Running Head: FAILURE IS NOT AN OPTION SCHOOL ANALYSIS 1

Failure Is Not an Option School Analysis

Stefania Hutchins

Oakland University

Author Note:

Stefania Hutchins, Department of Organizational Leadership, Oakland University

Correspondence concerning this paper should be directed to Stefania Hutchins, Department of

Organizational Leadership, Oakland University, Rochester, MI 48309.

Email Contact: smhutchins@oakland.edu

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Abstract

In analyzing the six aspects of Blankstein’s principles for effective schools as they relate

to Seneca Middle School, I have found that the foundation of love, purpose, and learning has

fostered an inclusive community in which teachers and students are inspired to become lifelong

learners. Each student’s success is the goal of every staff member, and intervention systems are

in place to ensure each child achieves. Teachers strive to deliver curriculum in engaging ways,

make instructional decisions based on a variety of data, and collaborate for the purpose of

continuous improvement. Minor modifications could be made to create a culture of collaboration

beyond PLCs and to improve student development, academically, socially, and emotionally.

Demographic Introduction

Seneca Middle School is located in Macomb County at the north end of the Chippewa

Valley School District and is one of four middle schools. Seneca houses 1,371 students and is not

a Title-I school. 25% of Seneca students are considered at-risk for not meeting proficiency

standards and/or attendance issues and 12% of students benefit from the free and reduced lunch

program. The population of the school is predominately white (78%). 9% of students are black,

4% are of Asian descent, 4% are Hispanic/Latino, 4% are multi-racial. Most of the students come

from middle-class families with two working parents.

Currently, Seneca Middle School’s M-STEP scores indicate that students with disabilities and

economically disadvantaged students are below state and district averages in math and reading. A school

improvement plan based on AdvancED criteria has been developed to focus on these areas.
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Seneca Middle School offers competitive athletics in seventh and eighth grades, and a variety of

other clubs are offered to all students: Lego Club, Diversity Club, Destination Imagination, Green Team,

Running Club, Yoga Club, Workout Club, Bowling Club, and Ski Club.

Behavior expectations are defined, explicitly taught, and reinforced consistently. The

Seneca Middle School PBIS plan clearly defines appropriate behavior in various areas of the

school. Expectations are visible in all main student areas: the hallway, classrooms, bathrooms,

lockers, media center, the cafeteria, and the bus. Students are held accountable for their behavior

and may be rewarded by earning spots which they can redeem for items in the school store.

The teaching staff consists of sixty teachers, 56 of which hold a Master’s degree.

Teachers are held to a high standard of excellence through the Five Dimensions of Teaching and

Learning Instructional Framework.

Principle 1: Common Mission, Vision, Values, and Goals

The mission statement of Seneca Middle School is as follows: “The Seneca community

creates a safe environment focused on learning, respect, and kindness. We are dedicated to

students becoming successful citizens who achieve their highest potential” (Seneca Middle

School website). Alan Blankstein explains that a mission statement should define what all

students are expected to learn, how we will know they are learning, how we will present the

material using effective pedagogy, and what we will do if they don’t learn (Blankstein 2013).

Seneca’s mission statement succeeds in defining the environmental culture of the school,

however it lacks in all four fundamental areas (Blankstein 2013). The mission statement does not

define what students are expected to learn, how they will learn it, how the content will be
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delivered, and what the school will do when they don’t. The phrase “highest potential” is

misleading. How is it possible for a student to reach his/her highest potential in middle school?

How would we measure the highest potential of a student? If a student has achieved his/her

highest potential, then what would be left for us to teach? Part of school is continuing to learn

and grow and the phrase “highest potential” has the implication of finality. Regarding the aspect

of pedagogy, Chippewa Valley Schools has invested time and resources in improving

instructional strategies, such as training in Kagan cooperative learning, 21st century technology,

formative assessment, and intervention strategies, yet none of these methods are mentioned in

the mission statement, which leads to the last missing piece.

There is no information in the mission statement regarding how we intervene when

students do not meet learning expectations. Seneca Middle School offers several interventions

for struggling students. Math and reading support classes are offered as well as after-school

homework help. Most teachers allow students to redo assignments and certain assessments for

mastery, and several also use a flipped classroom style of instruction. These systems are in place

and are successful intervention systems, but they are not mentioned in the mission statement.

