Resources on Middle School Student Achievement and School Reform

The following are additional, outside resources regarding Middle School Student Achievement and School Reform. If you know of other resources and publications that should be added to our list, please contact us.

The Program for Student Achievement launched the Focused Reporting Project (FRP) in 1995 to chronicle the progress of standards-based middle grades reform in Foundation-assisted school systems. FRP also developed and maintains MiddleWeb, the Internet's most substantive and up-to-date web site for information on middle school reform. Educators throughout the nation use the award-winning, 900-page web site. In addition to MiddleWeb's large collection of reform-oriented materials, this site includes hundreds of articles and links about curriculum, teaching strategies, teacher professional development, parent involvement, classroom assessment, and much more. Some of these and other resources are:

* "The USA's Middle Grades News" Each week, MiddleWeb provides Internet links to local newspaper articles of interest to middle grades watchers. Individuals may also subscribe to this list by contacting MiddleWeb. www.middleweb.com/MGNews.html
* "Articles of Particular Interest" MiddleWeb also posts weekly links to useful education articles and research with a middle grades focus. Individuals may also subscribe to this list by contacting MiddleWeb. www.middleweb.com/LatestUpdates.html

Every Child Counts

This article, in the February 2002 issue of Middle Ground: the Magazine for Middle Level Education, discusses the work of the "Community Accountability Team" that was created by the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence, a Foundation grantee. A copy of this article is posted on the Prichard Committee's website at www.prichardcommittee.org.

"Standards Engagement Toolkit: Tools To Build Support for Standards in Middle Schools

Developed by the Collaborative Communications Group (CCG), this Internet site includes links to more than a dozen tools that principals, teachers, and parents can use to increase both educators' and citizens' understanding and use of standards. www.publicengagement.com/resources/standards/index.htm

"Expecting Success: How Standards Can Help Raise Student Achievement"

This second CCG video features parents from four diverse communities who discuss what standards are and how standards help improve conversations with teachers (and their own children) about what their children should know and be able to do. www.publicengagement.com/tools/standard_videos.html

What Works in the Middle: Results-Based Staff Development

This is the National Staff Development Council's guide to content-specific, middle-level staff development programs that can improve student achievement. Joellen Killion, 1999. www.middleweb.com/killionintro.html

National Forum to Accelerate Middle-Grades Reform

The Forum is a national group of 60 representatives of school systems, education organizations, research and technical assistance institutions, universities, and foundations. The Forum seeks consensus and carries out projects to promote the improved academic performance and healthy development of young adolescents. The Forum's web site includes a one-page vision statement of what middle schools should look like, a description of four "Schools to Watch" that are well on their way to fulfilling the Forum's vision, a list of Forum members, and a regional affiliate, the Southern Forum to Accelerate Middle Grades Reform. www.edc.org/FSC/MGF/

* The Forum's Schools to Watch Initiative has created a website that identifies four high-performing middle schools. The website details the criteria used by the National Forum to evaluate middle school performance, from academics to social equity. www.schoolstowatch.org

The Urban Middle-Grades Reform Network

The Urban Middle-Grades Reform Network is a group of central office administrators responsible for middle-grades reform in their school systems. Its goal is to strengthen and extend middle-grades reform efforts in participating districts so they are comprehensive, system-wide, and focused on the positive development and high academic achievement of all students. The Network also seeks to disseminate information about effective, district-wide middle-grades policies and practices, and advocate for systemic urban middle-grades reform, both locally and nationally. www.mgnetwork.org

Southern Regional Education Board (SREB)-Middle Grades Consortium

The SREB-State Middle Grades Consortium's goal is to raise the academic achievement of all middle grades students and to increase the percentages of students at the basic and proficient levels as defined by the National Assessment of Educational Progress. www.sreb.org/programs/MiddleGrades/MiddleGradesindex.asp

The Community Accountability Team: Louisville, Kentucky

The Community Accountability Team (CAT) was formed in 1998 by the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence and seeks to increase the achievement of middle school students in the Jefferson County Public Schools. www.prichardcommittee.org/

* CAT has made its report, Every Child Counts: Raising Student Achievement in the Middle Grades, available for download Adobe PDF File on its website.

The League of Women Voters of Minneapolis (LWVMpls) Program for Middle School Achievement

The goals of The LWVMpls Program for Middle School Achievement are to increase the involvement of parents, guardians, and community members in middle schools, to promote high academic standards in classrooms, and to promote and support strong leadership in each middle school.