Changes and challenges for middle and high schools

Kappa Delta Pi Record, Winter 2003 by Heck, Stephen T

Our nation's education systems are, without question, faced with myriad changes and challenges. Today's school leaders work in an ever-expanding, constantly evolving landscape. The school principal, according to virtually all current research, must be a miracle worker, essentially a surrogate everything. Middle and high schools across the nation are now, more than ever before, expected to produce graduates who possess career, vocational, and social skills deemed essential.

Increased School Accountability

When the Indiana General Assembly moved in 1999 to pass landmark legislation that focused on increased school accountability, Indiana's administrators embraced the idea. A key reason for the positive reception to this change was and still remains the emphasis on serving all children and youth. The legislation was clearly aligned with the goals of committed principals and teachers at the middle and high school levels, who are expending extraordinary efforts to provide our nation's young people with meaningful learning experiences that meet their unique needs.

The Movement for School Reform

Educators in middle and high schools have been working for the past three decades to move the school reform agenda forward. Empirical evidence of these efforts can be found in any number of innovative efforts, including more flexible schedules, integrated curricula, interdisciplinary instruction, service learning, and character education.

The standards movement has created opportunities for administrators, teachers, and counselors to focus on outputs rather than simply inputs. They are asking the important questions, such as "What do our students need to know and be able to do?" Quality teachers at the secondary level no longer merely teach a subject; rather, they are teaching their students. Those who can teach, do!

The Movement to Break down Mega Schools

Another significant initiative at the secondary level is the movement to break down the mega school concept. John Goodlad, Deborah Meier, and other researchers have been reporting to us for years that bigger schools may have significant negative influences on student performance.

Many middle and high schools are creating smaller, more intimate teams of learners. Working in small groups allows these students to be more closely connected to their teachers and to focus on learning from an interdisciplinary, teaming perspective.

Fewer Resources Available

At the same time that structures and practices supporting improvements in our educational system are increasing, the resources available from both the state and national levels are shrinking. The result is that, in an era characterized by reform, education allocations are being unceremoniously slashed.

Our decision makers are failing taxpayers, educators, parents, and, most of all, our children and young people. While millions of dollars are being spent on standardized tests designed primarily to label our schools, precious funds to support the needs of learners are dwindling.

Research clearly reveals, for example, that at least 50 percent in additional funds may be required to meet the needs of underserved populations effectively. The Indiana General Assembly in 1999 promised educators that it would provide full funding for its landmark accountability legislation. Yet hundreds of millions of dollars were withdrawn during the 2001-- 02 school year. Educators can only hope to hold onto what resources still exist as the state moves into a budgeting year.

Responding to the Challenge

In spite of these actions and inactions by those august bodies of decision makers, quality administrators and teachers continue to respond to the challenge. Their message is simple: "As good as we are, we must and will continue to improve!"

Stephen T. Heck is executive director of the Indiana Association of School Principals, headquartered in Indianapolis. He earned a Doctorate of Education from Indiana University with a dual focus on educational administration and on curriculum and instruction.