WILLIAM DIAMOND MIDDLE SCHOOL
SITE-BASED COUNCIL
2001- 2002 School Improvement Plan
June 5, 2001
During this past year, the William Diamond Site-Based Council has
undertaken a number of specific initiatives, including:
Professional development work with Louise Thompson on Job
Embedded Learning.
Creation of a task force to design a homework survey focused on
student achievement.
Continued work towards the goal of an anti-racist multicultural
academic community.
Continued development towards building a strong sense of community
and safety among our students.
Continued implementation of the technology plan.
Continued work with building space, needs and utilization during
construction.
CORE VALUES
The following core values continue to be implemented through the
School Improvement Plan:
o The set of core values adopted by the School Committee for the
Lexington Public Schools:
-- Individuality and Diversity
-- Shared Responsibility
-- Continuous Improvement
o Two "core values" for Diamond Middle School
-- Students, Teachers, and Parents as Learners
-- An Atmosphere Fostering Admiration and Acceptance of
Growth, Achievement and Excellence
GOAL 1: Standards-Based Learning
To create a common vocabulary about standards-based learning among
administrators, teachers, parents, and students.
CONTEXT: Why are we working on this?
Clearly each year, as we seek to balance the tension between
subject specific curriculum, integrated studies, and appropriate
social-emotional development for middle school students, the Diamond
community continues to reflect about the “curriculum” of
our school. In this ongoing dialogue, parents and teachers recognize
that a strong curriculum has at its center, subject area - specific
content, as well as the thinking skills required to have early
adolescents integrate information into an appropriate and organized
framework.
For middle school students to achieve excellence as we move into the
21st Century, we must articulate clearly what is essential learning
so that teachers, students, and parents understand what students
should know and be able to do as the result of study in a particular
course, discipline, and level of instruction. We need to develop
varied methods to assess students’ understanding of content and
critical thinking skills so that we know competency and proficiency
have been reached. This is an important, critical step to creating a
strong middle school academic curriculum.
STRATEGIC WORK: What did we actually do?
We continue to reflect on our practice. A professional workshop
was given to faculty emphasizing the reading-writing component,
embedded in the middle school curriculum (Louise Thompson work from
Instruction for All Students). Staff recognizes the need for more
work within this theoretical framework. Collegial dialogue continues
to help us reflect on curriculum objectives and instructional
practice. Moving lesson and unit design away from a conceptual model
that is inherently activity -based to one that is based on clear
learning outcomes takes dialogue and coaching. Teachers are
rethinking daily lesson objectives with reference to the larger
content standards, and curriculum development work is being organized
to articulate essential outcomes and assessments that appropriately
measure student performance.
In team and department meetings, MCAS results have been reviewed by
team/subject teachers at all grade levels. Teachers continue to focus
on the open-ended questions, discussing those standards and critical
thinking skills which need to be infused into content curriculum. The
LEF grant entitled, “Designing a Concept-Based Curriculum: A
Science -Social Studies Initiative” enabled a cross team of
teachers to begin developing curriculum around the thinking skills
common to the respective disciplines. The grant supported a
“critical friends group” similar to the Coalition of
Essential Schools. Sixteen staff attended a workshop run by H. Lynn
Erickson, “Concept-Based Curriculum and Instruction: Teaching
Beyond the Facts.” Again this workshop focused on “using
critical content as a tool to understanding key concepts and
principles of a discipline and applying understanding in the context
of a complex performance.”
NEXT STEPS: What strategies will we pursue for continued work?
We anticipate more focused work at Diamond. To quote Lynn
Erickson, “Learning how to design a curriculum that facilitates
complex thinking and deeper levels of understanding is an unfolding
process.” The leadership team (principal, teachers, respective
team leaders and chairs ) continue to raise awareness of the
differences between activity based and concept-based models of
curriculum and instruction. More teachers will be invited to take the
graduate course, “Instruction for All Students”, so as to
increase our critical mass of trained professionals. This summer,
departmental workshops will focus on creating a scope and sequence of
curriculum goals and objectives in science, social studies, math and
English. This will afford teachers an opportunity to develop the
agreed upon “essential understandings” within their
respective disciplines, aligning the curriculum with the state and
national standards. Once these are established, teachers will be able
to design units of instruction that integrate content and process
within a single discipline, across disciplines and ultimately across
grade levels.
GOAL 2 : HOMEWORK
To develop and communicate the purpose of homework as a
mechanism for learning, as an important source of communication about
curriculum, and to better understand expectations around homework as
it affects students, families, and teachers.
CONTEXT: Why are we working on this?
