The Successful Middle SchoolTM Assessment
A data-driven tool with the information and guidance you need for wherever you are on your successful middle school journey
Based on AMLE’s foundational text on best practice in the middle grades, The Successful Middle School Assessment is a flexible, statistically validated tool that can be used by schools and districts to drive meaningful continued school improvement and guide impactful professional development strategies.
What to Expect from your Assessment Experience
The Successful Middle School Assessment for Staff is comprised of 134 research-based exemplars that assess implementation of the 18 characteristics of successful middle schools and takes 30 minutes or less for staff to complete. Schools can also choose to add companion surveys for students and families which are available in Spanish and English.
Your AMLE coach will deliver the Assessment on your timeline, and help you measure for completion while protecting anonymity of responses. You will receive your comprehensive report shortly after your Assessment closes, and your Coach will present your results in-depth to ensure you’re ready to use your results. Your report includes:
- Detailed, anonymized results
- Interpretations based on your Assessment data
- Identified areas of alignment and disconnect
- Recommended next steps
- A selection of resources to support further work
Continuing your Successful Middle School Journey
For many schools, the Assessment is just the start of their journey to fully implementing the middle school model. Next steps often include:
The Successful Middle School Book Study
Now that you have a baseline of your implementation of the 18 Characteristics, following-up your Assessment with a book study of The Successful Middle School: This We Believe can help align staff around those best practices and create a shared vision for future goals and success. Your coach can customize your study based on your Assessment results.
Progress Monitoring Assessments
Continue to gauge and evaluate your progress with the progress monitoring assessments. Aligned to The Successful Middle School: This We Believe and its companion texts, these smaller surveys target just one area of work each, evaluating specific action steps, practices, and more that are key to developing strong implementation of these areas. Upon completion of you will receive an addendum report that compares the results to your original Successful Middle School Assessment, provides a robust analysis of current implementation, and includes recommendations to support continued growth. Successful Middle School Progress Monitoring Assessments are currently available for:
- master schedule
- interdisciplinary teaming
- advisory
Please note, completion of the full Successful Middle School Assessment is a prerequisite for these Progress Monitoring Assessments.
AMLE Schools of Distinction
Completion of the Successful Middle School Assessment for staff is a prerequisite for AMLE Schools of Distinction, a recognition and continuous improvement program open to any school that educates students aged 10-15. Schools are celebrated for their commitment to the middle grades best practices while also being guided through a process of self-assessment and strategic vision setting to help foster ongoing growth and success. Learn more about AMLE Schools of Distinction.
Ongoing Coaching and Support
AMLE believes that professional learning should be long term, job embedded, and relevant. It’s our mission to support you as you continue your Successful Middle School journey. Package continued coaching at a discount, or partner with AMLE on a workshop or professional development event aligned with your Assessment results.
District Implementation
The Successful Middle School Assessment is also available for district-wide implementation. You AMLE coach will deliver individual school reports to each school leader in addition to providing a district-wide summary report to help you identify trends across schools.
Get Started
We know that each school community is unique. The Assessment is part of The Successful Middle School Program, designed to be a versatile and adaptable professional development resource to meet the needs of each school/district. Design the experience that works for you!
To learn more about AMLE’s Successful Middle School Assessment, meet with Katie Powell, AMLE’s Director for Middle Level Programs.