A new kind of middle school: through coaching, professional development and collaboration, this school is replacing passive instruction with a more dynamic and persuasive instructional program.

What does it take to successfully teach in an urban middle school? We are trying to figure it out at Will C. Wood in Sacramento through instructional observations and analysis of student achievement assessment data.

Will C. Wood is a Cohort IV Comprehensive School Reform (CSR) site in the second year of funding. This is the first systemic reform attempted since the 1999 Public Schools Accountability Act in California. The school met API and achieved 32 points in the first year of the program. Because the school is in year three of federal Program Improvement, understanding teaching and learning is paramount to the site remaining autonomous and self-directed. Jim Wong, site principal, leads the effort. I function as the CSR coach.

The first stage of inquiry required dialogue with teachers.

What the teachers said

The teachers told us why teaching in an urban middle school was so difficult. Our job was to listen and respond.

They said: "We are teaching and the students are not learning the material."

We heard: "Something is wrong with the students, the languages of the students, the cultural mix, the socio-economic status, the class size, the youth and age of the faculty, or maybe it's the parents."

During the time that we externalized the problems at the school, it was easy for staff to be inactive and take sides. It was not unusual for a staff meeting to end with exchanges of what should be done to the students or the parents. "If they don't want to learn," commonly preceded comments that recommended that we focus on the students who were making it and wanted what we had to offer. "The students are not motivated," was a frequent response during discussions of assessment data indicative of failure.

These dialogues did not take us closer to understanding why the students did not retrieve what had been taught. We still were not addressing what the teachers were saying. We needed a different tactic. We started by looking for teacher outliers in the California Standards Tests achievement data. Which teachers were having success in the classroom? Who seemed to teach in such a manner that the students learned?

Our reflections are based on research and study instigated by the findings. We have simplified the information into models that can be translated into language that is easily imparted to all staff.

What we found and what we think

* Finding: The CST data shows the outlier teachers moved the highest percentage of students at least one or more performance levels. These teachers were popular with the students. Students identified them as "fun," "really cool" or even as "tough," but all are liked and respected. These teachers are positive about the students and their jobs at the school.

* Reflection: To move one or more performance levels, the students must have remembered what they learned. The teacher who connects teaching and learning makes instruction memorable. If instruction is memorable, it means students have decided to take it into their personal learning place, their minds.

Weaving teaching and learning requires practices and protocol that "turn on the brain" and then "make the mind follow." You can see it happen in the classroom. It starts with engagement. Students are sitting up, leaning forward to hear and acknowledge the teacher, and are asking questions congruently.

When students choose to open their minds, something has happened to make the material meaningful. This is learning. It involves both products (skills and specific knowledge) and processes (methods for learning and applications). The students open their personal filing systems to include the importance of what was taught. Then, at the test or assessment, the student can retrieve this knowledge because it was determined to have value. This personal "filing" system is linked to meaning, memory and momentum.

* Finding: Many students look engaged in class but perform poorly on assessments.

* Reflection: There is a significant difference between student engagement and learning. The walk-throughs the administrators did in the last year were taking the pulse of engagement that was not necessarily indicative of learning. Our students have learned how to look like they were learning. We have started to separate the two phenomena, as follows.

Student engagement

1. Makes contact with the teacher.

2. Participates in a variety of ways, including:

* acknowledges teacher talking nonverbally;

* follows non-verbal cues;

* offers opinions;

* restates information;

* has materials on desk;

* follows directions; and

* utilizes time as prescribed.

3. Presents interest in subject.

Learning

1. Experiences engagement and discovery.

2. Questions for understanding.

3. Connects prior experience and previous material covered in class.

4. Participates due to content meaning, value and future use in work or school.

5. Understands importance of tasks and processes in collaboration and independently.

6. Wants feedback and critique.

7. Develops skill and knowledge over time.

8. Improves with feedback.

9. Seeks other resources to support learning.

10. Enjoys success.

Three-pronged model for learning

Now we can conduct walk-throughs with a much more meaningful lens on learning. We are also having discussions with staff about how students learn.

