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Mancini, Gail Hinchion; Lewis, Anne C., Ed.Gentle Ambitions. Indiana's Thoughtful Middle GradesMovement.Education Writers Association, Washington, DC.ISBN-0-943445-09-49345p.Education Writers Association, 1001 Connecticut Ave.,N.W., #310, Washington, DC 20036 ($5; quantitydiscounts).Reports Evaluative/Feasibility (142)

MF01/PCO2 Plus Postage.*Educational Change; Educational Environment;*Educational Improvement; Interdisciplinary Approach;*Intermediate Grades; Junior High Schools; *MiddleSchools; School Restructuring; Team Teaching*Indiana

This publication describes efforts taken in Indianato improve middle-grade education. The restructuring of the state'surban middle grades has been supported by Lilly Endowment Inc., whichfounded the Middle Grades Improvement Program (MGIP), 6 years ago.Despite the lack of an overall middle-grade theme in the stateDepartment of Education and despite other barriers, the middle-graderestructuring movement has thrived at a grass-roots level. Chapter 1offers a profile of Indiana students that illustrates the need formore child-centered education. Chapter 2 describes administrators'approaches to change and demonstrates the importance of goodleadership in school restructuring. Chapters 3 and 4 offersuggestions for planning and building a supportive schoolenvironment. The fifth and sixth chapters describe team teachingstrategies and ways to help children, particularly underservedstudents, understand their potential and plan their futures. Chapter7 describes the need for a variety of strategies that addressstudents' diverse needs. The final chapter describes new grassrootsorganizations that are broadening the impact of change. Appendicescontain a glossary and a list of Middle Grades Improvement Networkschools. (LMI)

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41

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1111A Education Writers Association

2KV COPY MAIM

GENTLE AMBITIONS

Indiana's Thoughtful

Middle Grades

Movement

by

Gail

Hinchion

Mancini

Anne C.

Lewis,

editor

A Report of the Education Writers Association

3

C.:. I_ r11 I I_ Arn P. I I I ( ;

We would like to thank the Lilly Endowment, Inc. whose assistancemade this report possible. The views and conclusions expressedin this report arc based on the work of Gail Mancini and the staff ofthe Education Writers Association and are not necessarily those ofthe Endowment.

The Education Writers Association, founded in 1947, is the na-tional professional association of education reporters and writers.

EWA Board of Directors

President: Larry Hayes, Fort Wayne (Ind.) Journal

Gazette

Vice President/Active: Aleta Watson, San Jose

(Calif.) Mercury News

Vice President/Associate: Sarah Hardesty Bray,

Council for Advancement and Support of

Education

Secretary: Robert Frahm, The Hartford (Conn.)

Courant

Directors: Bill Graves, The Oregonian (Portland,

Ore.)

Kit Lively, Chronicle of Higher Education

(Washington, D.C.)

Larry Olmstead, Detroit (Mich.) Free Press

John Norton, Southern Regional Education

Board

Immediate Past President: Marilyn Posner,

Observer-Reporter, Washington, Pa.

EWA StaffLisa Walker, executive director

Bert Menninga, assistant director

Tonya Brice, administrative assistant

Rose Bernedo, publications assistant

1993 by the Education Writers Association

ISBN: 0-943445-09-4

Cover Design by Ted Benson

Typesetting & Design by Audrey Cowgill

Copies may be ordered from:

The Educotion Writers Association

1001 Connecticut Ave., N W , #310

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Copies free to reporters.

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Table of Contents

About the Author

Introduction

Chapter The Basics

Chapter II: Looking for Leaders

Chapter III: Baby Giant Steps

p. iv.

p. v.

P. 1

p. 3

P. 6

Chapter IV: Setting Climate Control p. 11

Chapter V: Becoming Team Players p. 15

Chapter VI: Getting Off Track p. 19

Chapter VII: There's No Silver Bullet p. 22

Chapter No Turning Back p. 25

Appendix: Glossary p. 28

Resources p. 29

MGIP Network p. 30

C,F NJIIE AN1BITiC)14 s

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Gail Hinchion Mancini is a free-lance writer and former reporter with :heSouth Bend Tribune, where she covered edu-cation for 10 years. A graduate of IndianaUniversity's journalism school, she is also ajournalism instructor at Indiana Universityin South Bend. As Indiana editor for EWA'sIndiana Strides, she has been covering middleschools closely for several years.

ABOUT THE EDITOR

Anne C. Lewis is an education pol-icy writer in the Washington, D.C. area. Shebegan her 30-year career in educationwriting as a reporter for the Corpus Christi( Tex.) Caller- Times. She served as editor ofEducation USA for 10 years and has been theWashington columnist for the Phi Delta Kap-pan for the last nine years. She works as aconsulting editor with the Education Writ-ers Association, editing both High Strides andIndiana Strides. among other publications.

6

INTRODUCTION

Meanwhile, Backstage ...

Tco the trained cyc, motions large andsmall tell the story. At the Indiana MiddleLevel Education Association's annual winterconference, teachers dash fleet-footed fromone end of the conference center to the other,hungry for information on team teaching andblock scheduling. Participants clamor toknow: "what do you do when a teacher re-sists teaming?"

Heads huddle, teachers from differentschools at opposite ends of the state comparenotes. Principals from equally diverse geo-graphic backgrounds meet and greet asthough members of the same weekly hand-ball league.

Throughout the meeting room, headsbob in acknowledgement as keynote speakerNancy Doda jests that children feel sowatched when they arc assigned to teams,("They're ganging up on us.- Doda heard onechild say.)

In evidence is a sense of common pur-pose; a collective spirit that cuts across geog-raphy and demography and straight throughthe four walls and lines of desks that arcteachers' traditional domain.

Here gathered is a group that has pushedsuch exemplary middle grades practices asteam teaching, interdisciplinary instruction,community outreach and advisor/adviseefrom experimental to common practice.

Hundreds of heretofore unrelated edu-cators have pulled together, lending supportto each other as they wait for their own cen-

t ral offices, and their state education leaders,to themselves undergo a transition.

Indiana Idiosyncracies

Indiana is an unlikely setting for a middlegrades renaissance. Consider the following:

In the Indiana Department of Education(DOE), Betty Johnson, the top admin-istrator involved in middle level change,explains that DOE personnel are not yetsensitized to the shape or importance ofthe middle grades movement. Until amiddle grades theme takes hold withinthe various offices of DOE until theydevelop vhat Johnson calls "a shareddefinition of middle schools- it is di f-ficult to believe the department will playa leadership role.

Local superintendents' hiring needs andteachers' interest for broad-based certi-fication have encouraged Indiana's col-leges and universities to neglectteacher preparation for the middlegrades. There is no state requirement,that future middle level teachers havepractical experience in middle levelschools. In the college classroom, futuremiddle level teachers are lumped in with

('F t,1 T I I A AA 1:rn I ,:)1,1

all secondary education teachers in con-tent-specific programs. They may neverhear mention of current methods for theacademic inspiration of young adoles-cents.

Indiana is a disconnected mix of urban,suburban and mostly rural areas that hasoperated forever under the belief thatlocal control is best. This is true of moststates, but in Indiana it has resulted inschool boards inventing 23 differentgrade configurations to serve middlelevel age students. Meanwhile, the urgeto make some radical change in state-wide educational rules seems to strikeonly about every 10 or 15 years. Themost recent wave of state leadership re-sulted in better funding for early ele-mentary grades and a statewide studenttesting system whose accuracy andvalue, after more than five years, still isuncertain. In 1992, the State Board ofEducation struggled to eliminate theminutes-per-week prescriptions thatapply to all subjects. These mandateshave been a harrier to block schedulingand interdisciplinary instruction. Whenrelated arts teachers battled against thischange concerned that change woulddiminish their work or concerned thattheir curriculum would shrink thestate hoard approved a motion which re-tains the prescriptions but puts the de-cision to follow them in the hands oflocal school boards.

Regard for local control may also explainwhy state leaders have such a small ap-petite for reflection on who Hoosiers areas a whole. Data collecting methods, al-though improving, are so poor that theestimate of the number of children inpoverty is suspect. We have difficulty

pinpointing an exact number of Hispan-ics in the state. We do not even countthe number of students expelled andsuspended from our schools. Mak-ing a policy argument that links middlegrades restructuring to the needs of poorminority children, or to those who areacademically disconnected, therefore, isdifficult.

On the Move, Nonetheless

Despite these and other handicaps, in-terest in middle grades change has increasedrapidly in the last decade. Operating inde-pendently, or with the help of outside con-sultants, individual school districts arephasing in elements of exemplary middlegrades schools.

Some are communities which demandcutting -edge facilities and programs; othersare motivated by the sense that they are notreaching their children. Many participantsfrom this field of independents have tied intothe Indiana Middle Level Education Associa-

whose activities allow them a forum fordescribing the nature and importance ofchange. The IMLEA hoard has been com-prised of what can fairly he called middlegrades diehards. Besides working to provideeducational opportunities, membership isbeginning to constitute a political force forstatewide attention to the middle grades.

The restructuring work of Indiana's ur-ban middle grades have been supportedby Lilly Endowment Inc., whose six-year-old Middle Grades Improvement Program(MGIP) has provided more than $6 millionin support to schools with the greatest prob-lems and the fewest resources to solve them.

In organizing MGIP, the Endowment canhe credited with establishing a legacy on howto approach change. By nature, the MGIPproject also represents an addition to the poolof middle school activists who constitute an

3

Ir.11-12, .1.m( I()

Indiana 's movement

thrives backstageslowly, often

unnoticed, yet so

thoroughly grounded

that its shape is

being built

of stone.

informal statewide support system. Workingwith INILEA at all turns, NIGIP participantshave strengthened the call for change.

