"What a teacher is, is more important than what he teaches." -Karl Menninger
INVESTING IN INNOVATIONS (I3)
The Department of Education through Investing In Innovations (i3) initiative granted funding to the National Forum to Accelerate Middle-Grades Reform to implement a Middle-Grades Leadership Development process in 2013. This i3 grant supports six struggling middle schools in Kentucky and six middle schools in Michigan.
The Institute for Excellence in Education leads the Michigan initiative and partners with the following schools:
- Grant Middle School
- Marshall Greene Middle School in Birch Run
- Mt. Morris Middle School
- Oscoda Middle School
- Richfield Public School Academy Middle School in Flint
- Reese Middle School
Each of the six participating Michigan schools receive onsite coaching from IEE and administrators and teacher leaders participate in quarterly network meetings that provide professional learning and networking to support middle-grades reform.
The National Forum’s Schools To Watch criteria are a major focus of the work. Support is provided to leadership teams to align practices with the four domains of the STW criteria: Academic Excellence, Developmental Responsiveness, Social Equity, and Organizational Structures.
The following Michigan Schools were designated as Schools To Watch in 2017: Marshall Greene MS, Oscoda MS, and Richfield MS. It is anticipated that additional IEE schools will named STW in the coming year.
Results of the Middle-Grades Leadership Development initiative are available upon request.
You may also wish to contact the following middle-grades principals to find out more about their partnership with IEE:
- Lance Jones, Grant Middle School
- Scott Preston, Marshall Greene Middle School
- Al Peters, Mt. Morris Middle School
- Terry Allison, Oscoda Middle School
- Amy Boyles, Richfield Public School Academy Middle School
- David Hurst, Reese Middle School