EDUCATION

Education

Education

Creating More Effective Middles

The past two decades have seen a shift from preadolescents attending junior Middle schools to their attending middle schools. But the change is more than just semantic. Junior Middle schools, acting as little Middle schools, were impersonal places. Today's middle schools try to help the whole child, academically and socially, at this transitional point in their lives. These schools are entering a transitional stage themselves, as they face pressure to shift to a more academic emphasis (Atwell 2008). With "academics" so much easier to measure than social development, and the conservative political agenda favoring a drill/skill-based back-to-basics school "reform," are Middle Schools at risk of going "back to the future" and becoming impersonal junior Middle schools once again?

Research consistently identifies the middle grades as one of a few crucial crossroads in the American system of public education. In short, middle grades students either acquire the knowledge and skills they need to achieve in Middle school and beyond, or they fall critically behind and struggle to overcome intellectual and social-emotional underdevelopment for the rest of their educational careers.

Critics claim schools have become too soft around the middle. NAEP scores and reports from other education groups across the country point to less emphasis on academics and more on young adolescents' developmental characteristics. This reflects a controversy. The key to a successful middle school, proponents of the Business Roundtable say, is a healthy focus on academic results, not just student development. (Beane 2009)

Teaching Strategies For All Subjects

Teaching middle school students is perhaps one of the hardest jobs out there - it is, at least, oftentimes the most difficult teaching job. Elementary school students generally respect their adults and view their elementary school teachers as wonderful people who not just teach, but entertain them, as well. Middle school students no longer think of their teachers in such a way, but many have begun to realize the importance of education. Many have realized that “acting out” in class does not have its rewards. (Beane 2009)

But middle school… well, students in middle school are going through a bit of a transitional period. By the time students are entering the preteen age zone, the behavior patterns of many of these students undergoes a rapid change. Middle school students have begun to realize that they do not have to accept authority fully - there is a life beyond authority. Middle school students realize that they can challenge adults. This is why teaching middle school students can be difficult. (Atwell 2008)

This preteen time is a time in which students are undergoing a ton of emotional, physical, social, and intellectual growth. Many students are entering into puberty and are experiences changes that they have to accept. (Beane 2009)

Interestingly, a majority of discipline problems from kindergarten through 12th grade occur in middle school (6th, 7th, and 8th grades). These three grades, less than 25% of the grade levels, actually represent the majority or near majority of discipline problems,

Teaching middle school students and teaching them well may seem like ...