at fort settlement middle schoolamillerprofessionalportfolio.weebly.com/uploads/2/4/0/4/... · web...
TRANSCRIPT
Running head: WHERE IS MY CHEESE? A CASE STUDY ON CHANGE
Where is my Cheese? A Case Study on Change
Angela Miller
Houston Baptist University
1
WHERE IS MY CHEESE? A CASE STUDY ON CHANGE 2
Fort Settlement Middle SchoolSugar Land, Texas
“Where Is My Cheese?"
Fort Settlement Middle School (FSMS) is located in Sugar Land, Texas in Fort Bend
County the sixteenth fastest growing county in the nation and fifth in the state of Texas (Stiles,
2010). In 2009, FSMS was one of nine middle schools in the Fort Bend Independent School
District that educated 68,507 students (Academic Excellence Indicator System). The
demographics in 2008-2009 school year consisted of 1,057 students, 331 in grade six, 383 in
grade seven, and 343 in grade eight. Ethic distribution of students was African American 6.5%,
Hispanic 7.2%, White 42%, Native American .1%, and Asian/Pacific Islander 44.2%.
Economically disadvantaged 4.3%, Limited English Proficient 3.8%, and At-Risk 10.4% made
up the students at FSMS. Professional staff was comprised of 59 teachers, 16 professional
support, and 3 campus administrators. Ethnicity and gender of teachers was 2 African American,
2 Hispanic, 52 White, 1 Native American, 2 Asian/Pacific Islander with 13 males and 46
females.
In February 2009, Fort Settlement experienced new leadership to the campus. Karon
Crockett retired as principal and Julie Diaz became the new principal. The initial condition of
Fort Settlement was and is very inviting. The school’s mission statement is painted on the wall,
and the students took pride in their school and wanted to come to school daily. As one teacher
stated, “When you walk into Fort Settlement the school, is so inviting. The teachers are nice,
positive, and the front office staff is welcoming.” The teaching staff was mostly responsible for
the students that were assigned to them with a lot of individual islands and “pockets of good.”
Mrs. Diaz noticed a hidden culture among teachers by how some teachers interacted negatively
WHERE IS MY CHEESE? A CASE STUDY ON CHANGE 3
in the hallways with students, other teaching staff, and were not following through on their daily
responsibilities.
The teaching staff lacked the collaboration within teams to plan the best teaching,
lessons, and assessments for students. The school lacked the collective capacity to promote
learning for ALL students within the framework that was established. The core teachers that
were teaching the same subject were spread throughout the building based on the teaming model
of middle school that the school district had not implemented since 2004. Mrs. Diaz observed
that the teachers did not know what was going on in each other’s classrooms, although the staff
claimed to know. The department meetings were random with no purpose to communicate
congenial information.
As a teacher with new leadership in the building, it was expected that some form of
change was going to take place. In the beginning, Mrs. Diaz interviewed all faculty and staff.
Most of the faculty and staff were not thinking seriously about changing the way the school
worked and were not interested in any kind of help to get better. In fact, the teachers that were
seen as negative and neglecting their duties defended their current way of doing things; they did
not feel there were any problems. They became defensive when asked, “What do we need to do
better?” There were some teachers, “pockets of good,” that stated that they felt the school and
teachers had become complacent and stagnant. They felt that there was a need for some type of
change, but they were not sure what type of change was needed. They needed some pushing or
motivation to change.
Fort Settlement Middle School received an Exemplary accountability rating by the Texas
Education Agency on its testing performance from 2007 to 2011 school years. See Appendix
Table A.1- A.4 for Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) Scores 6th - 8th Grade.
WHERE IS MY CHEESE? A CASE STUDY ON CHANGE 4
These scores showed that even though FSMS had top scores that not all the students’ needs were
being met. Mrs. Diaz used this data to show where the schools accountability was in the district
by trying to help all the teachers become aware of the consequences of the current state of the
schools’ commended scores not improving. There was a need to get the teachers thinking about
ways to approach teaching. In department meetings, the talks began with ways of doing things
differently. They began studying Professional Learning Community (PLC) models in
department chair meetings. A few more teachers started to get on the bus, and Mrs. Diaz was
brutally honest with department chairs as to why she saw the need to do things differently. Her
justification change was based on observations of “data team” meetings where teachers’
conversations were congenial, adult centered, and not focused on students. There was a lot of
“coblaberation” verses collaboration. She was also charged by the superintendent to have a
collaborative planning amongst teaching staff in the school.
At the end of 2009, the testing data and observations of data teams were shared.
Teachers were given the opportunity to be leaders of change, and if the could not meet the
responsibility, then they would be asked to step down as a department chair and a replacement
from the department would be found. The 2010-2011 school year saw the implementation of
regularly scheduled department meetings on Wednesdays. Modeled meetings on how a
department meeting should be held with examples of collaboration of professional learning and
discussing students and student achievement and how to meet the needs of all students were also
conducted. Many teachers were ambivalent about the initial meetings; however, they were open
to receiving information about true professional learning communities and what it meant to
collaborate. Teachers were beginning to see a need for the culture change at FSMS.
WHERE IS MY CHEESE? A CASE STUDY ON CHANGE 5
Staff continued to read about PLCs and how to help students. Helping teachers were
brought into the department meetings, and everyone looked at vertical alignment of the
curriculum to see what students were expected to see and know above and below their grade
level. Using the released TAKS test was eye opening for teachers as most had never seen other
grade levels; they only knew what their kids were expected to know. Then teachers were asked
to look at curriculum one grade above and below, and they found gaps that they never knew
existed. Plans were developed to address the gaps and at this point Mrs. Diaz realized that her
teachers were ready for the next step in the change process, physical change, to take
collaboration to the next level.
