MMGW Initiative
Making Middle Grades Work Initiative (MMGW)
HSTW SW Ohio began its work with middle schools in 2000. The school improvement model utilized is the Southern Regional Education Board’s Making Middle Grades Work initiative. Only middle schools that serve as a feeder school to a High Schools That Work high school site are eligible for participation.
The Southern Regional Education Board’s middle grades initiative is designed to help states, districts, and schools look at what they expect, what they teach, and how they teach young adolescents to prepare for success in further education. Too many students leave the middle grades unprepared to take advantage of all that high school can offer and unable to be successful in career opportunities after high school.
Making Middle Grades Work KEY Practices
HSTW schools implement 10 key practices to prepare students to graduate on time and thrive in postsecondary studies, careers and a changing global marketplace:
High Expectations
Create a culture of high expectations in every classroom and throughout the school.
MMGW – High Expectations
Teacher Collaboration
Provide teams of teachers with the training, time and support they need to work together to improve instruction.
Programs of Study
Ensure each student develops and completes a personalized program of study that leads to postsecondary and career success.
MMGW – Aligned Curriculum
Work-Based Learning
Provide each student with a continuum of real-world learning experiences that connect classroom and workplace learning.
MMGW – Engaging Each Student in Career Exploration
Integrated Curriculum
Teach academic content through the lens of real-world problems and projects.
MMGW – Literacy: Balanced Math; Inquiry-Based STEM Studies
Guidance and Advisement
Offer guidance and advisement that empower students to pursue a full range of career and college options after high school.
MMGW – Comprehensive System of Guidance
Access and Equity
Ensure that all students, including underrepresented and nontraditional students, have access to high-quality career pathways.
MMGW – Culture of High Expectations
Interventions and Enrichments
Provide students with the extra help or accelerated learning strategies they need to graduate college and be career ready.
MMGW – Systems of Support and Enrichment
Student Engagement
Use research-based instructional strategies and innovative technology practices to engage each student.
MMGW – Engaging Each Student in Career Exploration
Culture of Continuous Improvement
Engage the whole school community in continuously using data to identify problems and develop plans to solve them.
MMGW – Culture of Continuous Improvement