While there is no overall middle gradestheme in the DOE, there is, within BettyJohnsons DOE division, a small effort to ex-plore policy issues regarding middle schookt

Outgoing Indiana Superintendent H.Dean Evans organized a task force to addressmiddle level issues, whose members com-prised a small-scale -Who's Who- of the coreof Indiana middle grades supporters. Theiractivities represent a classic case of beinggiven an inch and taking a mile. The work ofthis group helped the state succeed in win-ning a grant from the Carnegie Corporationof New York to promote statewide policychange that benefits adolescents. The two-year grant fueled the activities of a new Ado-lescent Advisory Board, a coalition of middle

grades supporters and repre-sentatives from the state'syouth-serving agencies. Alsothrough Carnegie funding,this group produced "Betwixtand Between," a handbook onimproving middle grades inIndiana. The book is a com-bination call-to-arms andguidebook on creating an ex-emplary middle level school.

This circle of middle gradesenthusiasts packs a hefty agenda:an overhaul of state licensingand curriculum rules to bettersuit middle level needs; a revivalof teacher preparation programsthat focus on the middle grades:special training programs forprincipals and regional in-serviceworkshops on exemplary middle

level practices.The very fact that the middle level move-

ment plows ahead despite obstacles is whatmakes Indiana such an interesting case. Inthe scope of the entire country, few state orlocal leaders have taken a systematic ap-proach to creating exemplary middle schools.Many places will have to be like Indiana,where the focal point of change is neither theDOE nor the local superintendents' offices.Indiana's movement thrives backstageslowly, often unnoticed, yet so thoroughlygrounded that its shape is being built ofstone.

AMBITIONS

The Lilly Legacy

It is commonly accepted herethat Indiana would not haveas cohesive a middle gradesmovement were it not for theinvolvement of the Lilly En-dowment Inc. Its role presents anexcellent case study of the scopeand influence that can be exercisedon school reform by thoughtful,knowledgeable outside support.

With $6 million in grants madespecifically to middle grades sincethe mid-1980s, the Endowment has

provided professional assistance

and seed money for the projects thatmany of Indiana's economicallytroubled schools and corporations(the Indiana term for school districts)

could never have afforded, or wouldhave thought to pursue.

Its most large-scale effort has

been the Middle Grades Improve-ment Program (MGIP). Now sixyears old, this program has pro-vided an organizational and supportstructure to the restructuring efforts of65 middle schools in 16 urbanschool districts.

The Endowment's mission was to

present the content of the effective

middle grades movement to thesenot always enthusiastic participants

and help the school corporationsembrace the ideas as their ownvisions. The goal was to change thevery nature of the relationship

between teacher and child, but theunderlying belief was that this couldonly happen with support within theschool, the school corporation andthe community at large.

The support has meant inservicetraining opportunities on all aspectsof exemplary middle grades prac-tices. The project design emphasizesthat restructuring plans should begenerated by the participants them-

selves. But Endowment personnelhave been firm in directing partici-pants to better serve minoritystudents. Efforts to improve equity

are expected to increase whenMGIP enters its third funding cycle.

The Endowment has funded sev-eral offshoots of MGIP includinggrants to encourage interdisciplinaryinstruction. In terms of statewide im-

pact, the most profitable ofexpanded MGIP efforts is the MGIPNetwork. Designed to coordinatecommunication and training c,ppor-tunities among the 16 MGIP districts,the Network has become a centralsupport system for sustained state-

wide reform and renewal. Theservice is particularly helpful forMGIP schools whose central officesremain unresponsive to the impor-tance of the project.

More so, Network members havetied in with the Indiana Middle LevelEducation Association, doubling theinfrastructure of the middle gradesmovement. These two groups have

unified their respective voicestoward aligning state policy withlocal reform efforts.

No one expects the Endowmentto remain involved at current levelsforever. But whenever the foun-dation's participation decreases, aninfrastructure of informational andtraining opportunities will remain.

10

Student KoreiNutallEggers MiddleSchool,Hammond

Photo

Icy

Aldino

Golloots

CHAPTER I

The BasicsA profile of Indiana students illustratethe need for more child-centered

education.

hen Brandon Buckman started atHelfrich Park Middle School, an M6111 schoolin Evansville a year ago, he apprehensivelywatched the halls, looking warily for "aneight-foot boy with six feet of chain in bothhands.-

His classmate, Jessica Corbett, shared hisapprehension. -The older kids just look sobig, and the teachers look stern to me."

Brian Wright, who entered Fort Wayne'sPortage Middle School at the same time, la-mented, "Everyone has strict rules! It's likegoing to an execution."

Tate Lane declares, "I think of myself asvery mature. I don't like to vandalize or dam-age school property"

Scratch an Indiana middle grades stu-dent, and you come away with a textbookexample of the classic composition of youth-ful insecurity and passion for autonomy andindependence. They are more interested inschool than one might guess more soldon the value of education vet just as surethat the main business at hand is their socialrelationships.

Every year these middle-grade studentsage a bit more: to he allowed to babysit alone

12

grows to the need to he dropped off at themall or the movies without chaperones whichis immediately followed by the urge to dateand this before ninth grade the privi-lege of driving the car themselves.

Indiana's young adolescents give voice tothe vast body of research that matches thedevelopmental needs of this age to an appro-priate educational program.

Statistics about Indiana's almost half-mil-lion 10- to 15-year-olds illustrate how thepressures of modern society arc creating bar-riers to success. For starters, about 100,000of these children are not enrolled in an edu-cat ional program. The drop-out rate for stu-dents shifted dramatically in 1991, from whathad been the 10th and 11th grades to 9thgrade. Students who withdrew from schoolmost often cited "disinterest in curriculum"as the reason.

A 1991 survey of the prevalence of alco-hol and other drug use in Indiana illustratesthe presence of these substances in the livesof middle level students. The survey foundthat 33.1% of 5th graders had at leastsampled alcohol. By seventh grade, 56.3%

C_;ESJIIE ANNESITIOMS

had tried it. By 10th grade, 91.4% reportedsampling alcohol, and 50% used the drug atleast once a month.

While experimentation with such drugsas crack and cocaine is infrequent, 26% of10th graders said they have experimentedwith marijuana and 20% said they have triedamphetamines.

Even this smattering of evidence showsthat Indiana's middle grades childreh are, atbest, at a turning point in their potentiallyproductive lives. At worst, overwhelmingforces work against their futures.

The Id-ol Program

What kind of schools do these students at-tend?

"There is considerable lack of fit betweenwhat we know about young adolescents andwhat we do to them five days a week, inschools." So wrote Joan Lipsitz, in 1977, asone of the early voices in the movement tofashion middle schools to the child. Todayshe is a program director in the Lilly Endow-ment's Middle Grades Improvement Program(MG1P).

Lipsitz's point, and that of others involvedin the education of early adolescents, is thatthe pre-high schools, or "junior highs" are noplace for apprehensive children like BrandonBuckman.

The sterile atmosphere created by ateacher operating from a lectern is stultify-ing to the likes of Brian Wright. Boredom andsheer lack of relevance become major reasonsfor dropping out of school, as evidenced bythe state's dropout statistics.

And for the acquaintances of Tate Lanewho have not matured enough to stop van-

1

dalism and other acts of delinq_tency, a shape-up-or-get-out-discipline attitude erects abarrier between probleni children and theireducation.

Middle grades should foster diverselystyled learning experiences which reinforcea student's sense of personal competency andachievement. Middle grades educatorsshould guide children through this period ofvast physical change, both by encouragingphysical activity and helping students definenew social roles. Schools should be intimateenough that students have at least one adultin whom they can confide. At the same time,through school or community-based activi-ties, these children sr.. '-1 be nudged into anawareness of their place in the world.

Yet as the following chapters will show,grassroots activity has generated a wide-spread middle grades movement.

The paucity of data makes gaugingchange difficult. Hence, the admittedly non-scientific, voluntary annual survey by the In-diana Secondary School Administrators, isused as a major data source. Although onlyhalf the possible respondents answer, and thedata includes only schools with grades 5-8or 6-8, the elements of effective middlegrades appear to be showing up in force:

0

More than one-half the principals wereexperimenting with block schedulingand 58% said their teachers used inter-disciplinary instruction.

Cooperative learning styles were beingused in 64% of these sc: )ols. Advisor-advisee programs were in 43% of theschools.

More than 80% of these schools re-warded students with special recognitionprograms for good attendance, academicachievement and general behavior.

CHAPTER II

Looking for LeadersIndiana educational administrators have variousreasons for adapting effective middle schooltechniques. How they approach change illustratesthe importance of good leadership.

or many of Indiana's middle gradeseducators, the new Shelbyville Middle Schoolweight room southeast of Indianapolis is be-yond their wildest dreams. Arnold Schwarz-enegger would be very comfortable here.Seven-time Olympic gold medal swimmerMark Spitz would love the school's Olympic -size pool.

Michael Osha and Margaret Lewis, prin-cipal and assistant principal respectively, areunapologetic about the embarrassment ofriches in this new middle school in centralIndiana.

The colorfully appointed new structureis carpeted everywhere, even on top of thelockers to reduce noise. Every room has atelevision, computers abound, and a soundsystem plays rock music during lunch hourFridays if the studcnts have been good. Thecafetonum, also carpeted, rivals some For-tune 500 lunchrooms.

Still, Lewis and Osha are quick to pointout that the building although lovely andconstructed with the complete support of thecommunity to replace an aging junior high

is just a building."We have a fabulous new building. We

spent tons of money on it. We have a sup-

1 4

portive community," says Lewis. "But. thepeople who make it. work are the teachers."

Indiana's rural and suburban schoolshave been making impressive forays into themiddle school improvement movement.Amc Tg examples of the range of reasons forundei.aking change:

"It was obvious schools weren't meetingthe needs of kids this age," says MaryGroves, a guidance counselor at York-town Middle School in Mt. PleasantTownship near Muncie, whose staff hasrelied on direction from the state's pro-fessional organizations to phase-in blockscheduling, advisory programs andteaming.