The Diamond Site Council believes that a more thorough
understanding of homework will yield information that can lead to
more informed homework practices on the part of teachers, more
effective communication between home and school, and will further the
dialogue about instructional practices and assessment within a
standards based setting. In addition, gathering information on how
students use computers and the internet to complete their homework
will lead to more effective technology planning.
STRATEGIC WORK: What did we actually do?
The general focus and strategy for this multi-phase project were
reviewed early in the year. The various dimensions of homework to be
included in the survey directed to parents were updated, based on
this review. A parent who is a survey research consultant worked with
the Site Council to develop a draft of the survey instrument.
A final draft of the survey instrument is completed and awaiting
review by the Diamond teaching staff.
NEXT STEPS: What strategies will we pursue for continued work
?
Early in the fall of 2001 a final draft of the survey will be
presented to the teachers at Diamond for their feedback. Subsequent
to the staff review a small subset of parents will pretest the
survey. Soon after the end of the second quarter, the survey will be
sent out to all parents via US mail. The analysis will be conducted
as soon as possible, ensuring that the survey results can be utilized
to stimulate faculty discussion, reflection, and improved
practice.
Goal 3: Anti-Racist Practice
To work towards the goal of an anti-racist, multicultural,
inclusive school community, promoting academic success for all
students.
CONTEXT: Why are we working on this?
Diamond community is committed to examining the academic
achievement of all students, including children of color. We need to
collaborate among teams to find ways to promote diversity awareness.
We want to help all students develop the awareness, sensibilities,
skills and knowledge base to participate successfully in a
multi-racial, socially complex, global society.
STRATEGIC WORK: What did we actually do?
Fifteen teachers on the Diversity Design Team attended a
Mentoring Workshop this past Summer. Ms. Cheryl Prescott-Walden and
the Superintendent were facilitators and envisioned a program that
would aid the success of children who would benefit from mentoring.
The Mentoring Committee met bimonthly and formulated a plan to
identify those children who would fit the description and who would
benefit the most from having an advocate. The teachers wrote a letter
to the faculty and asked them for help in identifying students for
the pilot program. In January, after identifying four
African-American children from Boston, the group traveled to Roxbury
Community College to meet the parents of the children and to present
the mentoring plan to them. Parents were most receptive and all were
happy to have their children be in the pilot program. For one thirty
minute session every week, four Diamond teachers each mentor one of
four children, one sixth grader and three seventh graders. Each
teacher intends to continue working with his or her student until the
child leaves Diamond for the high school. Since many of
Diamond’s own faculty have been “trained” as
mentors,there is a plan during the coming academic year to add more
students to the program.
The Mentoring Committee met with members of the PATHS group to
explore common ventures. PATHS parents were very involved in creating
Black History Month and Asian-American Pacific Islander bulletin
boards during the past year. These visual displays recognized and
showed appreciation for a multi-cultural world community. The
possibility of a Diversity Club is being investigated for the coming
year. This is a student/staff initiated proposal aimed at celebrating
different cultures.
In addition, more members of the Diamond community participated in
the EMI course this year. EMI graduates participated in outreach to
staff within departments and across grade levels regarding
achievement patterns in the middle school. An EMI textbook,
Rethinking Our Classrooms:Teaching for Equity and Justice, was
funded for all faculty by the Diamond P.T.A. (Rethinking Schools,
Milwaukee, WI) It includes creative teaching ideas across the
curriculum, which will help teachers to promote values of community,
justice, and equality and to build academic skills. This resource
book will be implemented through departmental/team meetings with
follow-up meetings during “brown bag” lunches.
NEXT STEPS: What strategies will we pursue for continued work?
Although the mentoring program was just started in February,
each mentor has seen progress made with his or her student. The
accomplishments are celebrated as mentors continue to advocate and
advise. The EMI graduate list continues to expand. A good number of
teachers will participate in the course this summer. Advocates are
heard across the curriculum at team meetings and faculty meetings.
The Rethinking Our Classrooms texts will be an important park
of our departmental meetings in the fall, encouraging teachers to
continue the dialogue of anti-racism in their classrooms by using
lesson plans designed for that purpose. Faculty will participate in
the Bridges program during the next school year.
GOAL 4: Building Community
To continue to create a strong sense of community and safety among
students at Diamond, even as our numbers increase.
CONTEXT: Why are we working on this?
Teachers and parents want opportunities for students to be
actively involved in the school in order to encourage students to see
themselves as part of a community. We continue our efforts to create
not only an excellent learning environment but also a social climate
characterized by supportive adult involvement, positive adult role
models, and firm limits. We want our students to feel safe,
emotionally, socially and academically within the school community.
Because of the developmental age level of middle school students,
harassment which begins in elementary school increases in middle
school. Creating a context of community allows students, teachers,
and parents to discuss the issues of harassment and work to create a
safe environment for all students.