The campus purchased the book, Who Moved My Cheese? , by Dr. Spencer Johnson for
each department to read and pass it on to other teachers to read. The first step was to create a
culture change where teachers began to operate as a collaborative team. One teacher commented
that after reading the book they were able to understand the need for change. Teachers turned in
a “What I would like to do…” sheet with their certifications as a strategy to determine what they
were qualified to teach and to feel a part of the change process. Mrs. Diaz hosted a “Whine and
Cheese” party in the front office to have teachers and staff whine about the upcoming change
process and discuss any topics of concern. Much of the whining was positive in context and
there were a few comments that were out of the school’s control. For instance, one teacher
wanted more electrical outlets in their room. Another teacher was angry that the parents did not
keep up with school homework. All comments from teachers were listened to and Mrs. Diaz
focused on what the school could control and influence.
The 2011-2012 school year brought about physical change in the school. The old
teaming model (one core class in each pod) of teacher classrooms setup was reconfigured. Pods
WHERE IS MY CHEESE? A CASE STUDY ON CHANGE 6
were configured to have teams of the same subject. See Figure 1 and 2 of the FSMS Floor Plan.
This promoted collaboration of teachers in the same subject area and provided a common area to
plan and see how their collogues were teaching. The staff received Foundations training, and it
was implemented into the daily duties of the teaching staff. Foundations encouraged the
visibility of teachers in the hallways and to make connections with students beyond the
classroom. The teachers continued to work in data teams with the focus on collaborative
meetings where teachers focused on students, interventions, knowing individual students, and
setting up a “Kid Watch” intervention plan.
The 2012-2013 school year proved to be a year of success. TAKS was replaced by STAAR and
students maintained their high achieving standards. The outcome of the change process was
successful because the culture of the teaching changed. The hidden culture of negativity, lesson
plan hording, and “coblaberation” was gone. The teachers planned and met as teams in a
collaborative group discussing the need of all students. Without the given steps in this change
process, the students would not have been able to maintain the scores from TAKS scores to the
more rigorous STAAR testing. See Table A.5 Texas Academic Performance Report 2012 -2013
STAAR Scores 6th - 8th Grade.
At Fort Settlement Middle School, WE BELIEVE ALL STUDENTS CAN LEARN at
high levels, and we are committed to doing whatever it takes to ensure that all students learn at
high levels within a warm and caring environment. FSMS was awarded the distinction
of STATE SCHOOL OF CHARACTER in 2012. FSMS earned 7 out of 7 possible academic
distinctions for the 2013-2014 school year from the Texas Education Agency.
WHERE IS MY CHEESE? A CASE STUDY ON CHANGE 7
References
Academics Excellence Indicator System. (n.d.) Academic Excellence Indicator System.
Retrieved October 24, 2014 from http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/perfreport/aeis
Stiles, M. S. (2010, March 23). One the Records: Texas’ Suburban Growth, by Matt Stiles.
The Texas Tribune. Retrieved October 20, 2014, from
http://www.texastribune.org/2010/03/23/several-texas-counties-among-fastest-growing-
in-us/
WHERE IS MY CHEESE? A CASE STUDY ON CHANGE 8
Appendix
Table A.1 Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) Scores 6th - 8th Grade
6th GradersYear #Tested Reading Commended #Tested Math Commended
2007 309 100% 81% 309 99% 71%2008 331 100% 81% 332 99% 79%2009 320 99% 76% 323 98% 76%2010 318 98% 70% 325 99% 79%2011 314 98% 73% 317 99% 76%
7th Grade ScoresYear #Tested Reading Comm
ended#Tested Math Comm
ended#Tested Writin
gCommended
2007 357 99% 59% 358 98% 62% 352 100% 74%2008 317 100% 70% 316 100% 71% 314 100% 74%2009 376 99% 67% 378 99% 62% 376 98% 69%2010 341 99% 70% 343 100% 61% 339 100% 71%2011 348 99% 69% 349 99% 70% 347 100% 80%
8th Grade Scores Math and ReadingYear #Tested Reading Comm
ended#Tested Math Comm
ended2007 367 100% 74% 364 98% 61%2008 364 100% 86% 358 98% 71%2009 337 100% 76% 331 99% 73%2010 386 99% 77% 388 99% 69%2011 357 99% 83% 357 99% 69%
8th Grade Scores for Social Studies and ScienceYear #Tested Social
StudiesCommended
#Tested Science Commended
2007 362 100% 78% 364 93% 49%2008 362 98% 68% 360 97% 60%2009 333 99% 77% 331 95% 59%2010 382 100% 77% 387 96% 60%2011 358 100% 79% 341 95% 59%
Table A.2 6th Grade Sub-Populations
WHERE IS MY CHEESE? A CASE STUDY ON CHANGE 9
WHERE IS MY CHEESE? A CASE STUDY ON CHANGE 10
Table A.3 7th Grade Sub-Populations
WHERE IS MY CHEESE? A CASE STUDY ON CHANGE 11
Table A.4 8th Grade Sub-Populations
WHERE IS MY CHEESE? A CASE STUDY ON CHANGE 12
Table A.5
Texas Academic Performance Report 2012-2013 STAAR Scores 6th - 8th Grade
WHERE IS MY CHEESE? A CASE STUDY ON CHANGE 13
Figure A.1 First Floor
WHERE IS MY CHEESE? A CASE STUDY ON CHANGE 14
Figure A.2 Second Floor
WHERE IS MY CHEESE? A CASE STUDY ON CHANGE 15