Stuck in the middle again. I go back to middle school Monday when my twins start sixth grade.
I am going back to middle school.
It's back to middle school for me Monday, when my twins begin sixth grade. I am not looking forward to it.
My twins begin sixth grade Monday, going to the same middle school that my older two children attended.
I found middle school the weak link in my children’s k-12 education, which opened with a fantastic elementary school and concluded with a strong high school experience.
Middle school was another story, in part because their school went through a series of principals in six years, each bringing a short-lived flurry of changes that destabilized the school and the teachers.
The school boasted some wonderful teachers, but the overall experience was a disappointment and the atmosphere off putting.
Parents often felt they were entering a prison under lock down when they visited the school during the day, half expecting to be checked for contraband themselves.
I know that many people argue that middle school is of small importance because the students themselves are so addled by hormones that they can’t concentrate.
As a result, middle schools have long been seen as holding pens until the young teens and their hormones simmer down.
Whenever I voice any misgivings about middle schools, advocates sent me scolding messages that the problem is not with the fundamental model, but with how poorly districts have put it into practice, not fully funding it or not faithfully adhering to the principles.
There is a national effort to improve middle schools, but the results remain unimpressive, suggesting to me that the concept itself is flawed.
Anything that is this hard to repair may not be worth fixing, sort of like my beloved canary yellow Mustang that ended up costing me more to fix than it was worth. Looking at a second camshaft in less than a year, my mechanic counseled me it was time to move to a new model.
I hated to see old “Yeller” go to the scrap heap, but my new car was more reliable, safer and far less costly to maintain.
I suggest that we ought to consider new models for educating adolescents, including k-8 schools that offer the nurturing environment of elementary school to children for these critical adolescent years.
The average middle school in Georgia houses nearly 900 students. While educators complain that parents step back in middle school, the research suggests they are also pushed back a bit.
Parental involvement is strongly influenced by a school’s treatment and view of the parents and by whether teachers believe parents can make a contribution.
The problem is that teachers dealing with 150 students a day in a big, impersonal middle school can’t really connect with them. When their children don’t bond with teachers or the school, neither do the parents.
One of the selling points of middle schools is the team concept in which a group of teachers have the same collection of students every day, and the classrooms are often located in the same wing of the building.
As one middle school manual explains: “This middle school team approach allows teachers to more closely ‘follow the child,’ i.e., develop stronger ties with individual students and therefore better able to monitor their progress and offer quick feedback and assistance…which in turn allows students and teachers to establish the stronger connections.”
But I never saw this team approach in action. Yes, my children were on a color-coded team, but beyond scheduling, the team didn’t seen to serve any other function in their daily lives or interactions.
I remember my first meeting with my child’s “team.” It was clear that the teachers had never had a single conversation about my daughter. This didn’t surprise me as she was a good student who would not have created a need for too many huddles.
But the teachers couldn’t even answer my basic questions about her schedule or her classes: How does the school assign students to elective classes? No one had any idea. How do band and chorus work? Again, no clue.
Later, a friend who teaches middle school counseled me that her colleagues concentrate their efforts on the kids who are drowning, that a student who does well, shows up and turns in her homework is probably going to be considered a gift and left to her own devices.
I understand the focus on students who are struggling, given what is at stake in middle schools today.
In its report “The Forgotten Middle,” ACT researchers concluded: “Our research shows that, under current conditions, the level of academic achievement that students attain by eighth grade has a larger impact on their college and career readiness by the time they graduate from high school than anything that happens academically in high school.”
But I also think that it is disheartening to drop off your children at a building that resembles a Russian prison and hope that somebody notices them.
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126 comments Add your comment
in the midst
August 1st, 2010
5:03 pm
I attended school on the k – 7; 8-12 model and I have taught in middle schools for the past 13 years. Unfortunately, despite the best effort of teachers, administrators, and parents I do not believe the current middle school model is working. There is no true accountability for students in grades 6 and 7 and it is difficult to hold students accountable when there are no credits they have to earn to progress from one level to the next. I remember leaving the 7th grade knowing that entering 8th grade my future was in my hands. There was no time to “cruise” through classes.
The difficulty in finding an adequate solution is that the world is different that it was in the 70’s and 80’s when I went through school and children and their parents are different. How we have the school designed will not matter until the importance of education is established in this country from the top down. Our country does not place the same value on education as is done in other countries. We simply give it lip service.
oldtimer
August 1st, 2010
5:20 pm
In my middle school we shared supplies as so many would not bring them..And yes I am sorry to say we forgot about the specials. I am original certified 7-12.Then returned for the middle school….and reading certification. Because I did so well on the “Teacher Competency Test”,,,first statewide testing, I was also given the K-4 certification. Later upon moving to a new state they tried to get me to teach kindergarden..LOL. I spent 33 years 6-12…Who would want this old person in K…
By the way the TCT was the first of insulting tests. I have a masters in History and Education. I am certified to also do LA and remedial reading.
jat
August 1st, 2010
6:14 pm
Neil Boortz should go back to Kindergarten to learn how to share. Additionally, teachers have influence, not power (very different).
Toto: exposing the man behind the curtain
August 1st, 2010
6:37 pm
BIG BROTHER BLOG:
“We’re right there as it happens,” Ahlberg told Danger Room as he clicked through a demonstration. “We can assemble actual real-time dossiers on people.”
Read More http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/07/exclusive-google-cia/#ixzz0vOdiYrPE
Larry Major
August 1st, 2010
7:03 pm
1984 has arrived???
Surely, I have not slept for six years. Oh! That flagon! That wicked flagon! What excuse shall I make to the ol’ lady?
jsmith
August 1st, 2010
8:40 pm
everyone knows when public education became a problem and why , but know one is aloud to talk about it without being labeled a racist!! people can talk all they want about why they send their kids to private school , but everyone knows the real answer!!!
Maxx
August 1st, 2010
8:52 pm
Re: jsmith
You said…”everyone knows when public education became a problem.”…Please help me out and explain it for me..I’m ignorant..please tell me.
Here's a thought...
August 1st, 2010
9:00 pm
@jsmith: That is just wrong… As a society we need to put the blinders on and educate EVERY child regardless of their race. The U.S. is made up of people from everywhere and with many different backgrounds. It is our responsibility to help young people grow up to be good citizens of this great country. The school system is not perfect but there are many of us teachers giving it our best and working our hearts out. Yes, your comment is racist and it is misinformed. There are many improvements to be made in public education but it is impossible to lay the blame on just one part of history. This is much more complex than that and I hope proactive, positive people take the helm and not others whose viewpoints divide and insult. I sincerely hope you will realize this and use your intelligence to help solve the problems.
Here's a thought...
August 1st, 2010
9:18 pm
stuck in filter
catlady
August 1st, 2010
10:00 pm
SC671: Do h.s. teachers have to take any child development courses or pedagogy courses? I know for elem ed I had a “methods” class in teaching everything: reading, language arts, science,social studies, math, music, health, art, pe. I needed one in teaching parents!
Future Educator
August 1st, 2010
10:22 pm
As someone who is in school to beome a teacher, I can safely trace my desires to educate others to the incompetence of my middle school. I want to teach at a middle school so that I can do a better job that those that worked with me.
Great article, I agree with it in it’s entireity.
ScienceTeacher671
August 1st, 2010
10:23 pm
Catlady, as best I recall without pulling out transcripts, to get certified I had to take a general pedagogy course as well as a science methods course. Had to take another science methods course for the masters degree.
I’ve had a couple of child development courses for either the masters or the Ed.S., and I’ve also had several classes dealing with learning disabilities and behavior disorders. For reasons I don’t quite recall I’ve also had courses in childrens’ literature, teaching math, and teaching art at the elementary level.
Odd that they don’t really give you classes in dealing with parents, classroom management, or dealing with the constantly changing educational fads…
Maxx
August 1st, 2010
10:30 pm
Re: jsmith…
I’m still waiting…tell me why, since you know the answer. Not only are you a closet racist but you are coward as well.
Concerned 1
August 1st, 2010
10:35 pm
APS does have some bright spots. That valedictorian from Washington was great and so were the Stock Market kids at Douglass. Their high school experiences at least were helpful. Two great high schools with traditions of excellence that go back decades. The teachers and parents behind them should be commended.
HS Teacher
August 2nd, 2010
1:52 am
Maureen,
I do agree with you on this one for the most part. Middle school education seems way too sensitive about hormonal changes. Sure, the kids are developing, but I just do not think that teachers need to dwell on that or allow that to be an excuse for anything. The students still have brains and can still learn if properly focused.
IMHO, a good middle school should have the same high standards of behavior and academic expectations as elementary or high schools. There is just no excuse.
