Introduction


 * Start with focus on who are the kids; reason we do what we do; if we do this, will it be best for kids (what is the THIS)
 * Talk about BRIM as framework for school improvement; talk about TWB as the characteristics necessary to implement a successful school for young adolescents
 * Use BRIM and TWB crosswalk
 * Highlight examples of common research (and practices, i.e. teaming) used in both documents
 * Focus on idea that both documents are focused on implementing successful schools for young adolescents and are compatible/supportive of each other; make sense when used in partnership for school improvement; "we're saying the same thing using different language"
 * Today's principals are coming in younger, with less educational experience/background, and with less time to prove themselves due to demands of getting schools up to speedtherefore need to address challenges of school improvement initiatives in a time of high stakes testing, limited school budgets and the fact there are only 24 hours in a day....
 * Balfanz research--highlight the critical importance of the role that middle schools play in high school drop out problem--the idea that kids can become disengaged in middle school but not actually drop out until high school
 * A Leader’s Legacy (Kouzes & Posner) Leadership is about taking people to places they’ve never been before, and we can’t go to those places without courage. Leadership is courage in action. Courage gives us the energy to move forward. Courage gives us the confidence to believe we can make it. Courage gives us the strength to sustain ourselves in the darkest hours. Courage enables us to leave a legacy that declares, “I was here and I made a difference.”
 * It is easy for those who don't work with middle level students to forget that 6th graders are only 5 or 6 years removed from their teddy bears;those who do work with middle level student sometimes forget that, by the time students leave "the middle" the rigors are only 4 short years away. BRIM,
 * Wallace foundation reserach
 * ACT Report - The Forgotten Middle - emphasizes the importance of the middle level for post secondary success

The Power of Collaboration: Tying together **//This We Believe//** and **//Breaking Ranks in the Middle//** // This We Believe // (NMSA 2009) states that: “Education is equally responsible for the academic growth and achievement and for the personal growth and development of each of its students. Educators respect the inherent, personal dignity of each individual while simultaneously providing positive and meaningful pathways for each individual to connect successfully with the immediate society and with humanity at large. To fulfill its portion of this crucial mission, successful middle level education must therefore be: 1) **Developmentally responsive**: using the distinctive nature of young adolescents as the foundation on which all decisions about school organization, policies, and programs are made 2) **Challenging**: recognizing that every student can learn and every member of the learning community is held to high expectations. 3) **Empowering**: providing all students with the knowledge and skills they need to take control of their lives, to successfully address life's challenges, to function successfully at all levels of society, and to be creators of knowledge 4) **Equitable**: advocating for every student’s right to learn and providing appropriately challenging and relevant learning opportunities for every student. In //This We Believe//, these four essential attributes of successful middle level education constitute an overarching framework connecting the characteristic areas and the interdependent characteristics themselves.” // Breaking Ranks in the Middle // (NASSP 2006) was designed to “provide tools for and examples of ways middle level school principals can complete the unfinished business of creating academically excellent, developmentally appropriate, and socially equitable schools. (It) focuses on the implementation of recommendations in which principals have a significant role and offers strategies for school leadership teams to consider and adapt in accordance with local conditions and expectations…(and strives) to make schools more student centered by personalizing programs, support services, and intellectual challenges for all students.” (pg xviii) BRIM is not a model of, nor a recipe for school improvement. Instead, it is a framework that can be adapted to meet the individual needs of a school by providing tools and resources that serve as conversation starters for schools wishing to implement proven middle level practices. If middle level educators wish to truly transform their schools, it is essential to address these elements of school improvement as a unit, not by “cherry picking” from the list. While worded slightly differently, both NMSA and NASSP recognize that the key to improving education at the middle level is by simultaneously targeting three areas within the school: Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment (both); Collaborative Leadership & Professional Learning Communities (NASSP) or Leadership and Organization (NMSA); and Personalizing the Environment (NASSP) or Culture and Community (NMSA). A powerful plan for school improvement can be created when a school ties together the framework and recommendations found in BRIM with the essential characteristics of middle level education as defined in TWB. The following chart illustrates how the elements of both documents can be tied together. The 9 cornerstone strategies found in BRIM were written to serve as entry points into school improvement -- but to be successfully implemented, schools must address the characteristics of successful middle level schools. Text in red is from BRIM, in green from TWB. · // 9 Cornerstone Strategies from // · // Breaking Ranks in the Middle //  || · Establish the academically rigorous essential learning that a student is required to master in order to successfully make the transition to high school and align the curriculum and teaching strategies to realize this goal. || · Curriculum that is relevant, challenging, integrative, and exploratory. · Educators use multiple learning and teaching approaches. · Students and teachers are engaged in purposeful, active learning. · Varied and ongoing assessments advance learning as well as measure it. BRIM recommendations: 19, 21, 22, 24, 29 ||
 * · // Entry points into School Improvement //
 * Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment ** ||
 * Leadership and Organization **
 * Collaborative Leadership and Professional Learning Communities ** || ** Culture and Community ** ** Personalizing the Environment **  ||
 * ·