"We didn't have near the communicationwhen we were a junior high, eitheramong teachers or with parents," saysGlenn Gambel, who was principal whenBenjamin Franklin School in Valparaisoswitched from a junior high to a middleschool five years ago.

AMBITIONS

Scottsburg Junior High, insoutheastern Indiana, hadnot one component of an ef-fective middle school. And itspoor attendance rates, a-chievement test scores anddiscipline problems indi-cated trouble. Desperate forchange but lacking finances,the tiny school shopped thecountry for innovations at-tuned to school needs but in-novative and flashy enoughto impress state DOE grant-makers. The school is theonly middle grades programto win a highly competitivestate restructuring grant.

The Plainfield CommunitySchool Corporation nearIndianapolis was out-growing its K-6, 7-12 config-uration. Administratorssolved the space problem byconstructing a new middleschool. The communityhired renowned middleschool consultant HowardJohnston, who claims thatPlainfield instituted everysingle suggestion he made.

4/

Representatives from these schools andthe 16 urban school districts in MGIP havehad common experiences, despite their lackof familiarity with each other. Key amongthem is that it is important to have supportfrom the central office.

Support can take the form of individualgestures. Shelbyville's school board southeastof Indianapolis supported the new middleschool by approving extra related arts teach-ers to allow others common planning time.

At its best, however, support is all-en-

If I were going to

give advice, ; would

say they have to make

sure there is a commit-

ment by everyone

the central office, the

board to this

change and process.

Principal Glenn GombelBenjamin Franklin Middle School,Valparaiso

compassing. When F. Steven Stults, princi-pal of Belzer Middle School, an MGIP schoolin Lawrence Township, needs to hire a re-placement for one of his teaching teams, hecalls the central office. There, Bill Conner, di-rector of personnel. begins the hiring processby reviewing candidates whom he believeshave the "right stuff" for middle schools.

"He knows the student populations andexpectations for middle schools. He checksthe teachers who are interested in upper el-ementary to see if they are caring and nur-turing, interested in getting to know studentspersonally, in working with the families, Also,are they in tune with the multicultural set-ting," Stults explains.

15

FIAPII h II

At Belzer. Stults does not hire a teacheruntil the team with the vacancy finds an ap-plicant who will complement their talents.

"It really is a continuum here," Stults says."Respect, dignity, pride. The student-friendlyenvironment is really a theme from the topdown."

In the Valparaiso Schools in northwest-ern Indiana, Superintendent Michael Benwaydecided cooperative learning a teachingapproach considered especially well-suitedto the middle grades was an appropriateskill. Benway engaged a technical assistantfrom Johns Hopkins University in Baltimoreto train the staff over several years.

Benway told teachers that their partici-pation in the training and its actual use

were optional. But to create systemwidesupport for this change, he insisted that of-fice personnel, such as the business manager,attend training sessions along with teachers.Benway himself sat in the front row.

"If I were going to give advice, I wouldsay they have to make sure there is a com-mitment by everyone the central office,the board to this change and this process,says Ciambel, principal at Valparaisio's Ben-jamin Franklin Middle School, who wentthrough the training process with Benway.

Gambel, who likes to quip that --supportis only forever from your mother," periodi-cally approaches the school board to empha-size the success of the middle schoolprogram. That way, in the face of bud-get problems, the hoard understandshow cuts in the middle school will affect theoverall concept .

It's Not So Simple

\Vhile having a unified vision from the schoolboard down to a school's support staff helpsnurture middle grades restructuring, it is notalways easy to forge.

"The toughest nut to crack is at the hoard

and administrative level," says Peter Butten-weiser, coordinator of the MGIP technical ad-visors. "Policies passed grading systems,the budget, who gets appointed principal.constraints of the teacher union are notsupportive. That has become the great bar-rier the program has not been able to over-come," he explains.

Kerewsky, a consultant to middleschools who has traveled Indiana, adds, "Thepower of the informal organization is very,very strong. The power of the relationshipsbetween the unions and the school hoard, thesuperintendent and principals, doesn't getspoken of but determines how people relateto each other."

Because MGIP schools have had so much

support from sources outside the central ad-ministration, they have experienced im-proN smient regardless of the level of centraloffice cooperation. But lack of interest amongchief administrators and school hoard mem-bers can he deadly, as Mary Groves saw withearly restructuring efforts in Yorktown in Mt.Pleasant Township near Muncie.

-It didn't catch on," she says: ''A lot of thiswas lack ofunderstanding. It did- 'lave theadministrative push behind it. Th. . . Pleas-

ant Township school board didn't understandwhat was being said."

Besides the lack of support, Groves foundno readily available source of information onmiddle grades change for teachers, no out-sider they could turn to as MGIP schools canturn to Lilly Endowment-assigned consult-ants.

That is why, Groves says, she re-sponded enthusiastically in the mid-1980s when friends on the Ball StateUniversity faculty tried to regenerate theIndiana Middle Level Education Associationas a resource for middle school personnel.

IMLEA since has become a major re-source for would-he middle school reform-ers around the state.

16

CHAPTER III

Baby Giant StepsDeciding what change should look like is a big decision,

maybe even bigger than change itself.

In East Chicago, Ind., an eco-nomically depressed, ethnically diverse com-munity among the steel mills on LakeMichigan, change wa . . . well, not some-thing that came up very often. SleepingBeauty conies to mind a system thatneeded to be awakened.

"I think when we started, the statewideachievement scores were the lowest in thestate. Corporal punishment was very com-mon," recalls Norman Newberg, Universityof Pennsylvania education professor and con-sultant to East Chicago middle grades forMGIP "Oddly enough, except for the super-intendent, there was a fair amount of con-tentment with that. I think the rank and file,with the exception of a small group, were notterribly discontented."

The East Chicago Schools have notadopted sweeping change, yet Newberg saysthe distance the district has traveled is "lightyears." It may be moving slowly, but it is

changing fundamentally.Middle grades restructuring can be

seen as the adaptation of a lot of differ-ent strategies: team teaching, advisor/advisee programs, interdisciplinary in-struction, community involvement proj-ects. But understanding these strategiesand how they fit a given corporation isan important first step.

MGIP, for example, has not necessarilybroken new ground in defining an effectivemiddle school. It has helped to translate that

vision into reality fora diverse pool of schoolpersonnel who did not really even have a han-dle on the meaning of the word "vision."

It also has been about helping educatorsdifferentiate between the flash and glamor ofnew ideas and the changes that would begood for them and why. It has been aboutgetting everyone singing the same song, es-pecially when some of the players think theyare tone-deaf. It is the process that has madethe staffs of the schools with the most ad-vanced change realize that they have muchfurther to go.

This approach of focusing on under-standing also has been key to restructuringin schools not affiliated with MGIP

Staff at Shelbyville Middle School south-east of Indianapolis, for example, decided torestructure its program and blocked out afour-year phase in plan. "Year one was de-veloping an awareness of what a middleschool was," says Margaret Lewis, assistantprincipal.

At Plainfield Community Middle Schoolnear Indianapolis, under the direction of con-sub .1 Howard Johnston, the faculty, staffand parents developed a mission statementand philosophy, "a set of key documents toguide decision-making," says principal JerryGoldsberry.

Eight committees explored the practicalimplications of transition: advisor/adviseeprograms, parent participation, extracurricu-lar activities, student leadership and a revised

7

k. If 0\ l I R !!!

approach for gifted and talented programscalled "academic challenge." A final commit-tee studied teaming and scheduling. Theentire staff reviewed all recommendations toensure they met overall improvement goals.

While such an approach may seem un-duly intense, I.he mistakes of others haveshown the need to build everyone's interestand understanding of the middle gradesmovement before instituting change.

The alternative to this understanding iswhat William Bickel has seen. A Universityof Pittsburgh educator who has evaluatedmiddle grades progress in the state for Lilly,Bickel says many school districts jump intoinnovations, only to stop dead in their tracks,not understanding what these approaches ac-tually meant.

Particularly in the Middle Grades Im-provement Program, many schools opted touse the Middle Grades Assessment Pro-cess NIGAN. The MGAP user handbook isitself a guide to the elements of a child-cen-tered middle grades program. Besides fa-miliarizing users with the territory, MGAPprovides step-by-step directions on identify-ing strengths and weaknesses. Plans forchange grow from interviews with parents,teachers and students, but not in a way thatlays blame.

"It broadened what I would say was thetypical narrow vision. Schools too often fo-cus on one dimension, achievement test per-formance. This encouragement to start withdata collection means its no longer oneperson's pet peeve, its the data out there," saysBickel.

Now five years since MGAP was clone inmany urban settings, teachers and adminis-trators at individual schools still talk aboutMGAP as powerful, particularly for the waythat it gave voice to many with good opin-ions that had previously been ignored. At De-catur Middle School in Indianapolis, schoolrepresentatives have clone MGAP a secondtime to gauge how far they have come andhow tar they need to go.

See Your Agent

Middle grades educators mayapproach restructuring fromvastly differing directions. Butthey are unanimous about one ap-

proach: get out of town.

Even those who had virtually no

resources with which to plan change

believe that site visitation or attending

conferences was a key investment.

"It's sort of hard to imagine steak

when all you've seen is hamburger,"

says Roberta Bowers, MGIP liaison for

the Indianapolis Public Schools. Travel

was essential as she and IPS teachers

tried to draft their plans for change.

As an indication of how important

visitations are, the technical advisors

who have watched over change

in MGIP schools list travel as one

of the keys to change. This from

out-of -towners who themselves

bring in fresh ideas.

"In almost any Indiana community,

there is within an hour's ride another

school that's doing things differently,"

says Norman Newberg, consultant to

the East Chicago schools. "It's very

healthy to get out of your context and

see what they're doing, if only to learn

you're doing all right."

11111111111111111111111111111111111111111

18

11:1111

Executing Plans

Ne \\berg and Diane Zych. the middle gradesliaison for East Chicago Schools, recall thesteps that constituted the corporation's firstmoves. Stirring up discontent an aware-ness that things were not right came first.New he", says.

