Five Questions with Kerri Briggs: "People want to do what works"

Through an intense focus on middle school improvement that leverages the best available research and practice, the George W. Bush Institute is seeking to dramatically increase the number of students who are well-prepared to enter high school and are ready to earn a meaningful diploma through its Middle School Matters initiative.

Leading the charge is Kerri Briggs, the institute's director for education reform and the former state superintendent of education for Washington, D.C. Before that, Briggs served as Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education and Acting Assistant Secretary for Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development.

This week, Briggs sat down to answer five questions from NoDropouts.org about the program's origins and its goals.

NoDropouts: In an interview with NoDropouts.org, Bob Wise lamented that, while governor of West Virginia, "we focused quite rightly on early childhood and we focused on college access. But you know something? We missed the middle. What we did was we loved our kids up until about the sixth grade. Then we said to them, ‘now you’re in middle school and you can take it from here.'" And Wise noted sadly that his state wasn't alone in making this mistake. What is it about middle school that has made it such an afterthought in education reform efforts for so long?

Kerri Briggs: Both those issues – early childhood and college access are important, and one can make very compelling arguments for focusing on both. As a country we recognize the importance of higher education – the job markets make that very clear. With middle school, maybe it is part of our individual experiences with middle school that most of us would like to forget. But many of us have missed its importance, even while the data are so clear that students are not achieving in ways they can and should.

Nationally, only 30 percent of eighth grade students meet the National Assessment of Education Progress proficient threshold, and 26 percent of students are unable to achieve even the basic level. In mathematics, only 32 percent of students overall are performing at the proficient level, and 29 percent of students are below the basic level. The National Mathematics Advisory Panel noted in its final report that the sharp falloff in mathematics achievement that begins as students reach late middle school is where, for increasing numbers of students, algebra course work typically begins. Yet, research confirms that students who study algebra at least though Algebra II in high school are more than twice as likely as non-Algebra II students to earn a four-year degree. Moreover, achievement gaps in college graduation rates among African-American and Hispanic students completing math through Algebra II are half as large for non-Algebra II students.

We know that most students who drop out of high school do so between the ninth and tenth grade. Nationally, approximately 35 percent of students who are lost during high school fail to make the transition from ninth to tenth grade. Twenty-nine of 51 states experience their greatest leakage from the college enrollment pipeline during the ninth grade. We don’t believe that all has been good and fine up until students get to 9th grade. The problems start earlier. To that end, a growing awareness of the ninth grade as a “make or break” year has led several districts and schools throughout the country to establish early warning systems to identify students in need of intervention and support upon their arrival into the ninth grade.

NoDropouts: There are, fortunately, some who have long made middle school reforms a key focus. What have you learned from them?

Kerri Briggs: We are fortunate that many of those individuals and organizations are partnering with us on this effort. Last summer, Sandy Kress and Beth Ann Bryan, our lead fellows on this project organized several design team meetings. People like Mike Feinberg, with KIPP; Chris Barbic and Chris Claflin, from YES Prep Schools; and Wanda Bamberg, superintendent of Aldine School District and a past Broad Urban district winner have been sharing their knowledge and lessons learned. Similarly, a terrific group of researchers are engaged in the effort – Robert Balfanz at Johns Hopkins University; Mark Dynarski with Chesapeake Consulting; Sharon Vaughn at University of Texas; David Chard, Leanne Ketterlin Geller, and Reid Lyon at Southern Methodist University; Art Graesser at the University of Memphis; Steve Graham at Vanderbilt University; Sandra Chapman and Jacquelyn Gamino at Center for Brain Health, UT, Dallas; and Dean Nafziger and Don Barfield with Edvance Research, Inc. We are grateful for the engagement of Civic Enterprises, America’s Promise, and the Southern Regional Education Board in this effort.

I think we’ve learned a number of things from these and others, and you see that in the design of Middle School Matters. Solid, scientific research-based improvement strategies, practices and interventions. A comprehensive, replicable model with research-based components. Strong support to implement, scale, and sustain model with fidelity. Content that meets or exceeds state and national standards to rigorously prepare students for college and career. Research-based alternative practices to accommodate variation in school context.

NoDropouts: You helped write the regulations and guidance for implementation of No Child Left Behind. What did you learn about the way educators, parents, state leaders and community members took to that guidance that will help you as you work to suggest new reforms based on the work being done in the Middle School Matters program?

Kerri Briggs: Secretary Spellings used to say – “We shouldn’t be hiding the ball! People want to do the right things; the things research proves work – they just need to be told what they are.” It was true with No Child Left Behind, and I think it is true with this work as well. People want to do what works. There is tremendous research that has been completed over the last ten years around adolescent learning and all the components of successful middle school. This effort will bring all that research to the field in a way that we hope will be extremely useful and practical for educators.

I also learned that people can become overwhelmed with information – if it is scattered or unclear or too theoretical, it will be ignored. Providing clear practical information is a key perspective in this work.

Likewise, what lessons did you learn as state superintendent of education for Washington D.C. that you are leaning on in this new role?

You learn a lot of lessons in a role like that. Change is difficult. Even when there is agreement on a problem, like the state of DC schools or America’s middle schools, it takes a clear strategy and then an intentional focus on implementation, informed all along the way with data.

You have to have a strong sense of why the work is important. As state superintendent, I had a number of priorities, including some basic operational ones – such as improving agency operations, and building a data system. Those things were important because it meant that our schools could get access to their federal and local funds quicker and with greater efficiency, and we could all have data that informed decisions about students, and schools. It wasn’t – build a good agency for its own sake; it was – build a good agency because that will help educators with their work of teaching students. All those lessons apply here.

NoDropouts: You've put together an impressive team of gifted researchers — Robert Balfanz from Johns Hopkins, Steve Graham from Vanderbilt and Sharon Vaughn of the University of Texas-Austin among others whose work we've been following. We assume you've also made sure to bring Middle School teachers, administrators, parents and students into the process, too. Can you tell us a little bit about that part of the Middle School Matters effort?

Kerri Briggs: Yes, absolutely. Sandy and Beth Ann are so intentional and thoughtful about that aspect of this work. Some of the best middle school educators (former state commissioners, district superintendents, leaders, teachers) and community members were involved in the initial design phase and continue to be involved as the platform is being built. These individuals are helping ensure that the platform is true to the research but also cognizant of school reality. What’s great about this team is that they are able to bring that realism to the work without losing sight of the imperative to improve middle schools.