Focus by Michael Dales, on Flickr
In 2001 I worked on a proposal that got us a grant from the Gates Foundation for what they called back then Model Schools. Unfortunately, they found the Model Schools framework a failure so they dumped it in favor of their current efforts to test and measure to death. I couldn’t even find any info on the model schools program when I Googled it. Honestly, I didn’t try very hard. I typed in Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Model Schools Grant and found nothing related to that actual model on the first page so I gave up.
One of the features they had found back then that successful schools had in common was that they worked better when they were small. Schools and districts were given money and support for breaking into smaller schools, even schools within schools. I liked that idea but didn’t think it applied to us because we have about 240 students in grades 6 to 8 with 10 staff. Not the smallest middle school around but pretty small.
The other feature they found successful schools had was a common focus. As part of our grant work we were going through a process that included establishing our own school common focus. As they explained it the common focus was the theme that described what the school was about. It was the umbrella that everything else came under. This was a long enough time ago that I can’t find the examples of schools that showed incredible success by having a great common focus but I have one that I’ll share in a bit that a colleague shared with me a few months ago.
I’ll start by sharing what we did that did NOT work. First, we went through the process of choosing our common focus, our middle school theme, our identity, our one thing (reference where to the first City Slickers movie) without including our students. I don’t think we even included parents. So when we finally rolled out our new common focus kids didn’t buy into it. At all.
The second and probably even graver mistake we made was in choosing a theme or focus that wasn’t clear or focused! It was way too broad. We chose Knowledge is Power. Ugh. This mantra still shows up on our school website and is part of our school improvement plan, it’s even on sweatshirts, but has little relevance to our daily work. Even back then if you’d ask us each what our common focus meant you’d get ten different explanations. We were warned that it wasn’t going to work, that it was too broad, and yet we stuck with it. I really can’t remember why but part of it is that we couldn’t agree on anything else. We didn’t have anyone to choose one focus or theme and tell the rest of us, “this is it, this is the one and we’re all going to work under this umbrella.”
A few of us on the staff have been discussing our desire to have a common focus for our school. The one thing that defines us. The one thing that we can tell parents and kids to expect in every classroom. Our common ground. One school in our state that has had success choosing such a focus is Neah Bay High School with their Growing a Growth Mindset to Boost Students’ Achievement: The Neah Bay Secondary Program Example. That really appeals to me. And I’m at the point that I almost don’t care, almost, what our common focus is as long as we have one!
We tried having Math as our common focus but it didn’t last. We tried having Writing as our common focus but it didn’t last. I’m not sure why they didn’t work. A content focus can work, I’ve heard of schools that focus on one content area and have the same successes as Neah Bay. The success factor lies in how well you implement your common focus and the buy in. From all stake holders. We have a new principal this year so maybe this fresh new start will be what our school needs to make this happen and be even more successful. I’m hopeful.
Any other examples out there of schools that have a common focus and are experiencing great success after doing so?