Ha, dig identified teacher-student rela-tionships as a key concern, teachers decidedto explore Teacher Expectations and StudentAchievement t TESA). They did so cautiously.taking a year to decide it this approach wouldbenefit East Chicago. After year, all teach-ers began TESA training. F3olstcred hvTESA,the teachers then decided to work further ontheir relationships with students with tram-mg in the -Discipline with Dignity approach.The same cautious and thorough approachwas taken in phasing this in. Zych says.

This work on teacher- student relation-ships led to questions about equal access.East Chicago has since phased out much ofits tracked curriculum in response to evi-dence that t racking sets up minority studentsfor failure.

As lor an idea as radical as teaming, ahandful of East Chicago teachers won addi-tional Endowment money to pilot teams andinterdisciplinary units in each of the two mid-dle schools. Participating teachers are pleasedwith the results of their experiment. But Zychsays other teachers will he assigned to teamsonly when they are ready.

"You might characterize it as a baby step.but lor us it was a giant step,- Zych says.

To !Lich. Johnston, who has been techni-cal advisor in Terre Haute and Fort Wayne,-None of these school corporations can movewithout an overarching vision of what middleschools look like, what they should he andwhat they should do for children. It requiresa skillful leader to explain it. It has to besomething people can buy into and bring toreality in a variety of different ways,- John-ston says. Creating such a vision is a funda-mental step, she notes

Carole Storch is living proofthat you do not need a lotof money to create a child-focused middle school.

Five years ago, the then-assistant

principal of the Rush County High

School in central Indiana was told

she would be running Benjamin Rush

Junior High School the following

year.

Two of the county's rural elemen-

tary buildings were being closed for

lack of enrollment. Upper grades

children were to be transferred to

Benjamin Rush. Emotional turmoil

ensued in this tiny rural locale.

"There was the problem of mov-

ing these children to the big city,"

says Storch, who compares this cen-

tral Indiana town to the fictional

Mayberry.

While the school board and

administration gave Storch uncondi-

tional support to update the junior

high, they did not tell her how to do

it, and they did not give her any

money. What she ac:omplished is

proof that force of will, as much as

any factor, can lead to change.

With a background in secon-

dary education, Storch was so

unschooled about middle schools,

she claims that even architects knew

more than she did. "The word 'team-

ing' was told to me by an architect

friend who was putting a new wing

IMINE131111111111111611611MBEGIIIIIIII

Id

i I ." 1 1 1 1, 1

Starting from Scratch: A Case Study

on a middle school building," Storch

recalls. "Kathy showed me blue-

prints to the building and said 'this

would be perfect for teaming.' I

didn't want to look stupid and say

didn't know what that was. But I

didn't know," she says.

Storch's self-education came from

reading everything she could get her

hands on. There was no money to

hire technical assistance. But the

money from the soda pop machine

in the faculty lounge financed some

travel, as did donations from the

proceeds of an all-school chili din-

ner.

While still assigned to the high

school, she and teachers from the

middle grades began visiting other

schools and attending middle

grades conferences.

Teaming seemed a good idea,

once Storch understood it. The final

explanation came from a colleague

at a progressive middle school, who

drew the team scheduling concept

out on a paper table cloth during a

conference they both were attend-

ing. "I still have, in my drawer, that

piece of table cloth," she says.

She made several decisions

about Benjamin Rush during the in-

terim year before taking over. She

decreed that teachers would work

together in teams beginning the fol.

lowing school year. The school

board granted Storch's request for

an additional teacher whose pres-

ence would allow a team planning

period in addition to a personal

planning period.

The school had been extremely

tracked. "We had low basic, regular

basic and high basic. All these kids

were together all day, even in RE.,"

she says.

In drawing up a master schedule

for her first year, Storch started phas-

ing out ability groups. Today, only

Chapter I tutoring and algebra re-

main.

Another change followed when

Starch finally arrived and found a

secretary whose job description

charged her with making out fre-

quent corporal punishment reports.

Children were sent to Starch's office

continuously "for breaking a pencil

or forgetting a book." Storch encour-

aged the teams to handle discipline

issues.

Despite the top-down nature of

this change, teachers thrived. Many

were aware that children were not

being reached.

"The teachers have been like

sponges. There's a whole different

focus on the value of the school,"

she says.

The school atmosphere changed

remarkably.

"It was like night and day. We

went from over 500 discipline refer-

29

rals to 200 that first year. We

went from 95% attendance to 98%

attendance," she says.

Explaining their team-teaching

system during the spring Indiana

Middle Level Education Associa-

tion convention, Benjamin Rush

teachers appeared a rejuvenated

lot. One confessed he had been

headed into a rut, but teaming

had pulled him back. Another

lamented that the advisor/advisee

program is scheduled only bi-

monthly because of scheduling

conflicts.

This year, Rush received its first

performance award, a state-spon-

sored cash award program for

schools whose student achieve-

ment profile has made measurable

gains.

"We're still walking. We need

to get stronger," says Storch, who

has further changes planned. "I

see more interdisciplinary teach-

ing, more communication between

the teachers, more incentives for

the kids, and more attempts at

helping children's self-esteem."

All-inclusive teams at PlainfieldCommunity Middle School

Courtesy

Plainfield

Community

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CHAPTER IV

Setting Climate ControlBuilding a supportive school atmosphere is asimportant as any change in classroom teaching.

t Plainfield Community Mid-dle School outside of Indianapolis, if youwant to be a cheerleader, you can be a cheer-leader. One of 115 cheerleaders, mind you.But with the help of a voluntary squad of par-ents who sew, you will be in uniform, liningthe end zones and sidelines at football games.

in this school of 400 students, 100 cameout for swimming one year, 73 for crosscountry.

Except for volleyball and basketball,which field such small teams that playingtime for a large number would be insignifi-cant, Plainfield coaches do not turn anybodyaway. Neither do the fine arts teachers.

"We're not trying to eliminate competi-tion," says principal Jerry Goldsberry (theschool wins state academic and athletic con-tests despite the no-cut rule). "We're just try-ing to deemphasize competition."

When it comes to choosing a startingpoint for change, think about atmosphere:is it a friendly, comfortable place where chil-dren have a sense of belonging? A place thatnurtures their sense of success and shunspractices that make anyone feel on the outs?

Schools across Indiana have adopted amyriad of approaches to creating acceptingenvironments. Plainfield's no-cut policy is adramatic example of giving students a senseof self worth and personal skill.

In a healthy environment, everyone istreated with the respect due to all poten-tially good and contributing citizens. Thestaff understands how puberty creates new

?2

emotional challenges students must learn tonegotiate.

Simply by asking middle level studentswhat makes them uncomfortable, school per-sonnel have uncovered easily-solved prob-lems. In schools where the doors have beenremoved from bathroom stalls for secu-rity, girls are embarrassed by the publicnessof using the toilet.

Asked what they most feared about theirnew middle school cxpehence, sixth grad-ers in two of the state's schools unanimouslyselected a jammed locker. But negotiating abuilding physically larger than their gradeschool and having to change classes from oneend to another also were big fears.

Comfort in the Big City

At H.L. Harshman School 101, an MCAT'school in Indianapolis, Principal Marcia Ca-puano believes the first step to comfort forher inner-city students is just. feeling well. Alack of medical attention left Harshman stu-dents suffering from frequent infectiousproblems such as pink eye, influenza andskin rashes. Capuano raised funds to openthe first middle-school health clinic in thestate.

In schools where controlling students isa difficult issue, many faculties reportsuccess from programs that highlightnon-authoritarian discipline approaches.East Chicago teachers are happy with the way

,111111 f.f.,11'111c,11,,

Discipline with Dignity training taught themto shift discipline "away from the notion ofpunishment to a relationship between behav-ior and consequences," says Diane Zych,NIGH' liaison for the two East Chicago middleschools.

At John Young Middle School in Mish-awaka near South Bend, encouraging studentdignity and a sense of belonging are inter-woven with the school's discipline approach."The Three Rs: Respect, Responsibility, Re-wards." involves students, parents and staffin maintaining these principles: respectingschool participants and property; exhibitingresponsibilities such as class participation,homework and conduct; and reaping re-wards for these behaviors. Incentive pro-grams from Student of the Week to HappyGrams reward students for their efforts.

The Transitional Years

Mishawaka's Young Middle School is one ofseveral schools exploring the importance ofa good transition from elementary to middleand high school.

School personnel have established anumber of events for the entrance and exityears. Those scheduled for sixth graders helpacclimate children to the vastly larger build-ing. Special assemblies give students an op-portunity to ask questions about the newemotional landscape. Activities for eighthgraders prepare them to consider career op-tions and acclimate them to the differencesin the high school the size, the greaterchoice of classes, the larger, more mature stu-dents.

A transitional program at Plainfield Mid-dle School outside Indianapolis is built intothe curriculum instead of the guidance pro-gram. Sixth grade parallels filth in that stu-dents are taught more than one class by thesame teacher, "a homeroom type of teacher,someone who could keep an eye on you,"Goldsherry says.

Core classes in the seventh grade are or-

ganized into a five-hour block, which theiive-member teacher team uses to its discre-tion. By eighth grade, students arc phasedinto more of a subject-specific schedule.Teachers still work in teams to share infor-mation about students, and the schedule isflexible enough for the occasional interdis-ciplinary unit.

At Shelbyville Middle School southeastof Indianapolis, Principal Mike Osha says asixth grade program was designed to he simi-lar to elementary school. But in their case,the isolation was created for the comfort ofparents, who were concerned their childrenwere too young to mingle with the more ad-vanced seventh and eighth graders.

Advisor/Advisee Programs

Many Indiana schools have established ad-visor/advisee programs to help children graspthe nature of the emotional changes they face.These regularly scheduled periods pair teach-ers with students to examine real-life issues,he they careers, study skills or the trials andtribulations of adolescent friendship.