On a different note during this past year, the school building has
been under construction. Particular care has been given to the
maintenance of the learning environment in spite of the inevitable
interruptions and distractions that have occurred as a result of
construction. In addition, attention has been given to maintaining
the highest possible standards for students’ physical
safety.
STRATEGIC WORK:What did we actually do?
Initiatives were undertaken in several directions. To build
community among the sixth graders, Diamond again sponsored two
afternoon socials (instead of a dance), providing students with an
age-appropriate, no-pressure social event. Once again, the Seventh
Grade organized Spirit Week, a friendly competition among all three
grades, and a student-faculty basketball game. Due to construction,
dances for seventh and eighth graders were moved from the gymnasium
to the school cafeteria. Classrooms for games and video watching were
made available to students during the respective dances. Parent
chaperones increased. As a result each of these social occasions has
become more “middle school age” appropriate. Again due to
construction we have changed the graduation ceremony. Due to lack of
space and a desire to create a family celebration more fitting for
middle school youngsters we will host a family barbecue this
year.
The COPS grant, under the direction of Elaine Sterzin investigated
the extent to which harassment and bullying exists in the middle
schools. 333 seventh and eighth grade students reported on their
experiences as they answered a nine page survey. The results of the
survey have been disseminated to site-council and staff for planning
purposes. In the meantime, “a cozy lunch room” was created
for those students who experience anxiety upon entering the cafeteria
for lunch. The number of students in the cafeteria, the noise and
movement at times can cause this small population of youngsters
intense social anxiety. Each day, teachers have volunteered to
supervise their classroom space for this small group during lunch
time.
The Health and Safety committee was formed this year to insure that
all members of the community were kept abreast of construction and
safety issues. The committee has made a number of recommendations,
such as the redesign of the drop off and pickup procedures and
examining traffic patterns. At these times relevant community
personnel (e.g. Police Department) have been invited to participate.
In addition window replacement within the main building has vastly
improved the quality of air flow in classrooms.
The room committee (an ad hoc committee) composed of representative
teachers met throughout the Spring to allocate space in anticipation
of the Fall opening of the new wing. A set of guiding principles was
adopted against which individual preferences and group decisions were
made. The staff uniformly desired to be grouped by teams rather than
in previous years by departments. It was desired that each wing
represent a sixth, seventh and eighth grade team. The subcommittee
accomplished it goals: allocating space and minimizing the need for
multiple moves.
NEXT STEPS: What strategies will we pursue for continued work?
We support the implementation of strategies that have a positive
effect on students and on the school climate that go beyond the
problem of bullying while at the same time implementing a “no
tolerance response”. This is vital according to noted expert Dan
Olweus, (Education World:School Issues : Bullying Intervention
Strategies That Work). Faculty meeting time will be devoted to
educating staff about bullying behaviors, response strategies and
available resources. In the Fall with the creation of the student
advisory program the staff will implement a curriculum that promotes
kindness, communication, cooperation, friendship and includes lessons
and activities stressing empathy, anger management and conflict
resolution skills. The site council also supports opportunities for
student involvement within an organized youth service program,
recommending that the three student councils take an active lead in
organizing the student body to take advantage of these
opportunities.
The work undertaken this year by the safety committee will continue
through the remainder of the project. During this next year, the
renovation project will specifically impact the number of classrooms
available to teachers and students, in particular the “science
wing”. Movement in the corridors during passing time will be
impacted by the closing of certain sections of the school and the
opening of the new wing. As we progress through this last phase of
construction the community will continue to be kept informed of
progress and changes.
GOAL 5: TECHNOLOGY
To provide teachers and students with necessary levels of access
to all aspects of technology; to insure that all students have the
opportunity to master the skills and concepts required to gain
significant benefit from the ongoing use of technology; and to focus
on expanding the ways in which technology may be used to enhance
curriculum.
CONTEXT: Why are we working on this?
It is our objective to insure that students and staff have basic
application and research skills in technology and to provide
appropriate resources to maintain a state of the art environment with
attention focused on achieving state mandated benchmarks for
technology.
STRATEGIC WORK: What did we actually do?
NEXT STEPS: What strategies will we pursue for continued work?
How to create schooling that truly educates our youngsters -- that
informs them, that makes sense to them, that increases their personal
power as learners -- is the challenge. The site council performs a
vital and necessary role by helping to support an environment that
fosters experimentation, persistent innovation, risk taking,
assessment and continuing growth which leads to the healthy school
culture. This in turn produces a positive place in which to teach and
learn. A hearty thank you to the site council members who helped to
prepare the document that follows and to those parents and members of
the community who continue as always to support our endeavors and
share their ideas, thoughts and concerns. A special thank you to the
staff at Diamond for their research and curriculum development
efforts which this document supports.
