Some Ideas for a new way to view Middle School from PIE (circa 1995):
MIDDLE SCHOOL REFORM
How do we move forward?
"The conventional wisdom is that this is a difficult stage of life for children and that the decline in motivation and performance is, in most cases, to be expected ...."
"... (But there is) an alternative explanation for these negative
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changes that is supported by research, and an alternative solution that can be used to guide middle school reform." (SEE FLIP SIDE)
Provided by Nyack Partners in Education
MIDDLE SCHOOL or JUNIOR HIGH?
The test of a true Middle School is simple. As outlined in this month's Teacher's Magazine, if the school has a building-wide schedule, fixed periods and bells to mark them, "... You're in trouble; you're still a junior high. The middle school schedule should be flexible, determined by a team of teachers who are free to adapt it to the needs of their students."
The idea of a Middle School began in the 1960's. Unhappy with the results of the traditional junior high, educators wanted something different. 11, 12, and 13 year-olds aren't "junior" high school students; they have their own particular developmental needs somewhere between elementary students and teenagers. Herding students from period to period on a rigid schedule, teaching them to respond to ringing bells, trying to cover the mandated curriculum in tiny, 40 minute bites proved to be exactly the wrong prescription for young pre-adolescents. The emphasis fell on discipline, instead of learning.
Middle Schools were designed to be smaller, more intimate, and more personal. Many included teacher-student advisories so the kids had at least one adult in the school who knew them well. Middle schools were designed to have flexible schedules, team teaching and planning, and courses which crossed disciplines so science had something to do with social studies which related, in turn, to computer work.
By 1993, 90% of junior highs had shifted to 6^-8^ or 5^-8^ grade formats. But the change, too often, was only superficial. Here in Nyack, the Middle School follows a national pattern: it's really just a junior high in disguise. The age of the students may have changed, but the scheduling hasn't. There's only one guidance counselor for every two hundred-plus students. Interdisciplinary study remains a rarity.
Our Middle School is rich with good teachers and dedicated administrators. But as long as it remains a "junior high school," it can't address the problems that plague its student population. If we can't create a true Middle School, we should be working on a school-within-a-school that follows these guidelines.