Because students are assigned to oneteacher for the advisory period, they estab-lish a supportive relationship with that adultthat gives them a grounding.

At Guion Creek Middle School, an MGIPschool near lndi mapolis and one of the firstschools to adopt advisor-advisee programs,Principal Beth Copenhaver found teachersbenefiting as much as students.

"It gives the teachers a better understand-ing of what kids go through at this age," Co-penhaver says.

When it comes to inspiring a sense ofsecurity for the students, many teachers findthat improving atmosphere is most success-ful when coupled with deeper structuralchanges: assigning children to teams of teach-ers in a block of classrooms which creates asense of security.

As the coming chapter will show, team-ing has benefits for students and teachers.

23

Breaking Up the Highs.

The phone rings. Asecretary answers.

"Turkey RunHigh," she says.

When junior highstudents were askedhow they felt aboutattending this grades7-12 school 45 minutesnorth of Terre Haute,

they had more to saythan school administra-tors expected.

Mostly, they felt likestepchildren. And whowouldn't in a schoolwhose name is consid-ered too long to sayover the phone: TurkeyRun Junior/Senior HighSchool. Even the signout front acknowledgesonly the high school.

Since taking a lookat its middle level pro-gram a few years ago,the staff at Turkey Run

has gotten the "juniorhigh" on the letter-head. Moreimportantly, its focultyhas been trained tounderstand the specialneeds of middle level-aged students. Andseveral changes havebeen made to empha-size the junior high asan entity separate fromthe high school, eventhough they remainjoined physically.

Indiana has 112schools where middle

grades students attendclasses with highschool students. Effortsby the staff at TurkeyRun and those bythe larger LaVille Jun-ior/Senior High nearSouth Bend showthat the middle schoolmovement is notoccuring exclusively inmiddle or junior highbuildings.

Working with Indi-ono State Universityeducation professorl'.obert Williams, undera grant from Lilly En.dowment Inc., TurkeyRun used the MiddleGrades AssessmentProgram to pinpointareas for change.

"We found out ourjunior high kids didn'tnecessarily feel thiswas a safe environ-ment," Earl says. "Theywere intimidated aboutgoing to the restroomat the same time highschool kids were there.They were intimidatedin the hallway. Theysaid they had heardstories that the highschool kids would stuffthem in lockers."

Turkey Run Junior/Senior High has onlyabout 300 students.With 1,500 students,LaVille might seem to

1111111111111111111111111111111ill

hove a substantialenough student popula-tion to support aseparate middleschool. But economicsmade a separateschool impossible.

The administrationdecided two years agoto enhance the middlegrades program asmuch as possiblewithin the 7-12 struc-ture, says John

Broome, assistant

principal who overseesthe younger students.Appointing an adminis-trator for junior high isa popular technique tofocus attention on thesestudents' special needs.

At Turkey Run and

LaVille, teachers workin content-specific ar-eas with both juniorhigh and high schoolstudents. Junior highstudents dash alongwith high school stu-dents to get to variousclasses.

Neither school hasbeen able to physicallysegregate its student

body. But each hasprovided inservicetraining for faculty tosensitize them to the

unique nature ofmiddle level students.

At LaVille, teachersinterested in teachingthe younger studentswere trained in coop-

erative learning tech-niques. They also areworking to organize anadvisor/advisee pro-gram, Broome says.

LaVille also is phas-ing in a masterschedule so junior highacademic teachers canhave a common prepa-ration time, eventhough some still willbe teaching highschool courses.

Turkey Run hasmade its greatestprogress in giving stu-dents an identity; Earlsays. There is a juniorhigh student counciland junior high na-tional honor society.Athletes attend specialjunior high sports ban-quets, and juniorhigh-only dances havebeen organized. Everyday, a junior high stu-dent is selected tobroadcast onnounce-ments for seventh andeighth graders.

Both Broome andEarl say they alwayswill be limited by physi-cal structures, andbudget limitations atLaVille slow down whatprogress can be made.But each hos a sense ofhaving made the situa-tion better.

"Our kids now feellike they're their ownlittle group of people,not just part of the highschool," Earl says."They've asserted them-

selves."

Helfrich ParkMiddle Schoolseventh-gradeteachers duringcommonplanningtime.

Photo

by

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Swank

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11.1tif AtIIKII ,IJ",

CHAPTER V

Becoming Team PlayersTeam teaching is proving to be a fundamentalbuilding block to improving middle gradesinstruction. But that does not meaneverybody likes it.

Although the focus of themiddle school movement is on the student,educators are finding that change improvestheir lives as well.

Max Blank, a teacher from Fort Wayne'sGeyer Middle School, had felt "the school wasdragging. We needed something. No inno-vative things were going on." The schoollaunched a full - fledged investigation of po-tential changes.

One innovation it adopted was teaming,or the continuous pairing of students withthe same set of core teachers. Blank is enthu-siastic about the change and claims the in-novations turned Geyer into "a stimulatingplace.-

At Helfrich Park Middle School in Evans-ville, teacher Rayna Brown calls teaming "asupport net. a morale-booster."

Helfrich Principal Mida Creekmur ex-plains how her staff adopted learning to helpthemselves. "Teachers had a need to not beisolated, the need to talk to adults instead ofkids all day," says Creekmur.

And as many schools are finding, team-ing has opened the Helfrich faculty to otherbeneficial changes, like interdisciplinaryteaching units.

"Because we had the organizational pat-

tern in place, we started seeing what we coulddo to help children see the connections be-tween English, math, social studies and thearts," she says.

The issue of who benefits in a middleschool overhaul is an important one becauseit is teachers who have to change the most.

"It's a massive, very large, professionaldevelopment effort," says Judy Johnston, aprofessional development specialist andMGIP consultant to both Terre Haute andFort Wayne schools. "Teachers grow up inisolation. Teaming breaks that down. It's al-most like asking them to teach naked."

Resistance to these ideas particularlyto teaming remains strong, unbeatable insome cases. Although all in MGIP together,Evansville's other middle schools have notembraced teaming to anvwhere near the ex-tent of the Helfrich Park staff. Similarly, inEast Chicago, teaming will he introducedonly when all teachers feel comfortable. Thisdespite the positive experience that onegroup of East Chicago teachers are havingwith a pilot team.

"Discipline in the halls is much more con-trolled, there is much less conflict because

2s

ArvBIII(DCAS

of the proximity of classes," saysDelores Porter, who is on a team zarat West Side Middle School withEstelle Peterson. "All the kidsknow who I am. I know who's outof place. They know we worktogether. Kids are noticing thecontinuity," comments Peterson,who has overheard students ex-pressing concern that the teach-ers are comparing notes aboutthem.

The Slow Approach

Sheri Goldsberry, assistant prin-cipal of Franklin TownshipMiddle School, an MGIP schoolin the Indianapolis area, says therequest fora volunteer pilot teamwent out as: "We're looking forsome people who want to take arisk."

Response was not over-whelming, but the school scraped togetherenough to start a sixth grade team, whosemembers had spring and summer trainingsessions. "We learned from the first group be-fore starting the second group." Goldsberrysays.

The following year's experiment with aseventh grade team, comprised of secondary-trained teachers showed that those who havebeen content-trained, as opposed to the childorientation of elementary school, need guid-ance on how to team. "After the second pilotteam, others saw it was not a sixth gradetouchy-feely experience. Other people got.itchy to do this," Goldsberry says.

When finally ready to introduce teamingschoolwidc, the Franklin staff adapted a for-mal team identification approach. Teacherstook a confidential survey in which theywere allowed to state their preferred partners.The administration reviewed the preferences

"Teachers grow

up in isolation.

Teaming breaks

that down. It's

almost like asking

them to teach

naked.

JudyJohnston, professionaldevelopment specialist

t.

along with ideas of how to mix diverseteaching styles and personality types for teambalance.

It has taken almost two full years of team-ing to get every Franklin Township teacherto participate actively on teams, Goldsberryadds. For a lot of that time, some teachersappeared prepared to ignore teaming forever.

When Some Won't Play

If there is a profile of the so-called grayingteaching force, Barbara Wagner fits it. Despiteher middle years, Wagner, a Benjamin DavisJunior High School teacher in Wayne Town-ship near Indianapolis, has found teaming amarvelous new direction for her career.

Yet she shows obvious anxiety when shedescribes the division between Davis teach-ers who have embraced teaming and thosewho "just can't live without that podium."

27

Her very demeanor suggests sadnessover an issue that has pitted teacher againstteacher. "You can't believe the range of emo-tions you go through" trying to live throughthis division, she says.

Teachers resisting teaming have beentold, at one corporation, that they have threeYears to adopt it before they are involuntarilytransferred out of the school. Some unioncontracts do not allow such moves, and manyschools must leave their unwilling teachersassigned to teams. That may not be so bad.according to Mike Dsha of Shelbyville MiddleSchool southeast of Indianapolis. At hisschool, some teachers closed their classroomdoors and waited for teaming to go :may.-Pretty soon they'd show up to faculty meet-ings. Pretty soon they'd have something tosay. I think the need to belong is still prettystrong.- he says.

And after teaming ...Kercwsky, formerly a consultant to

the South Bend Community Schools, foundNavarre School (an NIGI. ,choon PrincipalBob Orlowski pouring over the coming year'sschedule. Orlowski was trying to figure outhow, within the school corporation's continu-ing budget problems, he could work out aschedule that would allow students andteachers to stay together for several periods.

1- laying worked in teams lor several yearsand haying written a number of interdisci-plinary units, the Navarre staff is hungry forHock scheduling.

"Even though we have teams, the teach-ers teach six classes. Their biggest instruc-tional concern is how to get kids to have ablock of time, to let them work together,- Or-lowski says.

Those who have adapted to teaming havebecome comfortable with changes in teach-ing styles. Thematic units rich with co-operative learning and active learningare becoming increasingly popular.

