International baccalaureate organization

Section B: organization

		Standard B1	The school demonstrates ongoing commitment to, and provides support for, the programme through the appropriate administrative structures and systems, staffing and resources.
		Brief outline: The administration of both schools is committed to the successful implementation of the middle Years Programme for all students. Toward this end they have: Provided release time for coordinator position. Created class schedules that allow for maximum hours of contact time in each subject. Adjusted teacher schedules to create planning time that allows staff to collaborate vertically and horizontally. Committed a number of early release days for staff at each building to plan together. Provided budget to allow staff to receive MYP training and to allow staff to attend the IBNA annual conference. Provided staffing that places Highly Qualified (as defined in No Child Left Behind legislation) instructional staff in all eight MYP subjects. Given MYP Coordinators the ability to create and appoint MYP leadership teams, AOI champions, Community Service coordinators and other MYP support positions. Identified and been supportive of ways to include as many students as possible in all subject areas (within the constraints of federal and state law).
		Section C: curriculum
		Standard C1	A comprehensive, coherent, written curriculum, based on the requirements of the programme and developed by the school, is available to all sections of the school community.
		Standard C2	The school has implemented a system through which all teachers plan and reflect in collaborative teams.
		Standard C3	Teaching and learning at the school empowers and encourages students to become lifelong learners, to be responsible towards themselves, their learning, other people and the environment, and to take appropriate action.
		Standard C4	There is an agreed approach to assessment, and to the recording and reporting of assessment data, which reflects the practices and requirements of the programme.
		Brief outline: C1 – Both schools follow the prescribed Georgia Performance Standards. As each grade level/discipline meets for planning, they use these performance standards as their starting point for creating their units of instruction. The teams then add the Guiding Question, Areas of Interaction and Assessment Criteria and links to the Learner Profile to create MYP units. Each discipline participates in curriculum mapping activities to assure that the MYP and State curriculums are aligned. The results of both these efforts are then collected and placed in a shared folder on the school’s network so all teachers at both schools may access the information. C2 – Middle school teachers have common planning time by grade level. Starting in the 2005-6 school year, schedules were created to allow middle school teachers to meet in vertical discipline teams multiple times each year. In the 2006 – 7 school year the planning process was further formalized by the addition of Professional Learning Communities and coaching activities. In addition, the vertical teaming was extended to include all five grade levels at least once per year. Paid summer planning time was also begun in the summer of 2007. Through common planning time each grade level collaborates across all subjects. Subject areas have several meetings each year in which they can collaborate and share ideas. Grade level meetings are held each week. Mathematics and Language A teachers meet weekly by grade to collaborate and assure that all are using similar plans which include all elements of the MYP curriculum. C3 – In order to support the MYP, both schools have provided professional development to assist teachers in using methodologies that support the programme. Specifically, training has been provided in Professional Learning Communities (PLC) and Standards Based Classroom (SBC) techniques which stress the same traits that are found in the learner profile. Teachers now emphasize critical thinking and problem solving skills. Also, more opportunities have been created for students to collaborate and practice group learning activities. In addition, the posting and discussion of the Guiding Question and Area of Interaction has been added to the PLC standards. At the middle school, each teacher/administrator observes other teachers a minimum of four times during the year and provides feedback. Part of this process is to note the posting and discussion of of the Guiding Question and Area of Interaction . Finally, we have instituted a mandatory service element in our implementation of the MYP. This has resulted in our students taking a more active role in community events. C4 – MYP assessment criteria is used by all teachers in both schools. At this point we are using the criteria to provide a single grade for the students’ work. To do this we take the appropriate assessment criteria for the work and modify it so the criteria are in a more understandable and quantitative form. We will evaluate this approach over the summer of 2008 and make a decision about how to go forward. For simplicity we like this approach where students receive one grade instead of two.
		Section D: the student
		Standard D1	Students learn to choose to act, and to reflect on their actions, so that they contribute to their own well-being and that of the community and the environment.
		Standard D2 (if applicable)	In the final year of the programme, all students complete a programme-specific project [the MYP personal project] that allows them to demonstrate a consolidation of their learning.
		Brief outline:D1 – At Ridgeview a mentoring program was implemented to help students have an adult with whom they could connect. These teachers/mentors are assigned to a group of students for the three years they attend the middle school. The mentoring program was established in response to data collected using the School Improvement Toolkit survey from the National Middle School Association. Research shows that students who have relationships with adults who care about them have a better chance of success. The middle school will be working in 2008 to develop a school wide discipline policy to provide maximum consistency. Several students will assist in the development process. The middle school created a recycling program in which the students collect plastic drink containers at the end of lunch time. These containers are placed in bags and are periodically transported to our local recycling plant by parent volunteers. Every student in the building has participated in this effort. Although the requirement to participate in community service opportunities will become part of the Level 1-3 programme in the 2008-9 school year, the majority of our Level 1-3 students have participated in Community Service opportunities this year. These service projects benefitted our school (Hands on Atlanta, NIKE 5K run, Spring Clean-up Day), our community (Sandy Springs Festival, Sandy Springs Tree Lighting) and the environment (lunch room plastic recycling program). D2 – A plan is in place to support the personal project in the fifth year of the program. Documents that are being used for this effort are included later in this document. To support this effort the middle school will create a yet unnamed smaller version of the personal project for all 8th grade students to complete. This project will consist of the student reflecting on and reporting about their contribution to the community and school. This will probably be included as an activity that is completed during our middle school mentoring effort. We will begin a pilot of this in the 2008-9 school year.
9g		Describe how teaching and learning at the school support students in developing the attributes listed in the IB learner profile booklet?
		Brief description: Our schools recognized a need to add additional rigor to our academic programs. In particular we wanted to offer a program that offered this rigor for all levels of students. What we found in the Middle Years Programme was the framework that would provide this rigor. Through professional development at both schools, teachers have received training that supports the MYP. As a result of implementing the Middle Years Programme and these professional development opportunities, teachers of all students are using methodologies that support the attributes of the IB Learner Profile. In every classroom (Special Education, ESOL, Heritage Language, regular education, Talented and Gifted) students are challenged to solve problems and think critically. They are routinely asked to use their creativity and curiosity to go beyond the routine answer and explore the topic being discussed at a deeper level. They are also asked to demonstrate their mastery and understanding in a number of ways through varied assessment vehicles. Finally, they are given the time to reflect on their learning and its impact on them and their community. The diversity of our student populations gives our schools the unique ability to appreciate and celebrate the many contributions that the varied cultures have made in our community and nation. Through our community service efforts, the students gain opportunities to contribute to their neighborhoods and the community has the opportunity to see the students demonstrate their concern and caring for their community. Both schools have made conscious efforts to encourage the students to reflect on their learning. This reflection may be in the form of a journal entry, a Writing Across the Curriculum assignment, a formal paper assignment or a class discussion. The Middle Years Programme has been the catalyst that has propelled our schools to ask more of our students and become the school the community desired. The success of the programme is already being seen in the number of students that are transferring from private schools to our public middle and high school. In addition, approximately one hundred students who live outside our county are paying tuition to be able to attend Riverwood High School. Ridgeview Charter Middle School is beginning an expansion/renovation that will increase its capacity to a level which may allow it to also accept tuition paying students.

Appendix 3 MYP teacher training

Please indicate when your teachers, in every one of the eight subject groups, have received training. For partnerships*, at least one teacher from every site must be trained at an IBO-approved workshop in each subject group. We are also interested in which teachers, if any, have visited IB World Schools authorized to offer the MYP. Please indicate this on the chart.

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