Balancing Act: Best Practices in the Middle Grades. A Report from the California Best Practices Study

In the past, educators almost always looked for best practices in classrooms. In fact, when educators say "practice," they are generally talking about teacher practice. Yet 12 years of work at Springboard Schools (and its predecessor, the Bay Area School Reform Collaborative, or BASRC) argues that administrators, as well as teachers, need to worry about best practices. Equally important are organizational best practices for both schools and school districts. These kinds of best practices are crucial parts of creating school systems in which good teaching is the norm for every student in every classroom. Building on this initial study, which focused on schools in the Springboard Schools (then BASRC) network, the authors have spent three years conducting a statewide study whose goal was to identify the practices behind higher-than expected results. This report summarizes findings from schools serving middle grades students. Appended are: (1) Site Selection and Performance Data; (2) Artifacts from Case Study Schools; and (3) References. (Contains 4 figures, 3 tables and 19 footnotes.) [This report was supported by the Delantoni Trust at the San Francisco Foundation.]