Other strategies that facilitated the
district’s change from a junior high to a middle school model can
be categorized into four general areas: acquisition of knowledge,use of teams, time to prepare, and district support and trust of
school personnel. Specific strategies that fall within thesecategories are listed here:
Acquisition of Knowledge
- extensive educational workshops provided for teachers and
administrators on practical topics that related to middleschooling
- advice, assistance, and education from consultants who had
experienced the process
- site visits to neighboring middle schools
- high involvement of teachers and administrators
- community education
- an initial assessment of the middle school’s effectiveness
after three years.
Use of Teams
- establishment and use of teams for workgroups, leadership,
interdisciplinary planners, student discipline decisions, andnetworks for understanding
Time to Prepare
- 2-year preparation time for 7th and 8th grade teachers
- 1-year preparation time for 6th grade teachers.
District Support and Trust
- district office support for funding of travel, materials,
consultants, substitute teachers and coursework
- commitment by district to the middle school philosophy
- care in selecting teachers and administrators for the middle
school
- shift of the numerous responsibilities for change from the
district level to the middle school teams and administrators
- confidence and trust in the ability of teachers to learn,
make competent decisions, give advice, and implement the middleschool model.
Hindered Change. Once the implementation plan
for middle schools was approved by the school board, the districtwas flexible, responsive, and supportive throughout the preparation
and implementation of the plan. Although strong resistance isusually present during substantive change (Heifetz&Linsky,
2002), the resistance was lessened because the district allowedjunior high teachers a choice of teaching at the middle school
level or not. Therefore, hindrances during the adoption,transformation, and institutionalization cycles were few or
non-existence. However, a follow-up plan for the implementation ofmiddle schools did not exist. After middle schools were established
and institutionalized in the district, it was the lack ofstrategies that hindered the district’s movement into the
renewal/regenerative cycle of change. These“missing strategies”are provided below:
- lack of a planned process for reflection on what was being
learned and why
- lack of on-going assessments of middle schools after the
initial assessment that followed the first 3 years ofimplementation
- dismissal of the Middle School Director’s position without
delegating someone else the responsibility to coordinate andfacilitate the continued development of middle school practices and
the learning of teachers and administrators
- no system in place to monitor improvement; determine the
needs of teachers, administrators, and students; and/or highlightbest practices across the district’s middle schools
- no provisions for the coordinated induction of new personnel
into the middle schools to learn the reasons behind the structuresand practices
- a shift of school board interests and district resources from
a focus on middle schools to a focus on curriculum reform.Maintaining an interest in both middle schools and curriculum
reform would have been more helpful than taking an either/orapproach.
