Preparing for change: an examination of an urban school\u27s extra-curricular activities and professional learning communities in creating a culture ready for change (original) (raw)

The purpose of this action research study is to examine the use of extra-curricular activities and professional learning communities to create a school culture ready for academic change. This unique approach to implementing change, in a historically failing urban middle school, utilizes a two pronged approach focusing on personalizing strategies specific to the school based on student and staff expressed needs. The study takes place at Sonia Middle School located in the United States\\u27 fifth most dangerous and impoverished city, Bartlett, New Jersey. Numerous academic reform models have failed to improve teaching and learning. The researcher hypothesizes these programs failed because they were not designed to meet the specific needs of the Sonia community. The school community is rift with stakeholder disengagement and apathy. This is reflected in high rates of student and staff absenteeism, an increase in behavior referrals, violence, high student transfer rate, and lack of paren...