Schools to Watch

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A Brief History of the STW Program

The National Forum to Accelerate Middle-Grades Reform launched its Schools to Watch program in 1999 to identify, recognize, and learn from schools that were performing in an exemplary fashion in each of the three core areas the Forum has identified as being critical for a high performing middle-grades school—academic excellence, developmental responsiveness, and social equity. Underpinning these must be strong organizational and support structures.

The National Forum sought to identify the characteristics that one would expect to find in a high-performing middle grades school, and to develop specific criteria that would capture what high-performing schools were “doing right,” and would also serve as a guide to other schools looking to improve their own practice. The Forum was aware that there are many schools across the country that provide students a curriculum that stresses academic rigor while also meeting the needs of young adolescents, and Schools to Watch is now a vehicle for making these schools places that others can learn from while recognizing and honoring them for meeting the rigorous criteria. Schools that are Schools to Watch understand that the highest level of achievement occurs when ALL students are challenged with a rigorous curriculum in an environment that supports their growth and development. In short, Schools to Watch have something to teach other schools.

The National Forum developed 37 criteria in the key areas of academic excellence, developmental responsiveness, social equity, and organizational support, and began a pilot program to find the first “Schools to Watch.” After a national search, four schools—one in Kentucky, two in Illinois, and one in Texas—were identified in 1999 and 2000. These schools were carefully documented and numerous educators and policy-makers have visited them over the last four years to learn how they deal with their many challenges and manage to maintain a sustained trajectory of improvement. It is important to note that the point of Schools to Watch is to infuse the criteria into every day school practice, and to influence language and policy about middle grades schools. Honoring Schools to Watch is an important, but secondary, part of the program.

To infuse the criteria into schools and classrooms around the country and to accelerate the overall rate of middle-grades reform, the members of the National Forum recognized that the program needed to be operating at the state level. A call for proposals went out in the spring of 2002 and the Forum selected three states—California, Georgia, and North Carolina—to be the first Schools to Watch states. Each state had a long history of middle-grades reform, and each state brought to the program an established partnership of interested middle-grades stakeholders. These state-level leaders included departments of education, middle school associations, principal and curriculum leadership groups, and educators and administrators from both the middle grades and university level. In 2003, the state Schools to Watch collaboratives identified their first 10 Schools to Watch. These partnerships created at the state level have been enormously powerful instruments of change, and have generated many positive outcomes.

Following the successful roll-out of Schools to Watch in California, Georgia, and North Carolina, the membership of the Forum decided to bring more states into the fold. Colorado, Illinois, Kentucky, and Virginia applied and became Schools to Watch states in 2003. During the 2003-2004 school year, the seven states recognized 26 more schools as being “Schools to Watch”—bringing the total to 40 nationwide.

The Schools to Watch program continues to grow and gather momentum. The four national associations participating in the National Forum and Schools to Watch—the National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP), the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP), the National Middle School Association (NMSA), and the National Staff Development Council (NSDC)—have been instrumental in conceptualizing, promoting and supporting the effort. Each has highlighted the program at national conferences through pre-conference sessions, workshops, and school spotlights, promoted Schools to Watch on the web and in publications, and shared information through their networks. In addition, the four associations have also encouraged state and regional affiliates to form partnerships to strengthen the effort. These contributions have been extremely beneficial.

Through public awareness created by the attendance of thousands at Schools to Watch celebrations, through television, radio, and newspaper coverage of recognized schools, and through attendance at presentations made at state and national conferences, the program has been generating a “buzz” in the community. The program also continues to grow, with the Forum selecting New York and Ohio in April of 2004 to join the effort, bringing the total number of states to 9—almost 20% of the nation.

The 40 Schools to Watch are all very different places. Some are urban, others rural. Some have several thousand students, some several hundred. Some are in high-wealth areas; others are in high-poverty areas. Some are from very homogeneous communities; others have great racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic diversity. Yet all of them are meeting the challenges of middle grades education in ways that foster a community where academic excellence, developmental responsiveness, and social equity thrive. Educators from neighboring districts—and from across the country—have visited and learned from these schools. The National Forum strongly encourages those interested to contact and visit these schools. (See list of schools.) Each has important lessons to share with others that will accelerate and enhance reform in middle-level schools.