Latino seventh- and eighth-graders has an accelerated magnet school within it that serves grade six as well. If data from school benchmark tests show that one teacher’s stu- dents did not understand a concept while another teacher’s students showed that they had a good grasp of the academic standard, Ransons expects the first teacher to seek help from the second. The school has also set aside a period in
the day that can be used for interventions. Students from any class who tested poorly on a particular standard have an opportu- nity to learn the material from the teacher whose students best grasped the standard the first time it was taught. Teachers get to- gether, look at the data, and then decide who would be the best one to reteach the material in a special class session to the group of stu- dents who tested poorly. Schools in Los Angeles Unified School
District, such as Stephen M. White Middle School in Carson, collaborate in developing common lessons through the Japanese edu- cational practice of Lesson Study. Teachers take apart and examine all elements of a les- son, then discuss strategies for teaching each element effectively. They then implement the lesson, come back and debrief, and tweak it based on their experience with it as a group. “It’s a laborious process, but it has paid
dividends for kids,” Principal James Noble says. “We wound up with some ‘polished stones’ – some actual lessons that teachers can share.” Noble says the math teachers in particular have embraced this approach. They met diligently, he says, and developed common end-of-unit tasks, assessments and agendas. That way, “any student at any given week can talk with any other student at the same grade level and discipline, and they are all on the same page.”
Focusing on the standards The principals interviewed also empha-
sized their schools’ commitment to focus on key standards selected from the full set of state standards – what is most important for students to know and be able to do in core academic subjects (such as English, math, science, social studies and the arts) at each grade level. Administrators and teachers at Woodrow
Gaining ground: Nine notable schools E
dSource interviewed principals from the fol- lowing nine schools to try to understand the practices and experiences of successful lead-
ers. To see full profiles of the nine schools, go to Ed- Source’s Middle Grades Playbook at www.edsource. org/
pub11-mgkit-profiles.html. • California Middle School in Sacramento had
some of the top eighth-grade scores on the English Language Arts, General Mathematics, and Algebra I California Standards Tests for 2008-09 among the 144 schools serving mainly lower-income students that participated in EdSource’s Gaining Ground study.
• East Palo Alto Charter School in 2009 had an Academic Performance Index score
above 800, a statewide rank of 8 on the API, and a statewide rank of 10 on the Similar Schools Rank. • Granger Junior High School in National City was named as a School to Watch in
2010 by the National Forum to Accelerate Middle Grades Reform and increased its Similar School Rank from 9 to 10 between 2009 and 2010. • La Merced Intermediate School in Montebello had 2008-09 eighth-grade English
Language Arts, General Mathematics and Algebra I CST scores that were far above the average among the 144 schools serving mainly lower-income students that par- ticipated in EdSource’s study. • Los Amigos School in Palmdale was notable for eighth-grade achievement on the
English Language Arts CST for 2008-09 among the 144 schools serving mainly lower- income students that participated in EdSource’s study. • Stephen M. White Middle School in Carson showed notable increases in mean
scale score on the Grade 8 English Language Arts and Algebra I CSTs from 2007 to 2010, even as the percentage of eighth-graders taking the Algebra I test increased from 82 percent to 99 percent. • View Park Preparatory Accelerated Charter Middle School in Los Angeles had an
API score above 800 and, between 2008 and 2009, increased its statewide rank from 7 to 8 and maintained its Similar School Rank of 10. • Vina Danks Middle School in Ontario had some of the top eighth-grade scores
on the English Language Arts, General Mathematics and Algebra I CSTs for 2008-09 among the 144 schools serving mainly lower-income students that participated in EdSource’s study. • Woodrow Wilson Junior High School in Hanford maintained its Similar School
Rank of 9 between 2008 and 2009 and had eighth-grade English Language Arts and Algebra I CST scores in 2008-09 that were far above the average among the 144 schools serving mainly lower-income students that participated in EdSource’s study. – Susan Frey
Wilson Junior High in the San Joaquin Val- ley city of Hanford review the test blueprint for a standard, which explains what students need to do to show they understand the stan- dard. (For example, seventh-grade math stu- dents should be able to use estimation to tell if their calculated results make sense.)
The faculty and administrators at the
school of about 600 mostly Latino and white students also review a pacing guide, which is a timeline showing what material should be covered during the school year. In addition, teachers have a calendar based on the pacing guide that covers what teachers are expected
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