Clay Boggess
August 2nd, 2010
7:49 am
Although K-8 may provide more elementary nurturing for this age group I do feel that a 6-8 grade environment is also beneficial in that this is the 1st break from the elementary school womb. Students need to start learning to make decisions on their own and feel that they are themselves a part of something different. In 6th grade the students are usually more cautious, in 7th grade they start to take more chances and as a result are learning from their mistakes and in 8th grade they get the opportunity to refine their newly formed skills before high school. As a parent of an 8th grader we are experiencing this first hand. Like anything else, parental involvement is important. Our middle school supports and encourages it.
Clay Boggess
http://www.BigEventFundraising.com
AJinCobb
August 2nd, 2010
8:02 am
We moved from a K-7 system when our eldest child (now in high school) was a rising 3rd grader. I was so struck by the different atmosphere of the K-5 Cobb County elementary school, compared with the K-7 school we’d come from. The absence of those huge hormonal 7th graders made such a difference! The K-5 school seemed so much calmer, and completely focused on children, without any of the overtones of puberty in the air.
When our eldest reached 6th grade, I felt she was ready to move on to something new. I know that middle school is problematic and somewhat prison-like. I’d like to think it could be improved. However, having seen the K-7 versus K-5 difference at first hand, I’m not at all in favor of sending those big kids back to elementary school for a couple more years. The root problem with this age group isn’t really the schools, in my opinion, it’s the life stage. It’s a really difficult time of life for the youth, and for parents and teachers. Putting them back in elementary school doesn’t dial back the hormones. It just moves the problem to a different setting.
Also, middle school does offer the opportunity for more varied and enriched classes. My child was “gifted”. I wasn’t particularly impressed with the pull-out program in elementary school. The special class sections for gifted students at middle school were much more stimulating and helpful for her.
AJinCobb
August 2nd, 2010
8:02 am
Weird … can’t imagine what was in my post that caused the filter to grab it.
Proud Middle School Teacher
August 2nd, 2010
9:23 am
“But the teachers couldn’t even answer my basic questions about her schedule or her classes: How does the school assign students to elective classes? No one had any idea. How do band and chorus work? Again, no clue.”….. ummm, b/c that is not their job. I have no clue how the data clerk and counselors assign elective classes. Also, if you would like to know about band and chorus, ask the band and chorus teacher.
I teach over 130 students each year and I do KNOW them. With that many students you have to work at it. I do think middle school is a hard stage. Students require more work at home, so parents give less at school. Students are also there for only 3 years, so families do not feel school pride or invested. But, anyone who thinks students do not advance in middle school needs to come observe a 6th grade class and then an 8th grade class. I think the change and growth will be astonishing. I do not think the middle school model is the most effective for this age group. (I am a fan of the k-6 elem, 7-9 jr high, and 10-12 high school.) But, I promise you that most middle school teachers I know work as hard as they can to help this unique age grow academically.
Writer Gal
August 2nd, 2010
4:13 pm
“”"profoundly gifted”
July 31st, 2010
2:04 pm
writer gal, i speak for all teachers who won’t have the pleasure of working with your diving gift: THANK YOU!!!!!!! now we can spend time teaching the non-profoundly gifted teachers instead of catering to your li’l angel’s every precious whim. as far as middle school goes, i agree that the benefits of a team approach are cancelled by the crushing number of students each teacher must deal with on a daily basis.”"
This is exactly what I am talking about, and thank you for illustrating my point so efficiently. Grammatical errors, punctuation errors, spelling errors, and the apparent inability to write a paragraph with correct capitalization. This is why I do not want this type of teacher teaching my exceptional child. He writes a hundred times better than this as an eight year old. This is why many score so low on testing and end up going to work at a minimum wage job in the North Georgia mills–otherwise go on welfare, as the mill economy is dead and dying.
You’re very welcome. No one ever catered to our every whim. Quite the opposite, as he mostly was stuck in a corner on a computer and forbidden to even answer a math question because everyone else had to have a chance.
Ahhh–how very sad is the jealousy of those in the teaching profession when their own children cannot measure up. How sad to be envious of a little child blessed by God with ability. It’s okay, really…we will be laughing all the way to Harvard while you are miserable that blogs do not have grammar and spelling checks and you must forge ahead without them.
Teacher-Mom in Cobb
August 2nd, 2010
9:15 pm
Wow, Maureen, you must have had a really bad middle school experience yourself to come down so hard on middle schools. After 16 years teaching the “hormonally impaired,” I can honestly say that I have not seen any thing like what you detailed in your column. Sure it is hard to get to know 120+ kids every year, but most educators I work with certainly make the effort. Parents are an integral and welcome part of my classroom, and I communicate with them weekly to make sure that they stay informed and in touch with what we are doing. I wish your twins the very best in sixth grade. Should their teachers be AJC readers, I’m sure they will get some extra attention on a daily basis.
