1.2 Change and the knowledge base of educational administration  (Page 5/16)

In 1961, the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) joined the growing number of educators who opposed the organizational structure, practices, andphilosophy of junior high schools and supported educational experiences that were developmentally responsive to the needs of 10to 15 year old learners. Advocates of the developmental approach proposed the establishment of schools in the middle, with purposesand structures distinctively unique from those found in high schools. The proposed middle school model was designed aroundinterdisciplinary teams of teachers who collaboratively instruct a shared group of students throughout the day. The new model alsoincluded a flexible grouping pattern for students and a variety of exploratory electives (George, et al., 1992).

Over the next three decades, the number of middle schools rapidly increased across the nation. Some schoolsattempted the change to middle schools but soon retreated to familiar practices and abandoned the idea of reform altogether.Some proclaimed they had changed but, in reality, were altered only on the surface and the junior high philosophy remained embeddedwithin the school’s culture. Many other schools were successful in their attempts at reform. This article examines an example of thelatter.

Local Context for Change

Within the national context of rapid middle school reform, the district under study hired a superintendent fromOhio, one of the birthplaces of the middle school movement. His experience served as an incentive to study the middle schoolconcept as a possibility for school reform in the district. The school board established an exploratory committee to provide acomprehensive report about middle schools and a proposed plan for implementing the model in the district. After reading the reportand implementation plan, the board approved the educational design and value of the middle school for adolescents but decided to delayits implementation.

Finally, after a 7-year delay and three superintendents later, the board approved a two-phaseimplementation plan. Phase One involved moving all of the district’s seventh and eighth graders into schools designated for middle schools and expanding the grade configuration of all highschools to grades 9-12. During Phase Two, the sixth graders would be added to the middle school. Because student enrollment levels inthe district had declined from 33,000 to 18,000 students, there was space available to establish middle schools without closing otherschools or changing school boundaries. The board designated the next 2 years as a preparation time for the transition anddesignated the Director of Staff Development as the Middle School Coordinator. Concrete implementation plans began the followingsummer.

For some parents the change to a middle school structure was welcomed. There were elevated rates of suspensions inthe existing junior high schools, and parents increasingly were transferring their children into private schools in the district.For some educators, the addition of ninth graders to the high schools was a solution to a growing athletic dilemma. One studyparticipant explained: