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Grade Configuration: Who Goes Where?The Northwest Sampler - OregonLocation Contact Grade span: Five through eight Damascus Middle School became a four-year middle school many years ago because the local elementary school no longer had room for the fifth grade. Since that time, the middle school has developed practices to address the diverse needs of its 370 students who range in age from 10 to 14. Fifth- and sixth-graders have a program more like that of a traditional elementary school while seventh- and eighth-graders have a program with many of the recognized middle school features. Damascus fifth- and sixth-graders are in a wing of the school separate from the seventh- and eighth-graders. They have homeroom teachers for most of the day. Their art, music, computer, and P.E. classes, lunch period, and recess are separate from those of the seventh- and eighth-graders. Some classes are blended fifth and sixth grade and others are fifth or sixth only. All fifth- and sixth-grade teachers have elementary education certificates. Fifth- and sixth-grade students attend all school activities except school dances. Fifth- and sixth-grade math classes have two components—a computational part for which students are grouped homogeneously, and an open-ended, problem-solving part for which students are grouped heterogeneously. For the three days a week of computation, homogeneously grouped students meet in separate classrooms; for the two days a week of open-ended math, a lead teacher and two support teachers hold class in the cafeteria with a heterogeneous group of 60 students. In the seventh and eighth grades, some classes are blended heterogeneously, while others are taught at grade level. Math classes—pre-algebra, algebra, and integrated algebra—are grouped by ability rather than grade level. Some teachers are in interdisciplinary teams. Teachers who are more comfortable teaching traditional subject matter specialties do so, but coordinate with other teachers; for instance, a history teacher and an English teacher, though not team teaching, might schedule their course material so that students are learning about World War II in history class while reading Anne Frank's Diary of A Young Girl in English class. The principal wants to use the precepts of good middle schools, but also wants teachers to teach to their strengths. He sees both pros and cons to blended classes and is looking at the alternative of looping grade-level classes so as to allow for more depth in the curriculum while maintaining continuity for students by keeping them with the same teacher for two years. The principal is working toward more coordination between the fifth-sixth and seventh-eighth grade schedules to allow for the most options for staff and students. For instance, partial coordination now allows two seventh- and eighth-grade teachers to participate in the computational element of fifth- and sixth-grade math, during which time a teacher from the lower grades offers an elective drama class to seventh- and eighth-graders. For the upper grades, the principal would like to switch from an eight-period day to one with fewer, longer periods and an advisory period, but is constrained from doing so by the fact that the school uses two teachers from the local high school part time and the day must be structured around their schedules. Every staff member, including the principal, is a "portfolio manager" for 15 students. The portfolio managers meet with students at least monthly to review their progress toward meeting state benchmarks and to help them prepare their portfolios for student-led conferences. Observed Outcomes
Keys to Success
Location Contact Grade span: K-3 In 1986, staff at Hollyrood School—which had been a K-5 school—voted to become a K-3 school so that they could focus more intensively on the developmental needs of the young child. To this end the school's eight full-time and three part-time teachers have pursued extensive professional development focusing on school restructuring, Tribes learning groups, mixed-age classrooms (of which the school has several), math/science/ technology integration, and arts integration. The Hollyrood staff attempts to create a learning environment that is experiential and developmentally appropriate. Teaching strategies include cooperative learning, inquiry-based science and math, and the storyline strategy—an interdisciplinary approach to organizing the primary school subjects of reading, writing, and mathematics around social studies or science concepts such as the family or community. The school administrator feels that the smaller age span makes it easier to create a learning community. Teaching strategies and student interests for K-3 are more similar from grade to grade compared to the upper primary grades when there is a heavier emphasis on content areas. A key to developing a strong learning community at Hollyrood is Tribes, a process whereby changing learning groups of three to six students of diverse backgrounds and social and academic abilities work together developing collaborative problem solving and decisionmaking skills. Teachers, who have all taken Tribes training, use Tribes activities daily in the classroom, weekly at staff meetings, and monthly at site council meetings. One staff meeting a month is designated Tribes inservice; the Tribes philosophy is also a part of the parenting program the school offers. Though Hollyrood is a small school with a small grade span, its programs reach beyond the school to involve students with people of different ages and backgrounds. Every day, at least 10 students from neighboring Grant High School provide mentoring and tutoring at the school in return for community service credit. As well, the school has 15 reading buddy volunteers from the Northeast Senior Service Center who help students who have reading difficulties on a weekly basis. An in-school banking program through Washington Mutual Savings Bank provides math and economics experiences. Hollyrood students must make two transitions before high school, first to the local K-5 school for fourth and fifth grade and then to middle school. The school has a number of activities to ease transition anxiety for both students and parents. These include pen pals, pairing third-graders with buddies from the third grade at Laurelhurst Elementary (the school to which Hollyrood students will be going for fourth and fifth grade), site visits, an all-school field trip to Laurelhurst, having students from Laurelhurst come to Hollyrood to answer questions, and a parent-to-parent night. Hollyrood's statistics are impressive. Third-grade students scored number one in the city on reading tests and second in math in 1996; statewide, scores were in the top 10 percent. The parents of the 200 students contribute more than 5,000 volunteer hours annually. They help out in the classroom, with a year-round ecology and science gardening project, and with numerous special events and programs, including a Women's History Week project. Observed Outcomes
Keys to Success
Location Contact Grade span: Ninth grade only Like some other ninth-grade centers around the country, the Oregon City High School's freshman campus, housing 539 students, was created in response to practical considerations. The school, operating since 1990 as a ninth-grade center, was previously a junior high (grades seven through nine). When the district wanted to convert its junior highs to middle schools with grades seven through eight it formed a task force, visited ninth-grade centers elsewhere, and decided to convert two of its junior highs to middle schools while placing its ninth-graders at the third building. Curriculum between the freshman and the senior high school campuses is well-coordinated and some teachers teach at both campuses. Both campuses use a block schedule. The freshmen only campus allows the ninth-graders to have a high school experience without the constraints of dealing with younger students. School staff characterize the school atmosphere as positive, with no older students to pick on the ninth-graders and no younger children to be picked on. There is very little fighting. When students move on to the senior high they have had a year to gain confidence and they know everyone at their grade level instead of only the one-third they would have known from a feeder school. Teachers at the freshman campus enjoy being with the younger students. In the early years of the school the students were eager to be involved in activities at the senior high; now they prefer to be more independent and feel comfortable where they do not have to worry about older students as a threat. Advantages to the single-grade school are that teachers can focus on freshman behavior and in the smaller school can deliver lessons to all students on issues such as harassment, AIDS, and substance abuse. Parents of female students seem to appreciate that older males are not present. Disadvantages to the school are that the curriculum focuses mainly on academic requirements and ninth-grade-level teaching; few electives are offered. Students who excel are not able to take more advanced classes on the campus. The school does offer band, choir, drama, and sports activities, and students can go to the senior high, which is four miles away, for assemblies, dances, and sports events. The vice-principal feels the students do not mature as quickly when placed with their own age group, possibly because they lack older role models for behavior and academic challenge. If the district can pass a bond measure it will phase out the ninth-grade center and build another high school. Observed Outcomes
Keys to Success
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This document's URL is: © 2001 Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory
Date of Last Update: 02/27/2003 
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