Middle School Initiative

1. Middle School Initiative • Presentation to the Panel for Education Policy • August 20th, 2007 Dr. Marcia V. Lyles, Deputy Chancellor Division of Teaching and Learning

2. 10% have special education needs 10.5% are English Language Learners 51% are male 49% are female * Information as of 10/31/06 Our Middle Schools: An Overview We serve 223,494 students in grades 6-8* American Indian/Alaskan Native(<1%) Asian (13%) Hispanic (40%) White (14%) Black/African American (33%)

3. Our Middle Schools: An Overview • Our 223,494 students attend 588 schools Number of Schools by School Type ~50% of middle school students attend a Grade 6-8 school

4. Middle School Improvementsunder Children First Curriculum Reform Building Principal and Teacher Capacity • Creation or conversion of 79 new schools with middle grades since 2003, expansion of CTT classrooms in middle schools, extended day programs for 17,000 middle school students • Ramp-Up to Literacy, Impact Mathematics, Teaching American History grants, Science scope and sequence, Urban Advantage science program, “Physical Best” curriculum, iTeach/iLearn, QTEL series • Literacy and math coaches, Leadership Academy and New School Incentive training and support, increasing devolution of funds to principals Middle School Reform Under Children First Increased Accountability Supported by Interventions Targeted Restructuring of Schools • New promotional policy that established outcome-based standards for promotion for seventh graders

5. 2006 2007 Middle School Performanceunder Children First English Language Arts: Percent of Students in Performance Levels 3 + 4 Mathematics: Percent of Students in Performance Levels 3 + 4 One-year change: +1.1% +1.2% +5.2% +10.5% +11.6% +6.7% Source: New York City Department of Education, Assessment and Accountability, http://schools.nyc.gov/daa

6. Middle School Performanceunder Children First Student Performance: Grade 8 Math – Levels 3, 4 ELA – Levels 3, 4 Math – Level 1 ELA – Level 1 Source: New York City Department of Education, Assessment and Accountability, http://schools.nyc.gov/daa

7. Middle School Initiative: Objectives • Rationale: • The middle school years are a critical pre-curser to student success in high school and beyond, yet it is during these years that students face increased academic, social, and emotional challenges which require heightened levels of support. • Goals: • To build capacity among middle school educators and administrators to provide high quality instructional programs that meet the needs of their student populations • To provide all middle school students with the high quality instructional programs and support they need to achieve academic success

8. Middle School Initiative: Priorities • Priorities for Middle School Improvement • Takes into account recommendations of the City Council’s Middle School Task Force • Hiring a new Director of Middle School Initiatives • Providing increased professional development options to middle school educators • Targeting 50 high needs middle schools and providing them with increased levels of support • Using $5 million from City Hall to provide a menu of options to targeted schools • Expanding middle school students’ access to Regents-level coursework

9. Middle School Initiative: Next Steps (1 of 2)

10. Middle School Initiative: Next Steps (2 of 2)