It appears that the vision statement of Seneca Middle School takes on the purpose of the

mission. The vision statement successfully serves to provide stakeholders with a realistic,

optimistic picture of the direction of the school. Phrases such as “continuously improve”, and

“academic growth” imply that the school will continue to strive student achievement. The vision

statement also invites buy-in from various stakeholders. Parents, students, and staff are all

mentioned in having an important role in each student’s education.

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Our school improvement team has identified several goals for the 2018-2019 school year.

All students will be proficient in math and reading, and all students will demonstrate positive

behavior. The academic goals will be measured by the improvement of scores on the NWEA. It

is the goal that all students will improve their scores by 4 points by spring of 2019. There was no

measurable outcome for our behavior goal, and no evidence of the school’s values.

Principle 2: Ensuring Achievement for All Students

Seneca Middle School has several systems in place for struggling students. A data team

exists for the purpose of identifying struggling students based on various data such as NWEA

scores, M-STEP scores, classroom performance, and attendance patterns, and then making

appropriate recommendations for intervention. The data team consists of an administrator, grade-

level counselor, and the subject-area classroom teacher. Intervention programs are provided for

these students with the objective of filling in the students’ learning gaps. The district uses the

Math180 and Read180 curriculum and Seneca Middle School allows a total of 252 students to

benefit from this opportunity. Students may be moved out of the course at semester time if they

are showing progress towards grade-level material. After-school homework help is available

each Tuesday. Students from Dakota High School’s National Honor Society are in attendance

and will help Seneca students with homework. Several staff members are also in attendance on a

volunteer basis. Several paraprofessionals are on staff to help students who do not qualify for

special services with assignments and with organization. Students identified as at-risk are invited

to participate in a mentor program. High-school students are paired with middle school students

and they participate in activities, conversations, and monthly meetings to create a positive
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relationship. Many teachers have adjusted their grading philosophies so that achievement grades

reflect what students know and can do. Some are offering students the opportunity to rework

assignments and assessments if mastery has not been met, and many teachers are accepting late

work with no penalty. While Seneca uses a uniform grading scale, there is not a uniform grading

policy, and many teachers are still giving 0’s for missing work on a 100-point scale, which can

be demoralizing to students and is mathematically incorrect.

In analyzing Seneca’s achievement plan for all students, I have observed that while the

opportunities to help struggling students succeed are plentiful, there are no opportunities offered

during the school day for students who are overachieving or in the middle.

Principle 3: Collaborative Teaming Focused on Teaching and Learning

With a staff of sixty teachers and grade levels separated into pods, Seneca Middle School

has come to develop a culture that is a cross between balkanized and contrived collegiality

(Blankstein 2013). Many teachers on our staff are within five years of retirement and are

resistant to learning new things. Some will grade papers or look at their phones during staff

development or PLC meetings or call in sick on professional development days. There are also

several small cliques of teachers who are friends outside of work, which can cause them to

appear unapproachable to other staff. At school activities where teachers are asked to volunteer,

very few are present. It is often the same faces seen at these events. Administration has

occasionally asked for teacher volunteers to write common assessments, to pilot a new

curriculum, or to develop curriculum. These types of meetings are productive and collaborative
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because participants have chosen to be there, and it is within the time frame of a normal school

day, versus a weekly staff meeting or PLC that is mandated.

PLC meetings are guided by our school improvement goals. For the 2018-2019 school

year, the focus has been on planning, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating an instructional

strategy to improve math or reading in the content areas. Once a strategy had been identified and

implemented, teachers used common formative and summative assessments to measure student

achievement and to identify the impact of the strategy. Each PLC also has the task of monitoring

and evaluating the elements of the PBIS program and the impact of its implementation. Teachers

are held accountable for PLC meetings by returning a sign-in and summary form to the principal.

The goal of PLCs is to collaborate, share knowledge, analyze data, and include newer

teachers in the decision-making process (Stanley 2011). PLCs are small, no more than five

teachers, which allows all participants a voice, however it seems that occasionally these meetings

can feel rather unproductive. Rather than focusing the work around the vision of the school,

meetings can turn into a forum to complain about students, other staff, or personal problems.

