The importance of ownership in the renewal process of one middle school

Abstract

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] Researchers/school leaders individually investigated the extent to which the restructuring and renewal of middle schools impacted growth toward academic improvement in their respective schools. This study was conducted as action research in a collaborative effort between three researchers in one district. The restructuring and renewal of participating middle schools served as the basis for the action research, and was the foundation for the study problem. Results indicated that the action research plan designed by the building leadership team and implemented by staff for six weeks was moderately successful. Data collected in the form of observations, notes, anecdotal notes, journals, and artifacts supported the teachers' perceptions that the plan brought moderate improvement to support renewal goals. Findings also indicated that the meta-learning, or "learning about the learning" which occurred parallel to the action research process was the real success story in this study. Implications from this study to other researchers participating in similar restructuring or renewal efforts may be meaningful and insightful to planning and expected outcomes.