect the same from all of our teachers, regardless of the course they teach.

Feedback

Sometimes what we think may be important and exciting does not resonate with our community or families.  We need to know what they think.  Exit slips are an easy way to gather this data.  Once they are there, find out what they liked.  We need to focus on our customers.  This also needs to be done before events are planed as well.  Surveys are an easy way to gauge interest.  These can be sent home with all of the forms that need to be filled out at the beginning of the year.

We all know how challenging it is to get genuine community/family involvement at our schools.  However, it can be done.  We need to reach out to our families.   We can no longer (could we really ever?) expect the families to show up simply because we plan something.  We need to make sure our schools are inviting places.  We need to go the extra mile in getting the word out to the community.  Just as we expect from our teachers, we need to engage them once they arrive.  Is it easy?  Of course not.  Is it worth the effort?  I think we all know the answer to that question.

 

 

Posted by Michael Waiksnis at 08:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

A few weeks ago I was introduced to a new resource being developed to help middle level educators deal with bullying issues.  Australian filmmaker Christopher Faull has worked with groups of 8^th graders from Illinois and Nebraska to produce two 23 minutes films that highlight the students’ experiences of bullying.  The storylines and dialogue are that of the students and it is so realistic that I felt at times I was reviewing a surveillance tape instead of watching a scripted drama unfold in front of me.  

 While the project is still in the production stage, shortened previews of the films are available to view at www.storiesofus.com and on-line previews of the films will be available at the site during the week of April 7 – 13 (www.storiesofus.com/launch). 

 I share this not only because it’s an exciting new resource for middle level educators but because this past week I finished reading a novel that again drove home the important role leaders must play in stopping the bullying that occurs in our schools.  If you have not read the novel Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult, I urge you to do so.  It’s now available in paperback and tells the story of a school shooting.  While it is a piece of fiction, it is well-researched and tells a realistic story of the bullying, harassment, and peer pressure that can be occurring in the lives of today’s students.  It is sobering, horrifying, thought-provoking and should be read by school leaders at all levels.

Fortunately, few leaders will face an incident of the magnitude described in the book, yet bullying continues to happen and can lead to acts of school violence.  Bill Bond, NASSP’s specialist on school safety, is one of the few who have lived through this type of event.  Bill was principal at Heath High School in Paducah, KY when a freshman student shot eight fellow students; three girls died and two others suffered paralyzing injuries.  As he puts it, “it’s not a club you want to join.”  As leaders, we must do all we can do to provide a safe, harrasment-free environment for our students. 

An additional resource for middle level educators opened up this week from the state of California – and it also includes a section on school safety and bullying prevention.  Over the past year, the California Department of Education has been developing a web portal that includes thousands of articles, resources, video-clips of middle school classrooms in action, and more.  Check it out at http://pubs.cde.ca.gov/TCSII/ -- and while designed specifically around the California standards for middle level, it offers a collection of information valuable to middle level leaders from all states. 

Posted by Patti Kinney at 02:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)