Occasionally, the meetings will conclude well before the mandatory forty-five minutes. It would

be helpful to have occasional, impromptu administrator presence in these meetings. Not only

would it help keep the participants on task, the administrator can be included in the conversations

as well. Additionally, I would suggest the use of a year-long PLC plan in which our goals and

steps towards accomplishing them are optimistically laid out for the school year.
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Principle 4: Data-Based Decision Making for Continuous Improvement

Seneca Middle School’s data team includes grade-level teachers and the counselor, as

well as subject-area teachers and the counselor in the next grade. Quantitative data, such as

student performance on M-STEP and NWEA, as well as district summative common

assessments are used along with teacher input to identify students performing below grade level

that are not already receiving special services. Teacher input includes a discussion of the

student’s work habits, attendance issues, behavior issues, extra-curricular activities, and attitude

towards school. A decision is then made whether to recommend intervention classes for the

student. Seneca Middle School offers Math 180 and Read 180 as tier-two intervention classes.

These classes are designed to fill in learning gaps that may be preventing students from attaining

grade-level mastery. Students are invited into the course via a letter home, and the parent makes

the final determination whether or not the student will take the class. Once students show growth

in these courses and improvement in their regular math or language arts class, they may be

pulled out. This is a comprehensive, inclusive approach to identifying students that would benefit

from intervention classes.

In recent years, standards have been added to the Seneca Middle School report card in

addition to an achievement grade in each subject. The standards are aligned with the CCSS,

however they do not include all of the CCSS. Students receive an achievement grade in each

class along with a code for each standard covered in that grading period. The report card

indicates if the student has met the standard, is approaching the standard, or if the standard is a

concern area. It is the teacher’s discretion which learning tasks are aligned with each standard.

Seneca does not have a common grading policy that facilitates success for all students. Many
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teachers still give zeroes for missing work while using a 100-point grading scale, with a 59% as

the lowest percentage correlating to a grade of F. This practice is mathematically unsound and

causes students to become frustrated when they are not able to bring their grade back up.

Additionally, many teachers do not allow students to retake assessments. Seneca’s school

improvement goals are framed around the success of all students, however there is not a common

policy in place that offers students opportunities, such as assessment retakes or alternative

assessments, to prove their eventual mastery. In the article “Seven Practices for Effective

Learning”, Jay McTighe states, “New evidence of achievement should replace old evidence.

Classroom assessments and grading should focus on how well – not on when – the student has

mastered the designated skill” (McTighe 2005). When teachers do not allow or invite

reassessment opportunities, gaps are created in the student’s learning.

Formative assessment practices offer teachers the opportunity to adjust instruction and

offer immediate intervention based on student needs. Seneca Middle School has a FAME

(Formative Assessment for Michigan Educators) team of teachers committed to sharing

formative assessment ideas with the staff. These teachers have been trained in methods of

formative assessment delivery and analysis and have provided professional development to the

staff. The team continues to share formative assessment resources with the staff and assist staff

with adjusting instruction based on the data.

Principle 5: Gaining Active Engagement From Family and Community

In elementary school, parents are encouraged to volunteer by chaperoning field trips,

helping at class parties, and participating in the PTO. Upon entering middle school, there is a
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shift in what is expected and accepted in terms of parental involvement. We do not allow parents

on field trips and do not have class parties. This is a source of frustration for many parents of

sixth-graders who want to be involved. In middle school we hope that students begin to develop

independence and self-advocacy skills, and that requires parental responsibility to shift to

supporting students in the home.

Parental involvement in school is positively correlated to a higher success rate in students

regardless of cultural or socioeconomic factors (Blankstein 2013). Seneca Middle School offers

Curriculum Night each fall. Parents are encouraged to visit their student’s classrooms and listen

to the teacher present information on the material that will be covered that year. Many teachers

post a daily agenda, assignments, and links to additional resources on their websites which can

be helpful to parents, however it is unfair to assume that all families own computers and have

access to the internet. Many students’ parents are working full-time jobs, and some are working

several jobs and simply do not have the time to help with school work. To support students in

need of academic assistance, Seneca offers after-school homework help one day a week. NHS

students from Dakota High School come to Seneca to assist students with homework.

Many parents attend fall and spring conferences and receive progress reports regularly

through the district’s grading software. It is interesting to note that the parents who attend

conferences and check grades online are the parents of the most successful students. Many

teachers also use the Remind101 app to send text messages regarding due dates and reminders.

The app has a chat feature which allows students and parents to send messages to the teacher as

well. Many teachers encourage students to text if they are struggling with homework after-hours.

This reduces stress on families where parents are either unavailable or unable to help.
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Parents may also become involved in Seneca Middle School’s Citizen’s Advisory

Committee. This committee meets monthly and involves parents meeting with school

administration to ask questions, receive updates, and share ideas.