The concepts of teaming, team teachingand interdisciplinary instruction all addressa problem researchers have identified withthe subject-specific classes of the traditionaljunior high.

"Tho often, instruction is fragmented. It'sthe 45-minute condensation within that pe-riod of time. Kids are not making sense ofwhat they're learning,- says Judy Zorfass ofthe Education Development Center in New-ton, Mass. She worked with Indiana urbanmiddle school teachers to create interdisci-plinary learning experiences.

Zorfass is finding that this step beyondteaming is beneficial to teachers. "They areconcerned that the current approaches andmethods and materials aren't working.They're worried that kids will get turned offand never get hooked back into education.The underlying philosophy of interdiscipli-nary instruction is that it sparks an interestThat gets teachers excited,- Zorfass says.

Teaming and these sundry spinoffsalso arc emerging as the foundation onwhich school administrators can buildheterogeneous groups, thereby eliminat-ing the ability tracks shown by researchto understi mulal(2 and underserve poorand minority children.

New teaching skills, such as cooperativelearning and active learning, help teachersreach out to this broadened group of learn-ers. Like the early pilots of teaming days, het-erogeneous grouping in many places is beingconducted as a pilot project. Staffs frequentlyreport difficulty overcoming the concerns ofthe parents of gifted children who fear theirchildren's progress will be slowed by expo-sure to underachievers.

And like teaming, adapting this new ap-proach most burdens the teacher, who mustplan various lesson strategies to meet vary-ing needs, usually Nvithout additional plan-ning time to do so.

98

GLIATIF AMBITIONS

Claudia Evans'language arts classat H.L. HarshmanSchool inIndianapolis

Photo

by

D

Todd

Moore

4

2 9AO.; 14r11 c

CHAPTER VI

Getting Off TrackBeyond teaming and interdisciplinary instruction,schools are finding other ways to help childrenparticularly underserved students understandtheir potential and plan their futures.

Sharon Walker, a math teacherat Dickinson Middle School, an MGIP schoolin South Bend, grew weary of seeing onlywhite faces in her advanced-placement mathclasses.

So Walker volunteered to tackle the is-sue of equal access to education by teachinga program to improve students' future op-tions college being the chief goal.

Research has long confirmed that accel-erated programs are comprised of majoritystudents; that poor minority students arc un-derchallenged. The practice is called track-ing. Ken Jasinski, former Dickinson assistantprincipal, and now a South Bend elementaryschool principal, sees it as ''the most blatantexample of instructional apartheid eve r.-

What the staff and faculty of Dickinsonrealized is that families who have not had ac-cess to higher education want their childrento have a better life, but they may not knowhow to help that dream come true. And theirchildren, already designated as low-achiev-ers, may have to he re-taught to dream.

Walker teaches "Alpha math, an algebracourse for students who do not meet theschool corporation's stringent requirementsfor honors math. The only entrance require-

ment of this program is that parents and stu-dents commit to succeeding. The first classof 25 included 21 minority students.

Walker fashioned the content of her classto varied learning styles. As a result, Alphamath students' grades have risen higher thanthe grades of students in honors math. Whenthe Dickinson staff introduced the literature-based Alpha English, the trend toward highergrades continued.

The Alpha Math and Alpha English pro-grams were devised through Dickinson par-ticipation as one of nine national sites in aproject of the College Entrance ExaminationBoard ,the College Board). After publishing"Keeping the Options Open;' which ad-dresses inequity and unequal access to highereducation, College Board researchers beganpiloting school-based solutions. The Lilly En-dowment is a co-sponsor of this project.

The College Board emphasizes the teach-er's role in inspiring far-reaching student as-pirations, says Patricia Hendel, director ofspecial services. The emphasis makes sensebecause teachers are with students for longerperiods than any other school personnel.

30

Moreover, personnel data show teachers re-main in one building for many years. Princi-pals and counselors tend to come and go,Hendel says.

The philosophy, as well as guidanceexperiments sponsored by the Endowment,emphasize teamwork among teachers, ad-ministrators and traditional guidance coun-selors. Toward that end, Dickinson counselorFrank Grubb and Jasinski keep close tabs onthe students and make frequent contacts withAlpha parents.

"We're trying to make parents more ac-tive participants as we convince the childrenthat they're capable of going to college,"Jasinski says. "They have to establish an at-mosphere at home: But, he adds "a lot ofthese parents have never been in college.They perceive it as something for rich people,people with financial resources and an ex-tremely high grade point average.-

NAM its combined NIGIP and CollegeBoard support, Dickinson is something of aforerunner in focusing the entire school's staffon the future of its students.

But Indiana educators are recognizingmany smaller approaches that can serve asdoorways to the middle grade student's worldand future. A small-scale example is commu-nity service that fosters a sense of citizenshipand self-esteem through forays into the adultworld.

At Craig Middle School in LawrenceTownship of Indianapolis, teacher CharlotteKingen deliberately includes underachieversin the Project Leadership Service Club (PLS),funded by the Lilly Endowment, which regu-larly branches into its neighborhood cast ofIndianapolis for service projects. At Christ-mas, for example, the students escorted resi-dents of a local nursing home as they didsome holiday shopping.

"Basically, they're at-risk kids," saysKingen. "It helps them see that just because

you may have academic deficiencies, youhave something to give. You have time. Youcan push a wheelchair. You're not as had offas you perceive yourself to be.-

This longtime community service pro-gram operated for Indianapolis elemen-tary and high school students no longeris an example of how service gives youngpeople a combined sense of self- accomplish-ment. civic duty and more mature approachto their own responsibilities.

"PLS helped me with my school work,"explains Khristy Raymcr of the Craig MiddleSchool club. "I learned how to follow direc-tions better. I became more involved inthings."

"I feel like we're making t he world a bet-ter place," says Ronnie Mullis, Khristv's class-mate. "It gives me something to shoot for. Mygrades are getting better."

Unique among middle school commu-nity service programs, the service club pairsupper elementary' students, including middleschoolers, with high school mentors whosefriendships give the younger children a senseof stability. In the process, the older studentsgain a new perspective on leadership, saysCarol Meyers, program director. Meyers isworking to expand the program in other In-diana communities.

While the service club awakens a senseof community and citizenship, Partners inEducation in Terre Haute's Sarah Scott Jun-ior High School combines self-esteem-build-ing activities with an emphasis on careers inthis MGIP school. The Vigo County-PurdueCooperative Extension Services co-sponsorsthe program with the Terre Haute-based VigoCounty School Corporation, an example ofa community agency expanding school re-sources. Teachers suggest how to integratecareer activities into their curriculum, andextension offic e staff plan the activities.

Partners in Education provides a seriesof field trips that begin as self-exploration butgradually turn to career options. Visits to

31

ti AI'll I. I

some of Terre Haute's major busi-nesses help formulate students'career interests.

Partners in Education alsohas been actively engaged inscheduling outside speakers inSarah Scott classrooms tosupplement instruction, em-phasize careers and serve asrole models. Ninth-graderJerome Owens says when heheard banker Ron \Vey speakabout personal finance, hisgoals fell more firmly intoplace.

"l got a better perspective onreal life,- he said. -I had to worklast year at a day-care center anda grocery store. This programshows me how to he more real-istic.-

Developing Priorities

II

Igot a better perspective on

real life. 1 had to work last year

at a day-care center and a grocery

store. This program shows me

how to be more realistic."

Ninth-grader...Jerome Owens, Sarah ScottJunior High School, Terre Haute

In the original structure of MOP, schoolswere to attempt to reach into the communityThe complexity of deepening academic in-struction proved so consuming, the Lilly En-dowment encouraged schools to do one orthe other.

It is in this area of equal access and broad-cned aspirations that participation from par-ents and community can add so much.

A university-based Saturday enrichmentprogram for Fort Wayne's talented minoritystudents acknowledges the pressures peerscan have on turning a student from academicachievement. The FAST (Future AcademicScholars Track) program creates a support-ive network for sixth graders through highschool seniors who want to improve theirchances for college.

A parent component, wit h workshops ontangible skills for supporting high academicachievement, is a strong component of FAST.

Understanding that parents need guid-ance to help their children succeed also is keyin a new Lilly Endowment program for thefamilies of Indiana's 21st Century Scholars.The program promises scholarships to mi-nority eighth graders who continue high aca-demic achievement through high school. Thenew Endowment support program will helpparents understand the emotional and aca-demic assistance their children will needthroughout high school.

Both FAST and 21st Century Scholars areheadquartered away from school. As such,they represent examples of the role commu-nity organizations can play in advancingstu-dent achievement.

32

CHAPTER VII

There's No Silver Bullet . . .

Effective middle grades strategies have made aworld of difference in some of Indiana's toughestinner -city schools. But as-yet defined strategies are

needed to help the most troubled.

e halls of H.L. Harshman School 101Thin Indianapolis are quiet so quiet the ghostof days past could whisper memories: likethe time Nancy Reagan came to this toughinner-city school to tell the kids "Just Say No."

Back then, students might at least haveappreciated her soft-spoken delivery. Many\vere the clays the administration harked atthem with a bullhorn or called spot lockersearches for illegal stash.

"We used to have a lot of weapons here,"says Tanya Douglas, who lives in the Harsh-man area and has served as security officerfor 10 years. Douglas can remember a timewhen everyonesometimes even she ex-pected the worst from Harshman students.And they got it.

Today, school colors of green andwhite set a restful but businesslike tone.The school's athletic trophies are promi-nently displayed in the front hall."READ" is spelled in grant letters over thedrinking fountain. A bulletin board displaysthe motto "Harshman and the CommunityWorking Hand in Hand."

Douglas says weapons are not seen a-round Harshman anymore, despite the factthat more than 100 of the school's 780 sev-

enth and eighth graders are in the juvenilejustice system.

