This brochure describes how the Making Schools Work process employs a distributed leadership approach to involve the whole school in identifying problems that impact achievement and developing plans to solve them. SREB's Making Schools Work school improvement process is grounded in the belief that increased achievement starts with motivating…

In June 2016, the Mastery Collaborative completed its first year as an official program, working with more than 40 public middle and high schools across the five boroughs of New York City to improve, document, and advocate for mastery-based teaching and learning. The collaborative has eight Living Lab schools that practice schoolwide mastery; most…

This paper offers a conceptual model and rich narratives that describe the contexts in which teacher leadership emerges and the many ways that leadership is enacted. Drawing on qualitative case studies of seven Maine, USA schools, the authors found that teachers initiated their own professional learning efforts with the central goal of improving…

This paper examines the relationships among administrative support, interdisciplinary team functioning, classroom practices, and student outcomes. It is premised on the need to move beyond examinations of the team process and explore the effects of processes on student learning. The report is based on a systemic research project that studied 60…

This case study documented the collaboration of Lake Middle School (pseudonym for a school in Michigan) with Middle Start, a middle-grades reform model and its progress and struggles implementing the model. Middle Start was coordinated by the Michigan Middle Start Partnership, and alliance that provided technical assistance, professional…

This book is part of a series of case studies that demonstrate better ways to educate Ohio's students. The case study is part of the Transforming Learning Communities (TLC) Project, designed to support significant school-reform efforts among Ohio's elementary, middle, and high schools. This report describes the implementation of an innovative…

The U.S. problem of youth passing through school without a clear educational purpose has been compounded in the South by a variety of factors. Ways in which these transitions can be smoothed are reported in this paper. All children are capable of academic success, including some level of post-secondary education. The chances for realizing such…

This directory identifies 83 national and regional organizations with major programs focused specifically on young adolescents and/or schools serving the middle school grades. The programs listed have been designed to encourage and support schools to better serve these youths. The directory entry lists each program's name, address, phone number,…

Describes how Largo, Maryland, redefined and restructured its entire school system. The new plan emphasized community and collaboration, and used a cluster approach as the organizational scheme for change. Now, focus is on both parent and child rather than on the child alone. Outlines the major system structural changes and new administrator,…