While Seneca Middle School has several opportunities for parents to become involved,

many of these opportunities assume that the family has access to technology, and that is not true

for all families. The school must work to ensure that families have equal opportunities to become

involved.

The district offers Parent Saturdays where parents may attend various sessions

throughout the day relating to their child’s development or academics. It would be beneficial to

offer this type of event at the school level and include parents and students. Another idea to

increase parent and community involvement is to invite parents into the school to observe

classrooms (Clark & Clark 2003). This would provide information to parents on how to help

their students at home, as well as improve communication about school at home. Parental

awareness of what is happening at the school academically and socially could lead to rich dinner

table conversations in the home. Teachers could also receive valuable feedback on their

instructional methods from observers as related to particular students.

Principle 6: Building Sustainable Leadership Capacity

The job of a principal is too immense for one person to handle. A successful school must

foster leadership from within, meaning that teachers can and should take on certain leadership

responsibilities. Seneca Middle School has twelve teachers that completed the Teacher Leader

program at the MISD. This was a two-year cohort program in which teachers learned how they
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could be leaders beyond the classroom. This group of teachers planned and facilitated a year of

professional development opportunities which were held during the normal staff meeting time

and coordinated a teacher lab event where small groups of teachers could observe colleagues in

their classrooms utilizing various instructional practices. It was helpful in building trust among

staff to see one another in leadership roles. These activities also helped define teachers’

strengths. For example, a teacher who demonstrated a reading strategy during teacher lab is one

that other teachers will ask for reading instruction ideas. When staff adopts leadership

responsibilities beyond the classroom, they claim more ownership in the school.

During the two-year teacher leader cohort, many teachers took on opportunities to lead,

however teacher leaders in Seneca Middle School are not currently being used in any capacity.

There are teachers who are enthusiastic to take on roles such as presenting staff development,

leading a committee, or sponsoring a club, however the opportunities are not being offered to the

extent they once were. Additionally, many teachers feel that they are already overworked,

underpaid, and underappreciated, which makes them reluctant to seek out leadership roles on

their own.

Daily routines cultivated within a building also help to build leadership capacity among

staff. When routines and habits are performed with automaticity, the building runs much more

smoothly, and teachers can focus more on delivering engaging instruction (Blankstein 215).

Seneca Middle School has several daily routines in place. Announcements are read over the PA

system during the first ten minutes of the day, and the Pledge of Allegiance is done in each

classroom. Teachers post an agenda and learning targets in their classroom, and each classroom

has a PBIS poster and Hero in the Hallway poster.

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In the fall, Seneca Middle School’s principal was reassigned to a high school in the

district. The assistant principal was assigned as interim principal until another one was officially

hired. The transition was incredibly smooth, and this can be attributed to the sustainability of the

leadership within the school as well as established building routines and expectations. The

interim principal started the Seneca Solutions Team, a group of teachers acting as liaisons

between her and the staff. Through this team, change initiatives were identified and plans were

made to carry them out. The creation of this team has opened the door for more teachers to

become involved in the leadership aspect of the school in a nonintimidating way and has opened

the door for other staff to communicate their concerns, as it is much less threatening to voice

concerns to a colleague rather than the principal.

Conclusion

The pride of Seneca Middle School lies in its ability to continuously strive for growth and

excellence academically as well as socially while focusing on the values of love, purpose, and

learning. Most students are motivated to perform well, teachers are inspired to further their

knowledge base by attending conferences and participating in PLCs, and the opportunities for

participation in activities beyond the classroom are abundant.

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References

Berry, B., Daughtrey, A. and Wieder, A. 2009. Collaboration: Closing the effective teaching gap

[policy brief]. Center for Teaching Quality, Retrieved from

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Blankstein, A. M. (2010). Failure is not an option: 6 principles for making student success the

only option. Thousand Oaks, Calif: Corwin Press.

Clark, S. N., & Clark, D. C. (2003). The Middle School Achievement Project: Involving Parents

and Community in School Improvement. Middle School Journal,33(3), 12-19.

Mctighe, J., & O'connor, K. (November 2005). Seven Practices for Effective

Teaching. Educational Leadership,12-17. Retrieved March 15, 2019, from

http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/nov05/vol63/num03/Seven-

Practices-for-Effective-Learning.aspx

Stanley, A. (2011). Professional Development within Collaborative Teacher Study Groups:

Pitfalls and Promises. Arts Education Policy Review,112(2), 71-78.