1. communicating to students what it takes to make an “A” or “B” in academic and career/technical classrooms;
2. getting students to redo work until it meets standards in academic and career/technical classes;
3. motivating students to work hard to meet high expectations in academic and career/technical classrooms;
4. receiving support from school leaders to set and get all students to meet high performance goals; and
5. helping students acquire skills and habits necessary to become successful learners.

2. Creating conditions that support teachers in setting high expectations and getting high performance from all groups of students. District, school and teacher leaders share how they support teachers by:

1. finding time for common planning aimed at 1) developing standards-driven instructional plans; 2) planning integrated assignments, units and projects across academic and career/technical courses; and 3) supporting senior projects that incorporate research, reading, writing, mathematics and oral presentations;
2. educating high school and middle grades parents and students about the level of effort required for high school and postsecondary success by establishing such strategies as a schoolwide homework policy;
3. getting agreement on what constitutes Basic, Proficient and Advanced student work, assessments and scoring guides;
4. creating study groups to analyze data and technical assistance reports and to develop and implement school and classroom improvement plans;
5. providing teachers with quality staff development aligned to school improvement plans through demonstration classrooms, peer observations, peer coaching, an induction and mentoring program for new teachers, distance learning, and state and national workshops; and
6. helping teachers learn how to develop instructional plans for students from diverse backgrounds, to use emerging technology tools effectively to promote higher level learning and to engage students with research-based instructional strategies, such as cooperative learning, project-based learning, real-world problem-solving, simulations, Socratic seminars, conflict analysis, analysis of primary sources and current events, determining cause and effect, high-level questioning techniques, and assessments that require constructed responses.

3. Providing students access to high-quality, high demand career/technical studies that result in high academic and technical achievement, increased high school completion rates and readiness for postsecondary studies and good jobs. Leaders and teachers share programs, practices and experiences that have improved the outcome for students by:

1. having students complete exploratory studies in the middle grades with a mathematics and science focus;
2. aligning course syllabi, teacher assignments, evaluation of student work and classroom assessments to academic and industry standards;
3. supporting career/technical teachers with mathematics, reading and science content knowledge and instructional skills needed to effectively have students read and use mathematics to complete major assignments in career/technical classrooms;
4. building students’ relationships with people from their chosen career field through mentoring, job shadowing, internships, entrepreneurships and/or work-based learning; and
5. providing students access to quality career/ technical studies through development of academic concentrations such as humanities or mathematics/science, small learning communities, career academies, career/technical centers, postsecondary institutions, dual enrollment, Web-based courses,  career academies, etc.

4. Providing students access to a rigorous and relevant academic core and an academic or career concentration that prepares them for further learning and work. Leaders and teachers share successful programs and practices in raising student expectations and getting higher performance in English/language arts, mathematics, science and social studies classrooms.

In ENGLISH/LANGUAGE ARTS by:

1. having all students, grades six through 12, complete an English/language arts sequence of courses that engages each student in reading at least the equivalent of eight books a year, completing short writing assignments each week and a major research paper each year;
2. establishing a schoolwide literacy campaign that emphasizes reading and writing across the curriculum; and having each student read at least the equivalent of 25 books a year, write short assignments each week in all classes and a major research paper each year in all classes;
3. getting middle grades students ready for college preparatory English in grade nine and getting seniors ready for postsecondary studies without having to take remedial courses; and

In MATHEMATICS by:

4. requiring all students to complete four years of mathematics at the Algebra I level and higher;
5. requiring students to complete or be ready for Algebra I by the end of grade eight and performing at least at the Basic level;
6. establishing a schoolwide campaign that emphasizes numeracy across the curriculum;
7. using research-based instructional strategies to advance mathematics achievement (See Objective 2.); and

In SCIENCE by:

8. having all students leave grade eight performing at least at the Basic level in science;
9. making greater use of man-made technology to teach science concepts in the middle grades and in high school;
10. requiring all students to complete at least three college-preparatory laboratory-based science courses or four such courses if the school is on a
    block schedule;
11. aligning the curriculum, teacher assignments, student work, classroom assessments and end-of course exams to science standards;
12. using research-based instructional strategies to advance science achievement (See Objective 2.); and
13. supporting high school and middle grades teachers with lab equipment, technology and facilities needed to teach science as inquiry based learning.

