Appendix 1-B
Teaming Practices Related to Rigor
For more about professional learning communities and teaching teams, see Chapter Ten, "Professional Learning."
Academic rigor at the middle-school level requires frequent, schoolwide discussions by the professional learning community about doing whatever it takes to convey the message: Failure is not an option. In addition, the professional learning community ensures that each subgroup of students and each individual student is aware of high expectations. Teachers communicate high expectations by providing students with:
- Clear statements about what is expected (in terms of behavior and academic performance)
- Examples of expected outcomes (exemplars)
- Differentiated learning experiences and multiple opportunities to succeed
- A strong foundation in academic literacy
- Fair grading practices that inform students of their performance level
- Academic interventions and supports
Team teaching is a key part of a standards-based education in the middle school.
Middle grades philosophy promotes a demanding, relevant curriculum and interdisciplinary team teaching. Collaborative lesson planning that incorporates big ideas across the curriculum and shares responsibility for essential standards can consolidate the workload and provide students with more time for in-depth learning. All classes can support academic core standards to some degree. The degree to which academic and nonacademic classes support the core standards should be an essential part of collaborative staff discussions.1
Adolescents learn best when subjects relate to their world and connect to things they know. Later sections emphasize the importance of planning cross-curricular connections in middle grades instruction.
Additional resources on team practices for instilling academic rigor include the following:
Previous Section
Appendix 1-A. Recommendations in Action
Next Section
Appendix 1-C. Chart of Related Initiatives on Middle Grades Reform
Footnote
1Taking Center Stage. Sacramento: California Department of Education, 2001, p. 21.
Back to Top