Taking Center Stage – Act II (TCSII)

A Portal for Middle Grades Educators

TCSII's New Look

Take a tour and discover:

A modified top navigation bar that now links to:

• Recommendations for Success [The California Department of Education’s (CDE) 12 Recommendations for Middle Grades Success] — reflecting research-based content and sharing promising middle grades practices employed by effective middle grades educators.
• Recommendations in Action — offering methods, practices, ideas, and topics in relation to each of the CDE’s 12 Recommendations for Middle Grades Success.
• Standards and Testing — providing access to key resources and information related to California’s standardized testing for middle grades.
• Stakeholder Organizations — putting California's Middle Grades Standards, tests, blueprints, FAQs, and other assessment resources at your fingertips.
• References and Resources — sharing a virtual library of information, resources, and tools supporting the CDE’s 12 Recommendations for Middle Grades Success.

A modified left navigation bar with a few new quick links to:

• About TCSII — linking you to an overview about Taking Center Stage—Act II (TCSII). Also included on the page are links to a short but informative video as well as a brief history regarding middle grades education.
• Submit Your Idea — Do you have an idea to share? We want to hear from you.
• Subscribe — join the Middle Grades Electronic Mailing List to receive middle grades news and information.
• Conferences and Events — upcoming conferences, workshops, trainings, and events of interest to middle grades educators.
• Contact Information — contact the TCSII team with questions, comments, and suggestions using the contact information provided on this page.
• TCSII Home — a link that will always bring you back to the TCSII home page.

A modified left navigation bar for each of the Recommendations pages with Recommendations-specific links to:

• Contents
• Adolescent Development
• Practices In the Spotlight
• Professional Learning
• Videos
• Evidence Checklist
• Initiatives Crosswalk
• Targeted Resources
• PDF of Contents
• TCSII — linking you to a drop down menu containing all the links of the left navigation bar of the TCSII portal home page:
  • About TSCII
  • Submit Your Idea
• Subscribe
• Conferences and Events
• Contact Information

An addition to the bottom navigation bar:

• Site Map — offering a view from the top (navigation bar) of the TCSII web portal.

Other additions:

• Much of the TCSII portal content is organized around and supports the California Department of Education’s (CDE) 12 Recommendations for Middle Grades Success. We changed the link from the top navigation bar to Recommendations for Success (replacing both the links for Recommendations, Chapter List, and Table of Contents). We then changed the left navigation bar of each “Recommendation” to include links to many new Recommendations-specific links. We also created the Contents link combining both the Chapter Home and Content Sections links for each Recommendation.
• We removed the references to “Chapter” and replaced them with “Recommendation” — content for all of which may be accessed through Recommendations for Success.
• A new Document Library that provides direct access to a variety of documents in TCSll.
• Links to the video presentations for the Get Into the Act! Professional Learning Series have been added to the Videos Index page.
• New links related to Standards and Testing including:
  • An Algebra link providing easy access to the latest resources related to middle grades mathematics.
  • A link to a new web site - Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) Sample Questions (Outside Source) - produced by the California Department of Education and the State Board of Education and created to better communicate with parents and educators about State Testing Programs.
• Easy access to networking opportunities through the Stakeholder Organizations page with links to the following middle grades organizations:
  • California Middle Grades Alliance (CMGA)
  • California Middle Grades Partnership Network (CMGPN)
  • Schools to Watch-Taking Center Stage (STW-TCS)
  • National Forum to Accelerate Middle-Grades Reform

Relocated and reorganized content:

We’ve also moved some things around to make them more easily accessible - please change your bookmarks. We provided links to the relocated items here:

• Adolescent Development essays linking adolescent development research to middle grades classroom strategies are available from Recommendations in Action and from the left navigation bar on each of the Recommendations contents pages.
• An Evidence Checklist (formerly Appendix A) for each Recommendation is redesigned to provide you with a form you can use to gather a quick snapshot of how your school team is implementing each Recommendation.
• An Initiatives Crosswalk (formerly Appendix C) for each Recommendation provides you with a quick look at how each of the CDE’s 12 Recommendations for Middle Grades Success supports and aligns with major state and national initiatives.
• The Targeted Resources (formerly Appendix D) for each Recommendation are all easily accessible from both References and Resources and from the left navigation bar on each Recommendations contents pages.
• Appendix B removed: In the coming months, the former Appendix B, lists of Teaming Practices, will be reformatted and posted as an additional tool that will support middle grades success.
• The Professional Learning Activities have been organized in Recommendation order.
• Spotlights on school practices have been reorganized and are now accessible from Recommendations in Action.
• Acknowledgements and Taking Center Stage [Book published in 2001] (PDF; 4.6MB; 276pp.) can now be found on the About TCSII Index.
• The link to Middle Grades Spotlight: A Best Practice Periodical: Archived copies of this best practice periodical for middle grades educators can now be found in the Document Library.
• A-Z Hot Links, Acronyms, Bibliography, and Glossary can all be found under References and Resources.

Chapter List and Table of Contents have been eliminated to centralize content and simplify navigation.

Be sure to Subscribe to the Middle Grades Electronic Mailing List. It is easier than ever to sign up to ensure that you will receive notification about new tools and information as they are added to TCSII.

Update your bookmarks so that you can get to all of your old and new favorites.

Please Contact Us and let us know how you like the new look!

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