Assistant Principal Michael Cleary esti-mates that it has been almost three yearssince a Harshman student was arrested forhaving drugs in the building. Instead ofpolice, Harshman students today see repre-sentatives of the business communitydash in for an hour to read with stu-dents, serving both as tutors and rolemodels. Representatives of various com-munity development agencies have createda strong community support group. To-gether with student leaders, these adultboosters found gram money to landscapethe front of the school last year.

In addition, Principal Marcia Capuanoidentified the school's need for an in-househealth clinic and garnered community re-sources to start the only middle schoolhealth clinic in the state.

Money from Johnson & Johnson andstaff support from the Indiana Departmentof Health, a local hospital and a neighbor-hood clinic have put a nurse practitioner andnursing assistant in the building. They treata constant stream of intestinal and skin prob-lems, pink eye, burns, and general malnu-trition.

Harshman started improving when its

3 3

CHAPIE P

faculty started coping with social change,when they acknowledged that good behav-ior is no longer a given. Faculty and staff haveworked to understand the burden urban lifeplaces on these students. They have pin-pointed the ways they can help and learnedto accept what is beyond their control.

ings also started changing when the staffTh

set clear rules, limits and expectations.' Forexample, if you bring, in drugs or weapons,if you fight and cause injury, you are arrested.Tough rules are tempered by the welcomingdecor, incentive programs and extracurricu-lar activities that give students a sense of be-longing.

"We all need to he counselors," saysteacher Steve Papesh, a self-described en-thusiast of Harshman's new atmosphere."If we tackle the social and psychologi-cal problems, the learning will fall in place."Papesh measures the change these studentshave experienced by their improved atti-tudes, attendance and work habits.

Seventh graders Mandy Renfro and Se-morris Moore, colleagues, are examples ofhow students are thriving at Harshman. Bothare honor roll students and hold the school'sesteemed "Supercitizen" designation.

In this first year of her middle school ex-perience, Mandy has learned that "you've gotto work harder than you ever did. I feel likeif I get good grades, I could get a scholarship."

Yet both are disappointed by many class-mates who come to school as required. butnot to learn. -They never want to learn. Somejust don't do their work," Mandy says.

"Kids around here think they're grown.They can do what they want ," Semorris adds.

For all the special guidance and counsel-ing programs Harshman has instituted, forall the contacts the school has made to workwith other agencies, Capuano has not quitefigured out how to deal with hard core de-linquents and students with profound emo-tional problems.

Besides students on probation, Harsh-man is a holding tank for youth sentencedto Indiana Boys School who cannot be ad-mitted for lack of space. There also are stu-dents waiting for beds in psychiatric facilities.

"There's no easy answer to those kids'problems. And their needs are so different,"says Capuano. Yet their presence is disrup-tive for the other students.

One program Capuano would like to or-ganize is a mini-school, two hours every dayafter school for the students whose needs arc"extremely in-depth." For them, Capuanosays, a seven-hour school day is just too long.

That program would require the approvalof juvenile justice authorities, with whom Ca-puano has a working relationship, but whopoint out that most youth crime is commit-ted during regular school hours.

Even when the issue is not delinquency,Indiana's most troubled inner city schools arefacing a crisis in academic achievement.

The peak dropout year recently hasshifted from 10th to ninth grade. The trendis most obvious in such urban locations asIndianapolis' Marion and Lake Counties, saysJudith Erickson, director of research servicesat the Indiana Youth Institute.

While no immediate explanations aboutthis new trend are available, one Indianapo-lis high school counselor found that someninth grade dropouts have been retainedtwice since starting school and now are 16years old, Erickson says.

Also noteworthy, some schools that tu-tor students with basic skills shortcomingshave not experienced the ninth grade drop-out phenomenon, she says.

While the trend has been to encourageheterogeneous groups in middle grades,Erickson believes more schools should takenote of these successes and that at least whenlow-achieving students enter middle schoolsthey should he given special help with basicskills to ensure they are not lost in the cur-riculum throughout their middle grades ca-reers.

:34

c, ANS [3 1 10.0 I J S

Guion Creekeighth gradersTim Lockett andBrian Messer inan advisorygroup session.

Photo

by

Susie

Fleck

'1-

y

..4

35 gror r4 .7

luiri 'NE

CHAPTER VIII

No Turning BackSupported by a handful of neworganizations, the impact of grassrootschange is broadening.

INILEA President Steve Riggs is so im-pressed by progress to date that he has beenknown to comment, "Pretty soon there's go-ing to he nothing left for us to do."

Riggs is a principal in the Fort Wayneschools where the MGIP process hastaken hold so firmly that the will for deep-seated reflection and change is trickl ing downto the elementary schools and up to the highschools.

If the movement is to grow by concep-tual drift, so be it. Robert Williams, an Indi-ana State University education professor whoconsults on introducing middle grades con-cepts in non-traditional settings, expects the"trickle up" effect to change the face of highereducation for middle-level teachers.

In 1993, all middle level schools in VigoCounty/Terre Haute will go from includinggrades 7-9 to grades ti- 8. "In anticipation ofthat, Vigo has been looking at the middleschool model," Williams explains.

Because ISU trains many of the Vigoschool system's teachers, "that gives mestrength with my own colleagues. I can sayit is time our preparation program legiti-mately treats topics such as interdisciplinaryteaming and collaborative planning," he says.

ISUS preparation program might seemantiquated to students who observe the freshapproaches being taken in Terre Haute'sMGIP schools. The threat of appearing out-

dated is motivating ISU faculty to learn aboutthe middle school philosophy.

As ISU and other universities begin to formstaff development plans, they will be able toturn to the Indiana Higher Education Networkfor Middle Level Educators. Based with BettyJohnson in the Department of Education'sCenter for School Improvement and Perfor-mance and supported by a grant from theCarnegie Corporation of Ncw York, the net-work is pulling together faculty throughoutthe state's teacher preparation programs whoeither are diehard middle level cducc.tors orwho want to know morc about this field.

Network meetings expose universityrepresentatives to speakers from acrossthe country on such topics as standards formiddle-level education preparation programsor higher education networks in other states,says Deborah Butler, an education professorat Wabash College and chair of the group.

The network plans to serve as a source forup-to-date information on higher educationteaching programs, perhaps eventually coor-dinatingactual training events, she says. In themeantime, network members recognize theymust stimulate interest in change on their owncampuses.

Thus, small scale efforts aim for impact inbroad arenas. The new Adolescent AdvisoryBoard (AAB) also sponsored by the Carnegie

3 6

r J 1...` I-, I I

gram, sets an ideal and a political agenda inits handbook, "Betwixt and Between...

The ideal is the A+ school, exemplifiedby a list of 24 elements of a well-structuredmiddle grades program. t -Betwixt and Be-tween- contributors, like past IMLEA presi-dent Jeff Swensson, say there are no A+middle schools in Indiana yet.) Distrib-uted throughout Indiana, the volume canserve well as a unifying resource.

The volume also includes the AAB's callfor changes at the state level. And with its gen-eral distribution, it can be considered some-thing of a middle grades political primer. Thepublication sets these expectations for thestate:

For DOE, new curriculum rules wouldencourage block scheduling. The StateBoard of Education cleared the way forthis during summer 1992 with a vote toallow flexibility to local school districtsin establishing minimum instructionaltimes. But the change does not take ef-fect until July 1, 1994. Previously, thestate hoard had mandated a prescribedminutes-per-week forumula for everysubject. Also AAB recommends textbookadoption rules which encourage pur-chase of varying, appropriate materials,nut just subject-specific textbooks: an ac-creditation process that ranks middleschools on the criteria described in theA+ school model: and new standards formiddle-level teacher preparation pro-grams.

For the state's youth-serving agencies,collaboration o; services is needed to ad-dress the physical and emotional healthof adolescent children and their families.NAlith representatives of Indiana's youth-serving agencies on the AAB, these stepsalready have begun. At the least -lAB rep-resentatives are spreading word of theimportance of collaboration amongschools and youth services.

Carnegie's commitment is for only two\Tars. But as the NIGIP Network and INILEAbecome more tightly knit, many believe thatduo will absorb the AAB and that it will con-stitute a statewide middle grades watchdoggroup that pushes sr. gencies to respond.

INILEA, meanwhile, is securing fundingto run statewide regional training programson middle level issues. Those who want totake on change will have an inexpensivesource for professional development.

The NIGIP Network, besides turning itstraining direction toward multicultural edu-cation, has been developing a middle levelprincipals. training program that has reachedbeyond NIG1P schools.

It possible, five years down the road,that teaching colleges will be only slightlymore savvy at preparing middle level teach-ers: that energy toward change never coa-lesces in the DOE: that some NIGIP schoolswill look only slightly different from whenthe project started: that there will be no per-fect. or A+, middle school.

What is difficult to imagine is that anyschool, school district or uniyersitywhich hasdecided to change its middle grades educa-tion programs cannot find a ready and inex-pensive model or approaches to institute withthe maximum amount of support and theminimum amount of resistance.

That is easy to predict because, for themost part, the leadership and the models al-ready are here.

3

' I I ' I

GLOSSARY

Advisor/Advisee Refers to

regularly scheduled class period

set aside for guidance-related

activities ranging from discus-

sions on interpersonal

relationships to instructions on

study skills.

Adolescent Advisory Board(AAB) Comprised of Indiana

representatives of youth service

agencies and middle grades

educators involved in restructur-

ing their own schools, the group

is designed to establish and

generate interest in statewide

standards for helping middle

level children.

BetwNt and Between Pro-

duced by the AAB, the volume is

o guidebook for restructuring

individual schools and a call for

change among the state's edu-

cational and youth-serving

agencies.

Block Scheduling Sometimes

called "Flexible Scheduling,"

The combination of consecutive

class periods to create a larger

block of time in which a subject

or cross-section of subjects can

be taught.

33

Indiana Middle Level Educa-tion Association (IMLEA)A state affiliate of the National

Middle School Association and

clearinghouse for ideas and

information about restructuring

work throughout Indiana.

