Abstract
Problem and purpose. Considerable change is necessary on the part of district and school staffs to implement the middle school philosophy. Middle school leaders must change those existing norms that are nonproductive and ineffective in implementing the middle school program. This study identified the behavioral norms, both productive and nonproductive, related to decision making, risk taking, communication, and conflict in the middle school, and compared the identified norms for distinguished and nondistinguished middle schools within California. Methodology. Descriptive and ex post facto research was used in this study. Eighty-four 1992 distinguished middle schools and eighty-four nondistinguished middle schools were used in this study with 71 percent of the principals responding. Participants were asked to respond on a Likert scale to thirty-nine items on the Behavioral Norms Index. A frequency distribution and computation of mean, percentage, and standard deviation were used. A t-test was used to determine if there was a significant difference in the norms. Findings. The overall scores for decision-making and risk-taking norms were significantly different for distinguished middle schools. Distinguished middle schools had stronger norms for trust which enhance and strengthen the teaming process and norms for accepting innovation. The need for innovations to be successful was a nonproductive norm evident for both middle schools. There was no significant difference in communication and conflict norms between distinguished and nondistinguished middle schools. There was evidence to support that strong communication norms are already in existence within schools. Conflict norms were the lowest rank norms. Conclusion. Middle school leaders can craft change in the middle school program by empowering teachers in the decision making process, providing staff training in managing conflict, instilling trust, encouraging innovation, and hiring staff with strong teaming abilities.