THE GOAL
The middle grades are a pivotal time in the development of students, and their middle-grades experience can significantly impact their chances for long-term success. During this time students either learn the knowledge, skills, and habits they need for high school and beyond or they develop a negative attitude toward school and learning that may lead to tuning out, dropping out, or other risky behavior.

AIM's goal is that all students meet challenging standards and are prepared to succeed at the next stage of learning and growing.


GUIDING PRINCIPLES
AIM is not a "one-size-fits-all" approach to school reform, but a set of structures and processes, tools and materials, and support mechanisms (see Services and Program Components for more details).

A basic tenet is that all schools have the capacity to accelerate student learning and development when they exercise strong and collaborative leadership, create a powerful professional learning community, and build strong bridges with parents and the community (see Design Elements for details). Furthermore, schools need to be at the center of their own improvement efforts.

This basic tenet leads to a set of principles that guide all AIM's professional development and technical assistance activities:

• Technical assistance must be contextualized. Every school is different, given its particular student population, faculty, local community, and organizational history. And every school faces a different set of challenges, based on its state and local standards, past performance, and resources. AIM staff help schools analyze their strengths and needs, determine priorities, and develop a tailored approach to school improvement that fits local needs and conditions.
• Relationships matter. AIM works in collaboration with member schools, building long-term relationships characterized by trust and mutual respect. A local AIM site developer visits frequently to provide regular and ongoing support.
• Capacity building is the key to long-term sustainability. Through leadership development, professional development, and ongoing technical assistance, AIM helps schools build the knowledge, skills, and dispositions to continue their improvement efforts. AIM schools also create an inclusive culture and supportive structures that facilitate professional learning over time.
• Continuous Improvement. School improvement is not a one-time event. AIM schools learn how to use data for decision-making, set performance goals and benchmarks, take concrete actions, and track changes in performance by all segments of the student population.

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