There are three basic ways that students learn--redundancy, "ahas" and reteaching. Redundancy is the hallmark of direct instruction. It includes multiple exposures to content with varied levels of structured practice.

An "aha," or personal learning experience, is when you understand something immediately. It is as if the light bulb gets turned on. Unique to "ahas" is that what you learn is seldom forgotten and it is most often an emotional experience.

Re-teaching follows first instruction and is a targeted intervention as the result of an assessment. When re-teaching occurs, the content stays the same but the delivery becomes very different.

It became clear that the scope of first instruction needed to be defined and the concept shared by the entire staff. To effectively intervene with students, a reteaching protocol is also necessary. Many of our teachers said they already did reteaching, but the assessment data reflected that the students still did not understand concepts. The difficulty was a different conceptualization of instructional models. If everyone does not share the same language and expectations, nothing can be communicated effectively.

* Finding: Will C. Wood teachers who successfully teach for learning have a unique ability to blend intuition with technical skill.

* Reflection: Prior to the demands of API and AYP, you could be a great first instruction teacher if you possessed either the ability to be intuitive or the capacity to teach by following the technical rules.

An intuitive teacher picks up the emotional cues of the students and builds relationships. The intuitive teacher helps students link the material to prior knowledge; students learn because of their relationship to the teacher and the style of teaching. These teachers seldom have management problems or difficulty relating to the students. The intuitive teacher creates a classroom that "flows." Many students love this approach, but some are intimidated by the lack of structure.

The technical teacher organizes and instructs by the book; students learn because of the technique or formula. They predictably garner positive results. These technocrats use research; they follow the rules, and monitor the consequences of their efforts. Students that need structure and predictability thrive here. The technical teacher does well with any student who works without an emotionally charged classroom. Other students may be intimidated by the rigidity.

It used to be that only reaching some of your students was acceptable. In today's accountability climate, the mandate is to reach all students. To do so, teachers need to be able to establish relationships and deliver instruction with laser-like technical skill. Both elements of the intuitive and technical teacher are necessary.

We found that our middle school teachers had difficulty cultivating the element that didn't come naturally. The intuitive teacher struggled with the acquisition of the technical aspects of instruction, and the technically prepared teacher had difficulty with the relationship and intuitive dimensions. Challenging teachers to develop both has been difficult for some and exciting for others.

* Finding: The teachers whose assessment data indicated that teaching and learning are happening had a predictable sequence of activities along with a unique and sometimes passionate style.

* Reflection: The following descriptions represent the most common components observed:

The students follow a specific protocol to start the class period that allows the teacher to speak individually with many students and collect assignments.

"I noticed that your assignment wasn't turned in yesterday. Let's meet briefly after class and look at what that does to your overall grade."

Each teacher starts the lesson with some kind of personal disclosure, emotional sharing or humorous beginning that seems to "hook" the students.

A review and focus for the lesson occurs: "Which of these vocabulary words is vital to the language of this standard? Let's look at these picture cards. Any words come to mind that fit this lesson? Now, based on these pictures, what new dimension are we adding to what we already know?"

The teachers underscore why the class is being taught and define the academic targets.

"This is really the basis of ..."

"The goal is ..."

These teachers are up and "doing instruction." Their planning is obvious. The delivery feels seamless yet there is a definite responsiveness to the students. They use the students' names. They address the students without sarcasm, threat or ridicule. The teacher-student interactions indicate a genuine caring.

* Finding: Many students do not know how to determine what is important during the course of a lesson.

* Reflection: If the academic subject is unknown and uninteresting to the student, some kind of meaning or emotion has to be attached to learning the material. Without meaning, you can teach something on Monday and next Friday the students will look at you with blank faces. If a student has a personal interest in a subject or skill, nothing can stop him or her from learning.

