Reality Check – Eastern Middle School - DEMO

Look at the current reality of your school and district by answering the questions below. You may want to develop some questions of your own. The leadership group needs to decide who should participate in this exercise and who would benefit from it. It is likely that people will respond to these so-called factual questions in different ways, depending on the position they hold, perhaps even the way they see the world. The purpose of this guided discussion is to help people understand that we all see things differently and that to communicate effectively with one another, it is important that each understands the other’s point of view.

Sample Questions

• What would you do if you had more time with students?
• Are students tracked in our school?
• How seriously do we take the maxim, "All students can learn"?
• What are some things done in our school that tell students they are capable of learning? Do we do things that send messages that some students cannot learn challenging subject matter?
• Is there some form of an "individually guided program" for each student who is not achieving at high levels? If not, should there be?
• Do we have different curricula for some students?
• What are some of the teaching styles employed in our school that help low-achieving students?

Begin by having each person answer the question by making private notes. Follow by having people share their responses. The leader should ask probing questions—"There are differences of opinion about tracking in this school. What causes those differences in perception about what should be a factual question?"

If the group is large, have people work in smaller groups and then share their responses on flip charts.

At the end of the meeting, ask participants to draw lessons from the discussion. The entire group can participate in this summation. Or before the meeting, the group can appoint a "keeper of the lessons" who can report to the whole group.