Home > Program Components
AIM is a comprehensive school reform program that assists schools in becoming
high-performing learning and caring organizations.
AIM school achieve this goal by focusing on six key design
elements, and gauging their progress on each by instituting the practices
and structures articulated in the three phases of AIM's implementation
benchmarks.
Several core program components provide the structure needed to achieve
improvement throughout the whole school. This page provides descriptions
of these components with an introduction to what they look like in action.
See below for an introduction to the components, or select from the
lefthand menu for more detailed explanations.
Click here to read about the services
that AIM provides to support the implementation of the program components.
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Teaching for Understanding
AIM pedagogy is built on the framework of Teaching for Understanding (TFU),
a term first coined by Howard Gardner and David Perkins at Harvard
Project Zero. AIM's approach to Teaching for Understanding adapts the
Understanding
by Design process developed by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe, and focuses
on the use of enduring understandings and essential questions to guide student
learning as they meet local curriculum standards.
AIM teachers utilize the strategy of backward design when creating
lessons and learning units. Backard design features these three steps:
Learn more about AIM's Teaching for Understanding
program component.
Leadership
AIM schools are committed to developing leadership capacity to improve student
achievement. Linda Lambert (1998) defines leadership capacity building as
"broad-based, skillful participation in the work of leadership." AIM schools
form Leadership Teams comprised of teachers, administrators, and parents.
The Leadership Team is responsible for assessing the current status of teaching
and learning in the school, building a shared vision, creating the conditions
under which school improvement can occur, monitoring progress, and making
sure the school meets implementation benchmarks. AIM schools are committed
to collaborative leadership.
Learn more about AIM's Leadership program component.
Inquiry Teams
Faculty Inquiry Teams are ongoing professional development experiences in
which teachers focus on improving teaching and learning by engaging in inquiry
and reflection about practice. Faculty Inquiry Teams meet at least once
per week and provide a structure for faculty to engage in such activities
as:
Learn
more about AIM's Inquiry Teams program component.
Learning Communities
A primary goal of the AIM model is to help schools begin to see themselves
as communities, where teachers, no less than students, are committed to
learning. AIM schools develop a culture of continuous inquiry and improvement
where all activities focus on student achievement. While the focus of
the professional learning community is on the system or group, it does
not undermine the role of the individual in promoting change.
Learn more about AIM's Learning Communities
program component.
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