Professional Development: Using Professional Development to Go from Good to Great
By: Mike Mattos

In his book Good to Great, author Jim Collins asks, “Why try for greatness? If you're doing something you care that much about, and you believe in its purpose deeply enough, then it is impossible to imagine not trying to make it great. It's just a given. Greatness is not a function of circumstance...it is largely a matter of conscious choice and discipline.”

Four years ago, the staff at the middle school of which I am principal faced this very choice. Would we settle for being a good school for most students, or would we have the discipline to become a great school for all students? With an unquestionable passion for our students and learning, our staff’s decision was “a given.”

Collectively, we worked with the entire school community to create our current mission: to maximize every student’s academic potential and personal responsibility. This singular purpose is firmly grounded in our fundamental belief that all students can learn at high levels. We believe it is not merely our job to teach; instead, it is our steadfast responsibility to ensure that all students learn. While our mission is quite simple in concept, its creation and implementation has proven to be powerful and dynamic.
    
To ensure high levels of learning for all students, we work collaboratively as a professional learning community to identify essential standards, share best instructional practices, create common assessments, and analyze student assessment data. Failure is not an option, so we have developed a “Pyramid of Interventions” to provide additional time and support for all students. We meet weekly with at-risk students to monitor progress and to provide additional help if needed.

Because our mission is to maximize every student’s academic potential, our focus extends beyond assuring grade-level proficiency and challenges students to master more rigorous curriculum. More than half of our students take accelerated level coursework, including honors language arts, geometry, foreign language, and science. Here, it is “cool” to be smart, to help others, and to take pride in our school. Last semester, almost half of our students received Principal’s Honor Roll (3.5 GPA or higher) and more than 900 students were recognized for their school achievement. 
    
While academic success is important, we also believe that middle school should be a place for all students to explore new disciplines, to experience new opportunities, and to have fun learning. To this end, all students set quarterly, “REAL Wildcat” goals for academic achievement, extracurricular involvement, exploration, leadership, and service. Currently, more than 100 students participate in student government, more than 700 students are in our fine arts programs (band, orchestra, chorus, art), more than 800 students are in our sports programs, and more than 1,000 students participate in academic competitions.

Grade-level programs transition our students from the nurturing attributes of elementary school to the flexible and age-appropriate expectations of future high school students.  Eighth-grade mentors meet weekly with our sixth-grade students to teach them the “Wildcat Way” helping to prepare them for success at here, in high school, and beyond.
    
Steadily, we are making our mission a reality. Last year, our state assessment results were the highest of all the middle schools in Orange County and in the top 1 percent in the state of California. Recently, Dr. Richard DuFour recognized our school as a national model professional learning community; only eight schools in the nation, three of which are middle schools, received this honor.

We know that the only way we can meet the academic, physical, and developmental needs of all students is by working together. Every individual in our school community is essential, every resource is vital, and every minute is precious. Our success comes from our singular dedication to fulfill our mission to maximize every student’s academic potential and personal responsibility.

Mike Mattos is the principal of Pioneer Middle School in Tustin, California. To learn more about Mike Mattos, his publications, and professional development offerings, visit www.solution-tree.com.