Middle Start DataSmart: Focusing on Data to Improve Instruction
"We're getting better preparation for our teachers and we're better prepared
to work with middle school students."
-- Principal, Lake Providence Junior High, Louisiana
"We are really coming together as a true middle school. "
-- 8th grade language arts teacher, D. M. Smith Middle School, Mississippi
"Focused professional development from Middle Start and its partner
Michigan Schools in the Middle, combined with organizational changes (including
interdisciplinary teaming and block scheduling) have paved the way for better
outcomes for students."
-- Principal, Harrison Middle School, Michigan
"The tremendous academic success of the Middle Start schools is evidence
of the effectiveness of the school reform model."
-- Project Director, Foundation for the Mid South
"Middle Start has helped unify our school. We are all on the same team."
-- 8th grade science teacher, Monticello Middle School, Arkansas
"Friendships were built as we implemented Middle Start. But the changes
went beyond school climate. There's been a focus on real learning, and the
literacy initiative is our biggest accomplishment. "
-- 8th grade history teacher/leader, Jackson-Parkside Middle School,
Michigan
"ABCI has forced us to eliminate "busy work." Assignments
are only given if they're worth doing. If it's worth giving an
assignment then it'd better be worth doing and do well. This has forced
us to question all of our instruction and assignments—why are we doing
this? What are the curricular goals? We've become very intentional."
-- 6th grade teacher, Fennville Middle School, Michigan
"I believe in ABCI because it maintains accountability. If a student
doesn't master a foundational concept, s/he can't go on until
he's learned the meat and potatoes."
-- 7th grade math teacher, Fennville Middle School, Michigan
"The really cool thing about ABCI is the conversations with other teachers.
We talk about what quality work looks like and whether we're teaching
our students higher order thinking. We ask, are we raising the bar? We have
a lot of heart-felt discussions and arguments about our practice as teachers."
-- 7th grade teacher (first year teacher), Steele Middle School, Michigan
"Staff members eventually realize that we're not here to sort
and select kids. We're here to help them all be successful."
--Middle Start Regional Director
"We jumped right into Middle Start ABCI because we needed to do more
serious corrective work. We've made AYP now as a result of what we've
done."
-- Principal, Steele Middle School
"My sister is in sixth grade here. I tell her that she's not focused enough
on her schoolwork. She's got to be more responsible for her assignments and
for asking for help when she needs it. That's what the teachers here expect."
-- 8th grade student, Steele