In SOCIAL STUDIES by:

14. aligning the curriculum with state/national content standards and developing pacing guides, course syllabi, assessments and scoring guides for each course;
15. using research-based instructional strategies to advance achievement (See Objective 2.); and
16. supporting schoolwide literacy and numeracy campaigns.

5. Motivating diverse groups of students to meet high performance standards. Practitioners will share successful strategies for advancing the achievement of an increasingly diverse student body through:

1. understanding how the school population is growing more diverse and the implications this has for changing what and how we teach and what we believe about who can learn at high levels;
2. giving students from families with less education access to challenging academic studies in high school and in the middle grades;
3. understanding learning strategies that work with non-English speaking learners;
4. getting at-risk students through high school by combining challenging academic and quality career/technical studies;
5. teaching at-risk students how to study and other habits that develop them as independent learners; and
6. understanding strategies that help students, in particular male students, to see the importance of doing well in the middle grades and in high school.

6. Supporting students to meet high expectations and high performance standards through successful relationships that involve extra-help programs and transition strategies from middle grades to ninth grade. Middle grades school leaders and teachers describe how they are

1. providing ongoing systems of extra help and time — support classes, tutoring, computer assisted instruction, Web-based instruction, resource classes, etc. — that enable students to meet course standards, pass high-stakes exams and to stay on course to graduate with their peers;
2. aligning the middle grades language arts and reading, mathematics and science curriculum to the standards needed to do challenging high school work;
3. providing special catch-up instructions in the late middle grades and early high school aligned to readiness indicators for doing college-preparatory English / language arts and Algebra I, such as summer bridge program, double dosing in grade nine, ninth grade academy, etc.

7. Supporting students to meet high expectations and high performance standards, through successful relationships that involve extra help programs and transition strategies from high school to post secondary studies and careers. High school and postsecondary school leaders and leaders describe how they are:

1. offering postsecondary transcripted credit in career/technical courses to high school students that prepare them for further study and good jobs;
2. having students demonstrate readiness for careers and postsecondary studies through national employer, performance, placement and other college readiness exams;
3. offering students ready for college an opportunity to earn postsecondary credit while still in high school;
4. using the senior year to help students not planning to attend college pursue career/technical studies in a high-demand field of their choosing and to make progress toward earning employer or postsecondary certification;
5. using the senior year to get students ready for postsecondary studies without having to take remedial courses by teaching specially designed English and mathematics courses to prepare students for further study; and
6. developing a special initiative to graduate 100 percent of the students who make it to the senior year.

8. Developing a teacher advisement system in high school and in the middle grades that includes an adult relationship with each student to support him or her to stay on track to graduate, achieve at higher levels and take the right classes that prepare the student for the next step. Practitioners share successful programs that meet student needs by:

1. helping each eighth-grader develop a six-year plan approved by parents upon entering the ninth grade; reviewing the plan each year and making adjustments as needed;
2. instituting intervention systems to address factors affecting student academic performance, such as absenteeism, unacceptable behavior and lack of motivation;
3. having teachers work with the same student advisees during high school and the middle grades;
4. holding at least annual student, adviser and parent conferences, either school- or student-led, that focus on career and educational options, requirements for high school graduation and postsecondary goals;
5. helping students — female and male — to see school as being important to their future; and
6. creating a guidance and advisement curriculum that is taught on a regular schedule by the advisers to their advisees.

9. Developing state, district and school policies and practices that create conditions for deeper implementation of the HSTW and MMGW designs. State and local leaders share successful policies, practices and resources aligned to support higher expectations and student performance by:

1. supporting a continuous climate in which teachers and leaders work together to improve curriculum, use data to diagnose deficiencies in school and classroom practices, and develop and implement plans to address them;
2. establishing clear, measurable mission statements that lead to improved instruction and higher student achievement;
3. supporting teachers with resources, training, clear expectations, walk-through observations, immediate feedback and improved working conditions;
4. seeking ways to fund school change by effective grant writing; and
5. developing teams of district and school leaders who can lead change and who can sustain it when there is change in district and school leadership.
    

For more information, please contact SummerStaffDev@sreb.org.