Maureen Downey
August 2nd, 2010
9:33 pm
@teacher-mom, Nope, no bad experience as I was in a k-8 school and had no middle school experience. Nothing changed from fifth to sixth grade for me. I just don’t think the model works. I have received a lot of responses to the column, which ran today in print, including six teachers, two principals and one superintendent. And they also have concerns with how middle school works. I think there are good middle schools. Sounds like yours is one. And the one that my kids attend may well be now. As I noted, the school went through four principals in rapid succession, and that added to the problems when my older kids were there.
Maureen
MS Teacher
August 2nd, 2010
11:08 pm
I love teaching middle school. I cannot put the exact reason for it, but I feel at home here. I have come into my own as an educator teaching middle school. I didn’t have a great experience as a middle school student, but it was not because of the teachers. My teachers were fantastic. I still talk about them to my students. I try to model myself after a few of them because they made such a difference in my life. Every team I have been a part of as a teacher tried to make it feel like a community or family. We found this important to our students’ success. I started 7th grade today, and I know they are challenging. I am totally ready for it and love it! I do hate it when people either look down at me or feel sorry for me as a middle school teacher. I think it is an honor to teach at this level.
OTOH
August 3rd, 2010
3:08 am
Over the ten continuous years I had children in MS, at Five Forks in Gwinnett, the admin did make it more prison-ish. But then, FFMS had the worst AsstP I have ever dealt with or heard about. I hear she is a full principal now in a different school. OTOH, the curriculum improved, at least for the gifted students. My last one was in a gifted pod. She has had no difficulty with the odd new Math. Her oldest brothers, unfortunately, had the same abysmal accelerated math teacher and both of them taught themselves and their buddies the math the teacher could/would not teach. The admin did not care at that time that the teacher did not know the math she was paid to teach. Mr. Munzenmeyer made up for all the defects of FFMS. Best teacher any of my kids have had. He taught gifted math and then gifted SS. In every class, he taught logic. I thoroughly enjoyed the test he gave us parents on the Constitution. So, the best and the worst, yep, that is MS.
Proud Middle School Teacher
August 4th, 2010
12:39 am
Writer Gal-
I am glad you have found the right educational setting for your child. I believe every child in unique and their educational plan should be treated as such. This might mean public, private, religious, or home school. My only argument I have for you is your seemingly superior and judgemental attitude. You and your child are not better because he or she was born with an intellectual gift and you have chosen home school. I am also disturbed that you state that “going to work at a minimum wage job in the North Georgia mills,” is something to be ashamed of. Someone working in a mill made the textile you are wearing, sitting on, standing on, or sleeping in. I hope you are not passing this attitude on to your child. Every job that meets a need is a job that is deserving of pride and respect.
Dr. Judith Hiles
July 29th, 2012
2:44 pm
Ms. Downey: Your impression of Middle Schools distresses me, as I spent 9 years teaching MS students. The MS movement started because the years between ages 11 and 14 constitute a period of huge change and growth in children. They grow more in these years than at any other period of life, except for 0 to 12 months. Changes occur inside and out, surprising the kids with their powerful effect on their physical and emotional selves. Yet, I experienced MS students as eager learners, thriving when some second chances were occasionally given to make up assignments, or even to re-take a quiz. They can be resilient and caring. My students enjoyed sharing their new knowledge, using internet sources to enrich reports and making Power Point presentations instead of poster board. And guess what subject I was teaching?? LATIN!!
When adults share in their reading and learning, Middle Schoolers learn even more. In June, my 12-year old grandson visited us from South Carolina. While here, I took him to the library so he could start on his summer reading. I was favorably impressed with the long list from which he chose 5 books. We both read a book called MAMBA POINT, about a middle schooler who moves with his family to Uganda, where his father enters the diplomatic corps. We searched google for Mamba snakes and the geography of Uganda; we discussed the challenges the young man faced in moving away from his beloved hometown in Ohio. Next we read, A LONG WALK TO WATER, about a Sudanese girl who walks 8 hours per day to retrieve water for her family, and a Sudanese boy who flees rebel forces in about 2003, loses his family, and walks to Ethiopia, where he stays in two different refugee camps…a “lost boy” of the Sudan. (I won’t tell you the end! But read it!)
Teachers and parents of middle schoolers can work together to make those years easier for everyone, and can encourage this energetic, eager group of children.
Judith M. Hiles, Ph.D.
Sandy Springs, GA
hilesj@bellsouth.net