School: Schools to Watch Program (and application process) is the self-study tool containing the National Forum Schools to Watch criteria.  Pennsylvania Don Eichhorn Schools: Schools to Watch and the National Forum believe that youth in the middle grades are capable of learning and achieving at high levels.  We share a sense of urgency that high-performing middle grades schools become the norm, not the exception.  To that end, the National Forum identified a set of selection criteria to describe high-performing schools that serve students in the middle grades.  Pennsylvania adopted these criteria in the form of the self-rating rubric.  To begin the application process, a school must convene a school learning community to investigate their achievement in the areas of academic excellence, developmental responsiveness, social equity and school organization.  The insights revealed through the use of this rubric are powerful and rewarding.

 

What if we begin the process and realize we are not ready to be a Pennsylvania Don Eichhorn School?  Should we submit our application?  Yes!  From the moment you begin working with the self-rating rubric, you are increasing your school’s capacity for self-improvement.  Even if you are not ready to be designated a School to Watch you can receive valuable feedback on your school’s application.  In the event your application is of great interest to the readers, you may receive a site visit from middle grades experts that will provide you with additional feedback.  Even schools that receive the designation begin a process of school improvement with the support of Pennsylvania Don Eichhorn Schools: Schools to Watch.  At every stage, Pennsylvania Don Eichhorn Schools are building capacity to increase student achievement.

 

What process is used to determine if a school is designated a Pennsylvania Don Eichhorn

School?  The National Forum to Accelerate Middle Grades Reform crafted a vision that describes the characteristics of high-performing middle grades schools.  With this vision as a basis, National Forum members then developed a set of rigorous criteria that could be used to identify such high-performing schools.  These became known as the Schools to Watch criteria.

 

The STW criteria themselves are important, since they represent a set of rigorous, research-based indicators against which schools can measure their own performance and set improvement benchmarks.  In addition, they serve as the basis for identifying exemplars at the state level.

 

Using a rubric fashioned upon the national STW criteria, Pennsylvania Don Eichhorn Schools: Schools to Watch Support Team members evaluate applications for “potential” schools to serve as designees.  It is important to note that schools do not compete with each other for designations, but rather they compete with the rigorous criteria used to identify high-performing schools.  If your application is of great interest to the readers, you will be selected for site visitation.  A group from the larger Pennsylvania Don Eichhorn Schools:  Schools to Watch Support Team will spend a day in your school further evaluating your application and your potential to serve as a high-performing, growth-oriented middle grades school that will demonstrate what all middle grades schools are capable of achieving.

 

Support Team members currently include diverse, talented, experienced professionals working in the area of middle school improvement.  Members work in various capacities, i.e. middle school teachers and counselors, middle school administrators, district administrators, college and university professors and administrators, etc.