Essential Program Components # 2, 6, 7, and 8

2. Instructional time (adherence to instructional minutes for reading/language arts and mathematics (K-8) and high school access to standards-aligned core courses). Elementary and middle school levels: The school/district complies with, and monitors implementation of, required instructional time for the adopted programs for reading and language arts. This time should be given priority and be protected from interruptions.

6. Ongoing instructional assistance and support for teachers (use of content experts and instructional coaches)

7. Ongoing teacher collaboration by grade level

8. Flexibility in the lesson and course pacing schedule to allow sufficient interventions

Academic Excellence #6, 7, and 8; Social Equity #1

Academic Excellence

6. The faculty and master schedule provide students time to meet rigorous academic standards.
7. Students are provided the support they need to meet rigorous academic standards.
8. The adults in the school are provided time and frequent opportunities to enhance student achievement by working with colleagues to deepen their knowledge and to improve their standards-based practice.

Social Equity

1. To the fullest extent possible, all students, including English learners, students with disabilities, and gifted and honors students, participate in heterogeneous classes with high academic and behavioral expectations.

Essential Elements #3, 7, 8, and 11

3. The school must be committed to full implementation of the AVID program with students enrolled in the AVID year-long (9-10 months) elective class provided as an integral part of the academic school day. (If the AVID elective is offered in a “zero” period, there must be other academic classes offered at that same time.)
   
7. Collaboration, including structured AVID tutorials (as opposed to one-on-one tutoring or homework study sessions), is used to bring students together to develop their critical thinking skills and enable them to take responsibility for their own learning.
   
8. A sufficient number of tutors (recommended ratio is 1 tutor to 7 students) must be available in the AVID class to facilitate student access to rigorous curriculum. Tutors should be students from colleges and universities, and they must be trained to implement the WIC-R (writing, inquiry, collaboration and reading) methodologies used in AVID.
   
11. The school must have an active interdisciplinary site team that meets regularly and collaborates on issues of student access to and success in rigorous college preparatory classes. This site team should routinely set site goals, develop and implement a site plan, and document evidence to illustrate support for students’ access to and success in rigorous curriculum.

Cornerstone Strategies #15, 20, and 21

15. Each school will develop flexible scheduling and student grouping patterns to meet the individual needs of students and to ensure academic success.

20. Each school will present alternatives to tracking and ability grouping.

21. The school will reorganize the traditional department structure and foster the use of teacher teams provided with ample common planning time to integrate the school’s curriculum to the extent possible and emphasize depth over breadth of coverage.

Key issues in middle school

Allow time for staff collaboration and opportunities for students to demonstrate knowledge acquired through performance (page 2).

This report provides specific details about research results on key school reform models in the middle and high school levels. (Developed by American Institutes for Research [AIR] for the Comprehensive School Reform Quality Center, October 2006.)