Common Planning Time

A recent research study on the effective use of common planning time at the middle school level investigates numerous factors to determine best practices. The research study was created by Christopher Cook, Ph.D., and Shawn Faulkner, Ph.D, both of Northern Kentucky University. The study was published in the online journal of Research in Middle Level Education, RMLE and the abstract is available online at the National Middle School Association website.

The focus of this study is "the effective use of common planning time in high-performing middle schools" (Cook & Faulkner, pg. 3, 2010). Two high achieving public schools were selected for analysis, Lincoln Middle School and Washington Middle School both located in Kentucky. The study employed comparative qualitative data analysis gathered through the structured observations of team meetings and teacher interviews. Common themes emerged at the middle schools examined and the results are as follows:

• Clearly defined common planning time goals
• Effective building level leadership
• Common vision and mission of participants

One statistic of note was the relative lack of experience of the teachers surveyed in this comparative case study. Teachers at Lincoln Middle School reported an average of 7.2 years of experience while Washington Middle School teachers had 5.2 years. The study poses the interesting question, "Does the relative professional youth of the faculty indicate that the building level leadership had actively and successfully complied a staff that would embrace the mission of the school, resulting in the effective use of common planning time?" (Cook & Faulkner, pg. 11, 2010). The entire research study is available online as a PDF here.

Study promotes economic integration to increase student achievement

An article in the Washington Post on October 15, 2010 focused upon the positive effects of 'economic integration' of low-income students across school district. The research study found that low-income students had higher rates of achievement when attending affluent elementary school in comparison to low-income students who attended elementary schools with higher rates of poverty. This study was accomplished by examining an existing income achievement gap in the Montgomery County Public School District in Maryland.

The Washington Post newspaper article outlines the study which, "tracked the performance of 858 elementary students in public housing scattered across Montgomery from 2001 to 2007. Researchers see the results as especially significant because Montgomery, one of the nation's best and largest public school districts with 144,000 students, has been uncommonly aggressive in seeking to improve the performance of students in schools with higher poverty."

The Washington Post article summarizes the concepts from the educational researcher, Heather Schwartz, who authored study, "Housing Policy is School Policy: Economically Integrative Housing Promotes Academic Success in Montgomery County, Maryland." Her entire study can be found here.

You can read the entire Washington Post newspaper article online here.

Technology promotes educational change

Quest to Learn, is a public middle school located in New York City, which employs a curriculum centered upon multimedia video games for group learning. The middle school students create podcasts, edit videos, play video games, and utilize other technologies to promote interdisciplinary learning.

The school, Quest to Learn, states that it is a "school for digital kids. It is a community where students learn to see the world as composed of many different kinds of systems." source http://q2l.org/

The video clip below titled "Games Theory" from the New York Times magazine posted online September 15, 2010 describes this school and documents the educational rationale for using technology as the cornerstone of Quest to Learn.