Our students need to be taught what to "tag" as valuable. "Tagging" is a term to describe students underscoring the importance of information or skills for later retrieval. How do you help students "tag" a content area? Emotionalize the introduction to the material. Contextualize the new material. Teach students the importance of standards and help them monitor their personal mastery. Link the learning to future success or work.

What we are doing differently in 2006

Teachers are working diligently to increase engagement and learning in their classroom by reducing passive instruction (teacher lecture, videos and chapter outlines) and passive student participation (worksheets, copying from resource materials). A more dynamic and persuasive instructional program is now in place.

Professional development, individual coaching, collegial planning for students and collaboration of departments contribute to an improved classroom climate, overall school culture and the instructional delivery of all subjects.

Literacy coach John Lane and the language arts department initiated a reading campaign to increase voluntary reading, fluency and comprehension. The students enjoy the challenges and the rewards embedded within the campaign. By reading the "Lemony Snickets, A Series of Unfortunate Events" in sequence, the students are able to keep the books. Four hundred and eighty students read "Esperanza Rising," passed a test for comprehension and attended a special event at the University of California, Davis to meet the author.

Benchmark testing indicates that students in all subgroups are moving up in reading and language arts. More than 50 percent of the seventh graders at midyear were proficient in English language arts. Their understanding of literature and their desire to read is changing. Nearly every student at Will C. Wood is carrying a book that they are reading!

The emphasis on literacy was chosen because reading was the primary deficit skill at Will C. Wood. We felt that if reading could increase fluency and comprehension, all proficiency should be impacted. Interestingly, the literacy campaign is impacting attitude as much as it is contributing to academic success. We found the more the students are pro-socially connected to school, the better they perform and the harder they work.

Teachers are striving to "know" their students. Instead of making assumptions about students who are not performing at grade level, teachers look back at the past history of performance to check when the low performance started. This has reduced stereotypes and improved individual academic action plans.

To reinforce the relationship between teachers and students, the school counselor, Kevin Eldridge, sends teachers a thank you note any time teachers are identified by a student as someone who cares. Making positive connections with school has increased the number of students involved in school activities and the number of parents attending events.

What does it take to teach in an urban middle school?

From our findings and subsequent reflection, the master urban middle school teacher needs a complex set of attributes and skills. It is not an easy job.

Attributes

* Enjoys being with adolescents

* Operates from a strength-based mindset 

* Creates conditions for learning to Occur

* Believes students should interact

* Solicits feedback

* Values planning and collaboration.

* Engages students in high-interest activities

* Understands scope-of-learning pedagogy and instructional strategies

* Communicates love of learning

* Welcomes challenges of change

* Embraces high expectations

* Accepts accountability mandates

* Appreciates the middle school mission

* Is willing to learn whatever it takes to be responsive to student needs

* Views educator role as a model for literacy and future choices

* Understands why participation in school functions is important

Skills of a good middle school teacher:

* Communicates effectively with adolescents

* Turns on brains and opens minds

* Collaborates with colleagues to ensure the standards, products and skills

* Is intuitive and technically skilled

* Facilitates student discussions well

* Knows the content and is capable of making instruction memorable

* Teaches for learning and retrieval

* Uses first instruction well and gives feedback confidently to facilitate success for self and students

* Assesses and re-teaches as necessary

* Organizes sequence of activities to build student learning and cognition 

* Can forecast expectations without threat

* Understands assessments and data analysis with links to instruction

* Accelerates learning by student "tagging" and memory-making

* Coaches and promotes reading as necessary for student achievement

* Creates opportunities for pro-social academic connections

A change process

Will C. Wood is in the process of becoming a new kind of middle school. The teachers are in a change process. Many more young adolescents are learning to be students. An increased number of parents are finding answers at our school. By no means are we effective with every student, but we are having more success than two years ago. We are improving and we are hopeful. The teachers carry the burden of our middle school reform. Their talents and commitment will make this school a better place for students to learn and thrive.

Michelle Karns is school improvement consultant and author. She can be reached at [e-mail].