Background & Information

After several years of collaboration, the National Forum identified criteria to describe high-performing schools that serve students in the middle grades. Such schools are academically excellent, responsive to the developmental challenges of young adolescents, and socially equitable, with high expectations for all students. The Forum conducted a national search for four "Schools to Watch" that met its criteria. The Forum received almost 40 applications from schools around the country. Among those that applied, nine were visited and four were recognized as "Schools to Watch".

Following their selection, the four schools were inundated with phone calls and visitors from the education community interested in using the selection criteria for their own staff training and school assessments. The National Forum developed a web site that features online tours of the schools, as well as detailed information about the criteria. In 2002, to further expand the reach and impact of the Schools to Watch initiative, the Forum selected California, Georgia, and North Carolina to pilot the implementation of the program at the state level. This led to the selection of four Schools to Watch in California, two in Georgia, and four in North Carolina.

 

In the summer of 2003, four new states joined Schools to Watch. Colorado, Illinois, Kentucky, and Virginia brought the total number of states involved to seven. They were joined by New York and Ohio in 2004, and by Arkansas and Michigan in 2005. Currently, there are 11 states involved in Schools to Watch, and 56 schools have been recognized across the nation.

For more information about Schools to watch, visit www.schoolstowatch.org

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Contact the Southern Forum to Accelerate Middle Grades Reform at:
Southern Forum
PO Box 5216

Suite 9, The Razook Building

Pinehurst, NC 28374

info@southernforum.org

Last Updated April 26, 2005
© 2003-2005 Southern Forum to Accelerate Middle Grades Reform
National Forum logo, graphics, and criteria used by permission.