BRIM recommendations: 1 || || ·  || ·  Students and teachers are engaged in purposeful, active learning. · Educators use multiple learning and teaching approaches.
 * · Create dynamic teacher teams that are afforded common planning time to help organize and improve the quality and quantity of interactions between teachers and students.

BRIM recommendations: 21 || · Organizational structures foster purposeful learning and meaningful relationships.

BRIM recommendations: 1, 4 || · Every student's academic and personal development is guided by an adult advocate.

BRIM recommendations: 10, 11, 14 || ·  || <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #339966; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">·  Curriculum that is relevant, challenging, integrative, and exploratory. <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #339966; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· Varied and ongoing assessments advance learning as well as measure it. <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #339966; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· Educators use multiple learning and teaching approaches.
 * <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: red; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· Provide structured planning time for teachers to align curriculum across grades and schools and to map efforts that address the academic, developmental, social, and personal needs of students, especially at critical transition periods (eg. Elementary to Middle and Middle to High)

BRIM recommendations: 22, 23, 29 || <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #339966; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· Organizational structures foster purposeful learning and meaningful relationships.

BRIM recommendations: 1, 3 ||

BRIM recommendations: 12, 13, 18 ||
 * <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: red; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· Implement a comprehensive advisory or other program that ensures that the student has frequent and meaningful opportunities to meet with an adult to plan and assess the student’s academic, personal, and social development ||

BRIM recommendations: 22, 23 ||

BRIM recommendations: 1 || <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #339966; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· Comprehensive guidance and support services meet the needs of young adolescents <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #339966; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· The school environment is inviting, safe, inclusive, and supportive of all. <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #339966; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· Every student's academic and personal development is guided by an adult advocate. <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #339966; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· School-wide programs, policies, and curricula promote health and wellness. BRIM recommendations: 11, 12, 16 || <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #339966; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· Students and teachers are engaged in purposeful, active learning. <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #339966; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· Varied and ongoing assessments advance learning as well as measure it. BRIM recommendations: 25, 27, 28, 30 || <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #339966; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· Leaders are committed to and knowledgeable about this age group, educational research, and best practices.
 * <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: red; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· Ensure that teachers assess the individual learning needs of students and tailor instructional strategies and multiple assessments accordingly || <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #339966; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">·  Educators use multiple learning and teaching approaches.

BRIM recommendations: 1, 5, 6 ||

BRIM recommendations: 15 ||

<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;"> <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #339966; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· Varied and ongoing assessments advance learning as well as measure it.
 * <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: red; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· Entrust teachers with the responsibility of implementing schedules that are flexible enough to accommodate teaching strategies consistent with the ways students learn most effectively and that allow for effective teacher teaming, common planning time, and other lesson planning. || <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #339966; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">·  Educators value young adolescents and are prepared to teach them.

BRIM recommendations: 21, 26, 27, 28 || <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #339966; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· Leaders are committed to and knowledgeable about this age group, educational research, and best practices. <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #339966; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· Leaders demonstrate courage and collaboration. <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #339966; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· Organizational structures foster purposeful learning and meaningful relationships.

BRIM recommendations: 1, 3, 4 ||

BRIM recommendations: 5 ||
 * <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: red; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· Institute structural leadership systems that allow for substantive involvement in decision-making by students, teachers, family members, and the community, and that support effective communication among these groups. ||

BRIM recommendations: 29 || <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #339966; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· Leaders demonstrate courage and collaboration. <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #339966; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· A shared vision that is developed by all stakeholders guides every decision.

BRIM recommendations: 1, 2, 4, 7, 8, 9 || <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #339966; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· The school actively involves families in the education of their children. <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #339966; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· The school includes community and business groups as partners. ||
 * <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: red; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· Align all programs and structures so that all social, economic, and racial/ethnic groups have open and equal access to challenging activities and learning. || <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #339966; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">·  Curriculum that is relevant, challenging, integrative, and exploratory.

