About the Author: Dennis Gerber is the principal at Winfield Middle School in Winfield, Kansas. His educational experience includes nine years as a classroom teacher and fourteen years as a building administrator. Currently he is a doctoral student in Educational Administration and Leadership at Kansas State University. He can be reached at Dennis_Gerber@usd465.com.

Goddard Middle School is located in Goddard, Kansas, approximately 10 miles west of Wichita. It has a student enrollment of 614 in grades seven and eight. The staff at Goddard Middle School includes 37 teachers, 2 counselors, 5 special education teachers, a psychologist, a librarian, an athletic director, an assistant principal, and a principal. Members of the staff have been recognized statewide, regionally, and nationally and have served as officers of various professional organizations. A variety of leadership opportunities for students is provided through organized activities such as student council, peer mediation, and community service projects. Students are recognized for their involvement and academic performance in several ways throughout the year. Prior to its involvement in NCA, Goddard Middle School was accredited solely through the Quality Performance Accreditation program in the state of Kansas. They are currently in their third year of the NCA school improvement process.

The staff of this school reports that one of the most useful results of being involved in the NCA process is the practical and meaningful feedback provided by the visiting team. Before joining NCA, the staff members were often anxious and tense about an upcoming accreditation visit.

The NCA school improvement process provided the necessary structure to guide the Goddard staff toward successful school improvement. The rubrics and checklists are efficient guides and leave little chance for unexpected surprises. The members of the visiting team are professional and knowledgeable because they are trained and experienced in the same school improvement framework. Changes in the school improvement process occur quite often at the state level. NCA can be trusted to stay informed of these changes and informs its member schools in a timely manner.

The Goddard school faculty also feels a crucial element of the success of the school improvement process is staff participation. The chance of reaching all students diminishes if all school personnel are not willing to implement the suggested interventions. The staff at Goddard Middle School is encouraged to assist with the development of interventions to promote participation. Appropriate time and resources are devoted to staff development to implement the interventions. A second element crucial to the school improvement process is the belief by the staff that all students can learn and that all schools can improve upon the quality of education they provide. This belief, in the form of a mission statement, commits the staff to the school improvement process and helps guide them as they make decisions.

The school improvement process at Goddard Middle School has not been without challenges. The biggest challenge they experienced was the transition to two middle schools when Dwight D. Eisenhower Middle School opened in August 2002. This meant that the student population and staff were split. Both middle schools maintained the same school improvement plan and visiting team throughout the cycle. In addition, they shared a principal and several elective teachers. However, the reassignment of staff left both buildings with new school improvement teams. They are addressing this challenge by sending the new chairs to training early in the school year and assigning leadership roles of varying degrees to other staff members. The administration has taken a proactive role by empowering the staff to ensure the level of implementation. Administrators are also committed to see that the process remains intact in both schools.

The interventions are based on research and address the skills needed to succeed on the state assessments. The staff has been able to measure the success of its interventions in several ways. The most revealing form of measurement is student data collected from state assessments. Significant gains have been made in the areas of reading, math, and writing. Students came within one and a half percentage points of the state's standard of excellence for reading.

Teacher checklists provide another form for measuring the success of interventions. Teachers are asked to complete an implementation checklist each nine weeks. They indicate the level of implementation of each intervention and provide appropriate evidence. The checklists help hold teachers accountable for implementing the interventions and are useful in evaluating the interventions themselves. If teachers do not move past the "Awareness" level, it can be assumed that (1) the intervention is not user friendly, making it difficult to incorporate into their curriculum or (2) teachers need additional staff development on the intervention. In addition, a list of ways the intervention is being used across the curriculum is developed and made available to all teachers. As a result, an implementation grid is created for each intervention.

Assessment data are reported in the form of charts and graphs developed by the building resource specialists. All teachers are involved in reading, understanding, analyzing, and using the assessment data. Considerable time is spent at inservice and faculty meetings sharing the assessment results and celebrating successes as a staff. There is a very high level of commitment to the school improvement process by all staff. They recognize that it is not just the responsibility of the math teachers to teach math nor English teachers to teach reading and writing. It is the responsibility of everyone to work together toward the improvement of student performance. The visiting team commended the staff at Goddard Middle School for its team approach to student learning.

Goddard Middle School recommends the following additional suggestions for schools striving toward a successful school improvement experience:

1. Investigate what is working and what is not working in schools similar to yours. Many schools are implementing successful programs and interventions.

2. Don't be afraid to change or modify an intervention midway through the cycle if you know it is not working. Goals cannot be changed, but interventions can.

3. Don't be afraid to look outside the box when developing strategies and interventions that will help students be more successful.

4. Select visiting team members who are experts in the designated area of improvement. Their expertise leads to meaningful feedback to help keep you focused and on track.

5. Keep in mind that the school improvement process consumes a great deal of time, energy, and resources. If done correctly, the rewards and successes are well worth the investment.