1. LESSONS FROM THE FIELD: MIDDLE SCHOOL FOUNDATIONS ACADEMY GRANT
ANTIOCH UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT PRESENTATION TEAM
Swanson and Cosgrave consulting
Monday, March 4, 2019

2. What is your most memorable moment from middle school?

3. REFLECTIONS
How does your district deliver CTE instruction to middle school students?
What are the opportunities and challenges of creating career-themed middle school academies?

4. SESSION OVERVIEW Briefly review middle school reform trends
Learn about the Middle Schools Foundations Academy Grant
Hear how the Antioch district is implementing the MSFA grant
Participate in table group discussions on key areas
Serve as a critical friend and provide input on our design
Discuss ideas and implications for delivering CTE instruction to middle school students

5. THE WAVE OF MIDDLE SCHOOL REFORM
Public Schools
Accountability Act (1998)
Comprehensive School
Reform Movement (2000)
No Child Left Behind (2001)
1983
 Meeting the national need
for a competitive workforce
1987
Standards movement
School accountability
2000
Rigorous standards and curriculum
Equitable, high quality instruction
Team teaching
Healthy learning environment
Parent/Community school partnership
2001
Standards-based education
Authentic assessments
Team teaching
Middle school philosophy

6. THE PERFECT WAVE
Expansion of the academy and pathway concept to our middle schools
Proposition 98 Career Technical Education Initiative
MSFA grant application announced
Great opportunity for middle school restructuring and redesign
Allows for I-N-N-O-V-A-T-I-O-N!

7. THE INNOVATOR’S MINDSET
“Our thinking must focus on what learning can truly be, not what it has been.” George Couros, 2015
Christine
Being innovative has been at the center of everything, including how we have approached the concept for this magnet school by using the Design Cycle developed at Standard to guide the process.
Our goal has been to look beyond what has already been done to create an experience for students that is powerful and progressive.

8. MIDDLE SCHOOL FOUNDATIONS ACADEMY GRANT
$25K CDE planning grant
Offered to 10 LEAs in
Goal is to link middle schools with CPA programs

9. MSFA GRANT: KEY ELEMENTS
Cal-CRN
CPA Connection
CTE Courses
Leadership Seminars
WBL Partners

10. Academy Design
There are key PHASES to design work

11. ACADEMY DESIGN PHASES Blah Vision & Process Academy Design
Schedules & Structures
Assessment & Curriculum
Instructional Strategies
Blah
Instructional Strategies
Student Supports
Continuous Improvement

12. Academy Design
There are key PHASES to design work
Each phase includes many important QUESTIONS to resolve

14. Academy Design
There are key PHASES to design work
Each phase includes many important QUESTIONS to resolve
In theory: Linear process
In practice: Not so much

15. INNOVATION AND DESIGN Extensive project based learning
English Language Arts and Social Science Integration
Math and Science Integration
Intensive applications of technology
Elective offerings to align to CPA academies and CTE pathways
Teacher and Student Teams
Professional Learning
Explore additional growth areas after initial implementation

16. MINI TABLE PRESENTATIONS
Table #1: Bell Schedule and Masterscheduling
Table #2: Work-Based Learning
Table #3: The CPA Connection
Table #4: Curriculum and Instruction

17. CRITICAL FRIENDS PROTOCOL
Staff presents general information about our current thinking
Address focus questions
Participants provide input and feedback regarding the design
I wonder if
Have you ever thought of
Staff reflect on group discussion. Think out loud
Share key points and lessons learned with the larger group

18. OUR ROAD MAP MARCH APRIL MAY JUNE July
Meet with elementary school principals
Schedule collaboration and planning days
Middle school and high school teachers meet and greet
Middle school teacher teams begin PBL lesson planning
Design team determine regular day schedule and elective offerings
Attend Virtual Enterprise workshop
Participate in PBL residency program
Cal CRN collaborative planning day for elementary teachers
Cal CRN collaborative planning day for 7th and 8th grade teachers
Middle school teachers visit high school CPA academies
Curriculum planning related to elective offerings, including CTE
Collaborative planning between middle school and high school CPA teachers
Hold in-district summer PBL Institute
Offer regional workshop for school districts interested in middle school restructuring and redesign through the MSFA grant
PBL Conference
Middle school 7th grade team meet before the beginning of the school year to prepare for program implementation

19. LESSONS LEARNED
Have a shared vision for the reform Set norms of collaboration Engage your team in design thinking Be open to all ideas Innovate! Create a roadmap with benchmarks Identify professional development needs Be flexible and adjust, as needed Communicate and be transparent

20. NEXT STEPS Thank you for attending our workshop!
Please complete the evaluation forms.
Have a great conference!
Please consider joining us for…
Spring 2019: MSFA Webinar
Fall 2019: Middle School Site Visit