BRIM recommendations: 20, 22, 23, 25 || <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #339966; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· Organizational structures foster purposeful learning and meaningful relationships.

BRIM recommendations: 1 || <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #339966; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· The school environment is inviting, safe, inclusive, and supportive of all.

BRIM recommendations: 12, 13, 17 || <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #339966; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· Educators use multiple learning and teaching approaches.
 * <span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman'; color: red; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial; msofareastfontfamily: Arial; msolist: Ignore;"> Align the school wide comprehensive ongoing Professional Development program and plans of staff members with the requisite knowledge of content, instructional strategies, and student development factors. || <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #339966; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· Educators value young adolescents and are prepared to teach them.

BRIM recommendations: 25, 26, 30 || <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #339966; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· Ongoing professional development reflects best educational practices. <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #339966; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· A shared vision that is developed by all stakeholders guides every decision. <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #339966; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· Leaders are committed to and knowledgeable about this age group, educational research, and best practices BRIM recommendations: 1, 5 || <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #339966; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· School-wide programs, policies, and curricula promote health and wellness. ||

// Recommendations from Breaking Ranks in the Middle // **<span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Univers-CondensedBold; mso-bidi-font-family: Univers-CondensedBold;">1. **<span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Univers-CondensedLight; mso-bidi-font-family: Univers-CondensedLight;">The principal will provide leadership in the school community by building and maintaining a vision, direction, and focus for student learning. <span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Univers-CondensedLight; mso-bidi-font-family: Univers-CondensedLight;"> <span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Univers-CondensedBold; mso-bidi-font-family: Univers-CondensedBold;"> **<span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Univers-CondensedBold; mso-bidi-font-family: Univers-CondensedBold;">10. **<span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Univers-CondensedLight; mso-bidi-font-family: Univers-CondensedLight;">Schools will create small units in which anonymity is banished. <span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Univers-CondensedLight; mso-bidi-font-family: Univers-CondensedLight;"> <span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Univers-CondensedLight; mso-bidi-font-family: Univers-CondensedLight;"> 19. Each school will identify a set of essential learnings—in literature and language, writing, mathematics, social studies, science, and the arts—in which students must demonstrate achievement in order to advance to the next level. 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. 22. The content of the curriculum, where practical, will connect to real-life applications of knowledge and skills, and will extend beyond the school campus to help students link their education to the future and to the community. 23. The school will promote service programs and student activities as integral to an education, providing opportunities for all students that support and extend academic learning. 24. Teachers will design high-quality work and teach in ways that engage students, cause them to persist, and, when the work is successfully completed, result in student satisfaction and acquisition of knowledge, critical- thinking and problem-solving skills, and other abilities. 25. Teachers will know and be able to use a variety of strategies and settings that identify and accommodate individual learning needs and engage students. 26. Each teacher will have a broad base of academic knowledge, with depth in at least one subject area. 27. Teachers will be adept at acting as coaches and facilitators to promote more active involvement of students in their own learning. 28. Teachers will integrate assessment into instruction so that assessment is accomplished using a variety of methods that do not merely measure students but become part of the learning process. 29. Recognizing that schooling is a continuum, educators must understand what is required of students at every stage and ensure a smooth transition academically and socially for each student from grade to grade and from level to level. 30. Schools will develop a strategic plan to make technology integral to curriculum, instruction, and assessment, accommodating different learning needs and helping teachers individualize and improve the learning process.
 * <span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Univers-CondensedBold; mso-bidi-font-family: Univers-CondensedBold;"> Collaborative Leadership and Professional Learning Communities **
 * <span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Univers-CondensedBold; mso-bidi-font-family: Univers-CondensedBold;">2. **<span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Univers-CondensedLight; mso-bidi-font-family: Univers-CondensedLight;">Each school will establish a site council and accord other meaningful roles in decision making to students, parents, and members of the staff to promote student learning and an atmosphere of participation, responsibility, and ownership.
 * <span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Univers-CondensedBold; mso-bidi-font-family: Univers-CondensedBold;">3. **<span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Univers-CondensedLight; mso-bidi-font-family: Univers-CondensedLight;">Each school will regard itself as a community in which members of the staff collaborate to develop and implement the school’s learning goals.