Interdisciplinary InstructionInstruction units whose content

includes information from more

than one academic subject, of-

ten pulled together by a central

theme.

Middle Grades Considered

the grades that serve children

10 to 14 years of age, gener-

ally 5th through 9th, whether

they are in middle school build-

ings or not.

Middle Grades AssessmentProcess (MGAP) A pre-

packaged system for defining

strengths and weaknesses of a

school in the context of exem-

plary middle grades practices.

Available from the Center for

Early Adolescence.

Middle Grades ImprovementProgram (MGIP) Spon-

sored by Lilly Endowment Inc.,

the program is assisting middle

grades restructuring in 65

schools in 16 urban public

school districts.

Teaming The assignment of a

group of teachers into a team

that works with a common

group of students.

A I' l' I Id I) I X

RESOURCES

Adolescent Advisory Board

c/o Steve Riggs, co-chair

Elmhurst High School

3829 Sandpoint Road

Fort Wayne, IN 46809

219-425-7510

Center for Early Adolescence

University of North CarolinaChapel Hill

D-2 Carr Mill Town Center

Carrboro, NC 27510919.966-1148

Education Development Center

55 Chapel St.

Newton, MA 02160

800-225-3088

Indiana Department of Education

c/o Betty Johnson

Room 229, State House

Indianapolis, IN 46204-27981-317-232-9141

* * Contact for "Betwixt and

Between"

Indiana Higher Education Network

for Middle Level Educators

c/o Deborch Butler

Wabash College

Teacher Education Program

PO Box 352

Crawfordsville, IN 47933-03521-317-364-4338

Indiana Middle Level Education

Association

c/o Roger Boop

College of Education

Butler University

4600 Sunset Ave.

Indianapolis, IN 462081-317-283-9313/

1-800-343-6852

Indiana Youth Institute

333 N. Alabama St.Suite 200

Indianapolis, In. 46204

1-317-634-4222/

1.800-343-7060

Middle Grades Improvement

Program

Lilly Endowment Inc.

c/o Joan Lipsitz, Susie DeHart

PO Box 88068

Indianapolis, IN 46208

1-317-924-5471

Middle Grades Improvement

Program NETWORK

c/o Barbara Jackson

8301 E. 46th St.

Indianapolis, IN 462261. 317-543-3318

39

29

1- [1111

MIDDLE GRADES IMPROVEMENTNETWORK

Anderson CommunitySchools

Northside Middle School

1815 Indiana Ave.

Anderson, IN 46012(317) 641-2055

Southside Mic,,e School101 West 29th St.

Anderson, IN 46014(317) 641.2051

East Side Middle School

2300 Lindberg Road

Anderson, IN 46012(317) 641-2047

School City of EastChicago

Joseph L. Block Junior High School

2700 Cardinal Drive

East Chicago, IN 46312

(219) 391.4084

West Side Junior High School

4001 Indianapolis Boulevard

East Chicago, IN 46312

(219) 391-4068

Evansville-Vanderburg!' SchoolCorporation

Christa McAuliffe Middle School

713 N. Governor St.

Evansville, IN 47711

(812) 421-8508

Evans Middle School

837 Tulip Avenue

Evansville, IN 47711

(812) 424-7949

4 9

Glenwood Middle School

901 Sweetser Avenue

Evansville, IN 47713

(812) 424-2954

Harwood Middle School

3013 First Avenue

Evansville, IN 47710

(812) 423-5409

Helfrich Park Middle School

2603 W. Maryland Street

Evansville, IN 47712

(812) 425-4543

McGary Middle School

1535 S. Joyce Avenue

Evansville, IN 47715

(812) 476-3035

Oak Hill Middle School

7700 Oak Hill Road

Evansville, IN 47711

(812) 867-6426

Perri Heights Middle School

5800 Hogue Road

Evansville, IN 47712

(812) 423-4405

Plaza Park Middle School

7301 Outer Lincoln Avenue

Evansville, IN 47715

(812) 476-4971

Thompkins Middle School

1300 West Mill Road

Evansville, IN 47710

Washington Middle School

1801 Washington Avenue

Evansville, IN 47714

(812) 477.8983

APPENDIX

MIDDLE GRADES IMPROVEMENTNETWORK

Fort Wayne CommunitySchools

Blackhawk Middle School

7200 East State Boulevard

Fort Wayne, IN 46815

Ben F. Geyer Middle School

420 S. Paulding Rd.

Fort Wayne, IN 46816

(219) 425-7343

Jefferson Middle School

5303 Wheelock RoadFort Wayne, IN 46835

Kekionka Middle School

2020 Engle Road

Fort Wayne, IN 46802

(219) 425-7378

Lakeside Middle School

2100 Lake Ave.

Fort Wayne, IN 46805

Lane Middle School

4901 Vance

Fort Wayne, IN 46815

Memorial Park Middle School

2200 Maumee Avenue

Fort Wayne, IN 46803

Miami Middle School

8100 Amhurst Drive

Fort Wayne, IN 46819

Northwood Middle School

1201 East Wash Center Road

Fort Wayne, IN 46825

Portage Middle School

3525 Taylor

Fort Wayne, IN 46802

School City ofHammond

A.L. Spohn Middle School

4925 Sohl Avenue

Hammond, IN 46327

Donald E. Gavit Middle School

1670 175th StreetHammond, IN 46324

Henry Eggers Middle School

5825 Blaine Avenue

Hammond, IN 46320

Scott Middle School

3635 173rd StreetHammond, IN 46323(219) 989-7340

George Rogers Clark Middle School

1921 Davis Ave.

Whiting, IN 46394

Indianapolis PublicSchools

Crispus Attucks Junior High School

1130 North West Street

Indianapolis, IN 46202

John Marshall Junior High School10101 East 38th Street

Indianapolis, IN 46236

Henry W. Longfellow School

510 Laurel Street

Indianapolis, IN 46203

Shortridge Junior High School

3401 N. MeridianIndianapolis, IN 46208

Forest Manor Junior High School

4501 E. 32nd Street

Indianapolis, IN 46218(317) 226-4363

41

ACARITIUNS

MIDDLE GRADES IMPROVEMENTNETWORK

Merle Sidener School

2424 East Kessler Boulevard

Indianapolis, IN 46220

Emma Donnan School

1202 Eost Troy Avenue

Indianapolis, IN 46203

Willard J. Gambold School

3725 Kiel AvenueIndianapolis, IN 46224

H.L. Harshman School

1501 East 10th Street

Indianapolis, IN 46201

Thomas A. Edison Junior High

School

777 S. White River Parkway, West

Drive

Indianapolis, IN 46221

M.S.D. of DecaturTownship

Decatur Township Middle School

5108 South High School Road

Indianapolis, IN 46241

Franklin TownshipCommunity SchoolCorporation

Franklin Township Middle School

6019 S. Franklin Road

Indianapolis, IN 46259(317) 862-2446

42

M.S.D. of LawrenceTownship

Belze- Middle School

7555 East 56th Street

Indianapolis, IN 46226

Craig Middle School

6501 Sunnyside Road

Indianapolis, IN 46236

M.S.D. of PerryTownship

Keystone Middle School

5715 S. Keystone Avenue

Indianapolis, IN 46227(317) 787-9451

Meridian Middle School

8040 S. Meridian Street

Indianapolis, IN 46217(317) 881-8283

M.S.D. of PikeTownship

Lincoln Middle School

5555 W. 71st Street

Indianapolis, IN 46268(317) 291-9499

Guion Creek Middle School

4401 W. 52nd StreetIndianapolis, IN 46268(317) 293-4549

M.S.D. of WarrenTownship

Creston Junior High School

10925 E. Prospect Street

Indianapolis, IN 46239(317) 894-8883

A P P E N L J I X

MIDDLE GRADES IMPROVEMENTNETWORK

Stonybrook Junior High School

11300 E. Stonybrook Drive

Indianapolis, IN 46229(317) 894.2744

M.S.D. of WayneTownship

Ben Davis Junior High School

1155 South High School Road

Indianapolis, IN 46241

South Wayne JuniorHigh School

4901 W. GadsdenIndianapolis, IN 46241

(317) 247-6265

Fulton Junior High School

7320 W. 10th Street

Indianapolis, IN 46224

Muncie CommunitySchools

Northside Middle School

2400 Bethel Avenue

Muncie, IN 47304(317) 747-5295

Wilson Middle School

2000 S. Franklin Street

Muncie, IN 47302

South Bend CommunitySchools

Andrew Jackson Middle School

5001 South Miami Road

South Bend, IN 46614

Clay Middle School

52900 Lily Road

South Bend, IN 46637

Jesse Dickinson Middle School

4494 Elwood

South Bend, IN 46628

Navarre Middle School

4702 West Ford Street

South Bend, 1N 46619

Thomas E. Edison Middle School

2701 Eisenhower Drive

South Bend, IN 46615

Vigo County SchoolCorporation

Chauncey Rose Junior High School

1275 Third Avenue

Terre Haute, IN 47807

Honey Creek Junior High School

9215 Honey Creek Road

Terre Haute, IN 47802

Otter Creek Junior High School

3055 Lafayette Avenue

Terre Haute, IN 47805

Sarah Scott Junior High School

2000 S. 9th Street

Terre Haute, IN 47802

(812) 238.4381

Woodrow Wilson Junior HighSchool

301 South 25th Street

Terre Haute, IN 47803

West Vigo Middle School

RR 15 Box 326

West Terre Haute, IN 47885

4 3

34

1..4 1 L F A ^.^ Bill LI') r-4

A I

is the professional association for reporters

and other writers who cover education. The

E\NA publishes several newsletters, includ-

ing the Education Reporte;; and the urban

middle grades hi-monthly High Strides. The

association also runs an annual conference,

the National Seminar, and periodic regional

conferences. In addition to the National

Awards for Education Reporting, the only in-

dependent awards competition for education

journalism, IAVA sponsors several fellowship

programs and publishes periodic reports on

a variety of education topics.

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