Julius West Middle School is one of six middle schools throughout the nation chosen to participate in the final phase of a national study on leadership and programs.

The six schools, deemed “highly successful” in their efforts to implement middle-level programs in an environment that addresses the needs of their students, represent a range of schools across the country, including rural, small city, suburban and urban, as well as schools with varying student body composition.

The other five schools are in Freeport, Texas; Lakeland, Florida; Shelbina, Missouri; Independence, Ohio; and Las Vegas, Nevada.

The study is sponsored by the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP), under the direction of the Middle Level Leadership Center at the University of Missouri-Columbia. The study began in fall 2000 with requests to educational leaders in each state for nominations.

Of the 275 schools that were nominated, 100 were identified as successful in addressing both change processes and the tenets of effective middle-level schools as described in the Turning Points 2000 study.

Each of the 100 schools was invited to participate in a detailed data collection process involving principals, teachers, students, and parents. The process was undertaken to establish a profile of each school’s educational programs, instructional practices, climate, and culture. From this final group, the six winners were chosen.

During the coming months, a team of researchers and school leaders will visit Julius West Middle School and the other five schools for several days to study what the schools do that make them successful, so information can be shared with all principals, teachers, policy makers, and others who work directly with middle-level schools.

The findings from the national study will be published in the coming year by NASSP, presented at NASSP’s national convention in 2003, and made available to educators across the United States.