In my story today, I take a closer look at two Baltimore County middle schools that managed to get off the state watch list, after making adequate yearly progress two years in a row.

Woodlawn Middle School was the first in the county to land on the school-improvement list during the 2001-2002 school year – and was also the first to put a restructuring plan in place, not waiting to be ordered to do so.  We’ve documented the school’s troubles – which, beyond poor test scores, also included at one time issues with attendance and violence – for nearly a decade.

Woodlawn Principal Damien Ingram and Kendra Johnson, principal of Arbutus Middle, both spoke of the importance of community involvement in achieving their goals.  Ingram said they had volunteers from a local church coming to help with students.  He also made it clear to parents, from day one, what he expected of the kids, he said, which translated into larger numbers of kids showing up for after-school and Saturday programs - and fewer parental complaints.

Ingram also pointed to the modified MSAs as being a big help for some of his special education students, among whom he saw a “drastic increase” in performance this time around. 

What do you think it will take to sustain these advances?  Ingram and Johnson said they basically are preparing to start the process again, with new batches of students – and thus different challenges – coming their way. 

For educators who administered the mod-MSAs this year, what was your experience?  I’m curious as to whether others found this alternative version made a significant difference for their students.