Note: Project SAIL began in the summer of 2003 and concluded in 2005. This article describes the first year accomplishments and objectives. A summary of SAIL that was written at the conclusion of the project is available here. ThisWeek newspaper featured a story about SAIL in the summer of 2004.

Program Summary
A 3-week summer laboratory school in 2003 that integrated exemplary middle school practices through intensive professional development in an effort to bring about educational reform. Participants were 13 middle school teachers and 80 students from four local middle schools.

Objectives
The program had four primary objectives. Below are each of the objectives and how they were met.

Objective 1: To provide on-going professional development on middle school education for targeted cohorts of teachers in the following schools - Medina Middle School, Indianola Middle School, Crestview Middle School, and Linmoor Middle School.

It was the intention of this project to make a significant difference in how the participating teachers viewed middle level teaching. Through their participation in the project, they would gain a working knowledge of effective middle level practices that in turn would encourage them to become advocates for more appropriate middle level curriculum and instruction for young adolescents within their schools. Comments about the value of the courses, such as the following, were typical:

• "This course changed my entire view of young adolescents and how to teach them."
• "Project SAIL helped me to recommit to the teaching philosophy that I began my career with: curriculum should be student-centered, active, and dynamic. After six years, I had begun to be consumed with the test results."
• "I am now looking at my students more individually rather than as a class. I have begun to notice and accept that they are adolescents who are in constant change."
• "Without sounding cliché, the program has completely changed my educational life. It has altered how I look at students, colleagues, and the actual process."
• "Project SAIL has empowered me to be more of a "risk taker" when developing plans around my curriculum. I feel the need to place teaching and learning in the category of fun and worthwhile first."
• "This solidified my resolve that students won't care to learn until they learn that you care. The amazing personal relationships that were built here blew my mind."
• "I was re-convinced to be a risk-taker for the sake of my students' academic success and enjoyment as well as for my professional growth and satisfaction."
• "What a huge difference there was between a middle school student and other age groups and what a powerful need they have to be affirmed, recognized, and valued."
• "Students are motivated by the opportunity to choose and to discover. I need to be more patient and allow my students more time to experiment with the curriculum instead of telling them."

• Found students more motivated because they were engaged in relevant curriculum and active learning.
• Gave up some control in management (students call freedom) to be more student centered.
• Valued team time, team planning, wanted more time in the future to do this planning.
• Empowered them as teachers to teach the way they know (and research states) should teach young adolescents.
• Relationships with students seen as important to learning.
• Learning is viewed as more individualized, meeting student needs.

• Liked focused on active learning vs. typical lecture in home schools.
• Mentioned the importance of working with the community (relevance).
• Expressed greater freedom AND responsibility.
• Valued relationships with the teachers. Expressed teachers cared and helped them learn more than in home schools.

Empowerment of students and teachers results in teachers and students indicating that learning is more relevant, collegial, connected, engaging and motivating, individualized/meeting diverse learner needs, and more authentic than typically experienced in "real" school.

In addition to the teachers' success in gaining a better working knowledge of middle school curriculum and instruction and implementing what they had learned in these courses during the Summer Academy, another component of the project's success was evident when the teachers incorporated what they have learned and experienced in their own schools. During Fall 2003, Otterbein faculty met regularly with participating teachers and coached them on addressing the district's curriculum benchmarks through a more integrated approach, establishing an advocacy program for students in their school and promoting more of a team approach to teaching the curriculum in their classes.

Objective 2: To provide Columbus middle school students with an opportunity to enrich their education by participating in an exemplary middle school setting staffed by middle school teachers and pre-service teachers who have been prepared to implement the most current middle school instructional practices.

The students who participated in the project came from all four Project GRAD middle schools and represented a microcosm of the student population at all four schools. Although teachers from the four middle schools nominated the students, their participation was strictly voluntary. They did not receive credit or any other extra incentive for participating. We asked the students to complete an evaluation on a 1-4 scale (1 being the highest rating) and rate their experience with SAIL compared to their regular school experience. The results were as follows:

Although the majority of students were not displeased with their school experience, it was apparent they preferred the educational environment offered by the SAIL project.

Some of the more common student responses to the program were:

• "I wish our regular school was like this."
• "Here at SAIL we had more opportunities."
• "There isn't a fight everyday and people get along. We have fun learning."
• "I learned that schools like this can give a lot of courage to people to keep them trying their best."
• "I learned to never let anybody take your power."
• "I learned about when I reach my goal, which is to be a doctor, I should give back to my community."
• "I learned you can do a lot within your community."
• "I learned that a lot of people came from a low- income family and still made it in life."
• "I learned you can do anything you set your mind to."
• "I learned trust."
• "I learned teamwork."
• "I learned to be yourself . . . don't be anyone else."

Objective 3: To provide meaningful field experiences in urban middle schools for the Otterbein Middle School pre-service teachers.

One of the requirements in the Otterbein Teacher Education program is that each undergraduate candidate participates in 100 clock hours of field experience in an urban school. Students often came back with less than positive attitudes toward teaching in an urban setting. One of the premises for this project was that if a cohort of urban middle school teachers was provided necessary professional development opportunities, those same teachers would then provide appropriate placements for our middle school undergraduate candidates during their urban field experiences. This in turn would more likely insure that the pre-service students would have positive experiences and see that effective middle school practices are possible in an urban setting. We were not naive enough to think that all students would want to teach in an urban setting because of this experience. However, we were confident that such an experience might open some options that students may not have previously considered. There were eight pre-service students involved in the Summer Academy. The field experience for the eight students was not only positive, without exception, but played a major role in establishing a working relationship with the teachers that carried over into the Summer Academy.

Objective 4: To establish a cohort of teachers and students within the participating schools who will incorporate what they have learned from Project SAIL into their own schools and share those practices associated with good middle school education with their colleagues and other middle school students.

This project was not designed to be a one-time event with little lasting effect. Phase three of the project is designed to insure that what was learned from the project will be infused into the schools as well as the Middle Childhood Teacher Education Program at Otterbein College.

An important part of the project is to have teachers take what they have learned and develop projects that they can incorporate into their classrooms or schools. The project staff will continue to provide support in helping implement the project throughout the upcoming school year. Funds are being made available to participating teachers in order for them to attend middle school conferences to present their projects. The following are some of the topics of their projects:

• Can a one-on-one student/adult advocacy program in a middle school affect students' self-esteem, attendance, engagement in the classroom, and learning?
• Can an interdisciplinary approach to learning be used within a program that advocates for prescribed curriculum programs? Can this interdisciplinary approach affect students' academic, social, and emotional success?
• Can the implementation of an advisory program affect students' self-esteem, attendance, engagement in the classroom, and learning?
• Can team planning enhance curriculum?