 * <span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Univers-CondensedBold; mso-bidi-font-family: Univers-CondensedBold;">4. **<span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Univers-CondensedLight; mso-bidi-font-family: Univers-CondensedLight;">Teachers and teacher teams will provide the leadership essential to the success of reform and will collaborate with others in the educational community to redefine the role of the teacher and identify sources of support for that redefined role.
 * <span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Univers-CondensedBold; mso-bidi-font-family: Univers-CondensedBold;">5. **<span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Univers-CondensedLight; mso-bidi-font-family: Univers-CondensedLight;">Every school will be a learning community in which professional development for teachers and the principal is guided by a Personal Learning Plan that addresses the individual’s learning and professional development needs as they relate to the academic achievement and developmental needs of students at the middle level.
 * <span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Univers-CondensedBold; mso-bidi-font-family: Univers-CondensedBold;">6. **<span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Univers-CondensedLight; mso-bidi-font-family: Univers-CondensedLight;">The school community will promote policies and practices that recognize diversity in accord with the core values of a democratic and civil society and will offer substantive, ongoing professional development to help educators appreciate issues of diversity and expose students to a rich array of viewpoints, perspectives, and experiences.
 * <span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Univers-CondensedBold; mso-bidi-font-family: Univers-CondensedBold;">7. **<span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Univers-CondensedLight; mso-bidi-font-family: Univers-CondensedLight;">Schools will build partnerships with institutions of higher education to provide teachers and administrators at both levels with ideas and opportunities to enhance the education, performance, and evaluation of educators.
 * <span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Univers-CondensedBold; mso-bidi-font-family: Univers-CondensedBold;">8. **<span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Univers-CondensedLight; mso-bidi-font-family: Univers-CondensedLight;">Schools will develop political and financial relationships with individuals, organizations, and businesses to support and supplement educational programs and policies.
 * <span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Univers-CondensedBold; mso-bidi-font-family: Univers-CondensedBold;">9. **<span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Univers-CondensedLight; mso-bidi-font-family: Univers-CondensedLight;">At least once every five years, each school will convene a broadly based external review panel to develop and deliver a public description of the school, a requirement that could be met in conjunction with the evaluations of state, regional, and other accrediting groups.
 * <span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Univers-CondensedBold; mso-bidi-font-family: Univers-CondensedBold;"> Personalization and the School Environment **
 * <span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Univers-CondensedBold; mso-bidi-font-family: Univers-CondensedBold;">11. **<span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Univers-CondensedLight; mso-bidi-font-family: Univers-CondensedLight;">Each teacher involved in the instructional program on a full-time basis will be responsible for contact time with no more than 90 students, so that the teacher can give greater attention to the needs of every student.
 * <span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Univers-CondensedBold; mso-bidi-font-family: Univers-CondensedBold;">12. **<span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Univers-CondensedLight; mso-bidi-font-family: Univers-CondensedLight;">Each student will have a Personal Plan for Progress that will be reviewed often to ensure that the school takes individual needs into consideration and to allow students, within reasonable parameters, to design their own methods for learning in an effort to meet high standards.
 * <span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Univers-CondensedBold; mso-bidi-font-family: Univers-CondensedBold;">13. **<span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Univers-CondensedLight; mso-bidi-font-family: Univers-CondensedLight;">Each student will have a Personal Adult Advocate to help him or her personalize the educational experience.
 * <span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Univers-CondensedBold; mso-bidi-font-family: Univers-CondensedBold;">14. **<span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Univers-CondensedLight; mso-bidi-font-family: Univers-CondensedLight;">Teachers and administrators will convey a sense of caring so that students know that teachers have a stake in student learning.
 * <span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Univers-CondensedBold; mso-bidi-font-family: Univers-CondensedBold;">15. **<span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Univers-CondensedLight; mso-bidi-font-family: Univers-CondensedLight;">Each school will develop flexible scheduling and student grouping patterns to meet the individual needs of students and to ensure academic success.
 * <span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Univers-CondensedBold; mso-bidi-font-family: Univers-CondensedBold;">16. **<span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Univers-CondensedLight; mso-bidi-font-family: Univers-CondensedLight;">The school will engage students’ families as partners in the students’ education.
 * <span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Univers-CondensedBold; mso-bidi-font-family: Univers-CondensedBold;">17. **<span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Univers-CondensedLight; mso-bidi-font-family: Univers-CondensedLight;">The school community, which cannot be values-neutral, will advocate and model a set of core values essential in a democratic and civil society.
 * <span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Univers-CondensedBold; mso-bidi-font-family: Univers-CondensedBold;">18. **<span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Univers-CondensedLight; mso-bidi-font-family: Univers-CondensedLight;">Schools, in conjunction with agencies in the community, will help coordinate the delivery of physical and mental health as well as social services.
 * <span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Univers-CondensedBold; mso-bidi-font-family: Univers-CondensedBold;"> Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment **