Sixth grade academies: Fad or fix for our schools?
As both a reporter and a parent, I’ve sat through long debates on reconfiguring schools by grades, typically into something new called an “academy.” (There’s apparently a perception that dubbing a school an “academy” connotes a more serious approach to education.). Ninth grade academies. Fourth and fifth grade academies. And now sixth grade academies.
I have not seen persuasive data that any of these new configurations is a better model than what we now have. In fact, more convincing is the research that students lose ground in transition years, suggesting that we ought to minimize how many times kids move from one new school setting to another.
Research (Alspaugh 1999) has shown that students suffer achievement loss during each transition year. Studies also show that students in k-8 schools outperform peers in middle and junior highs, and the fewer transitions are considered a key factor. Students in the k-8 and k-12 schools, a configuration that remains common among private schools, also experience less stressful adolescent years. (Simmons and Blyth 1987).
With that said, here is what the AJC’s new education writer Jaime Sarrio wrote today about sixth grade academies:
Across Georgia, sixth-grade academies are still a rarity. State officials say there are three schools that serve only that grade level, one in Cobb, one in Marietta and one in Tifton. Some started as a way to deal with overcrowding. But over the years these academies have evolved into a means of easing the transition into middle school, and providing more individual attention to the maturing age group they serve.
Splitting up a school can be more costly — it means hiring another principal in addition to support staff such as office workers and janitors. Some experts also question the benefits it has on child development.
John Lounsbury, dean emeritus at Georgia College and State University’s college of education, is considered one of the pioneers of the middle school concept. He believes students can benefit from mixing with other ages. Lounsbury also said good middle school programs allow different grades to mix in exploratory classes or at lunch.
“I like to think good middle schools know how to use the diversity academically, socially and emotionally in positive ways,” he said. “By March or April, you’ve got kids who are really socially and emotionally, and in some cases mentally beyond the sixth grade. I don’t think it is the best way to guide the growth and development of young adolescents who are so different and who are very much in transition.”
But officials in Marietta say the academy is a selling point for parents who don’t like the idea of wide-eyed 11- and 12-year-olds running into mature eighth-graders who can range in age from 13 to 15.
The Marietta Sixth Grade Academy opened as an annex across the street from the overcrowded middle school in 1993. But by the time the district moved the middle school to a larger facility in 2002, they realized the model was working and decided to officially make the school its own entity.
A major focus at the school is helping students establish good study habits and organization skills to prepare for a larger course load. Students are taught how to arrange their backpack and they take surveys to help understand how they learn best, whether visually, audibly or through hands-on activities.
Test scores have increased over the last couple of years and the school continues to meet annual state academic requirements, said Principal Dayton Hibbs.
“I believe our test scores are a validation that this process helps, and it helps move middle grade education forward,” he said. “If you had a typical school of sixth, seventh and eighth grade, your focus is on trying to improve test scores at all the grade levels while at the same time trying to teach kids how to transition.”
–By Maureen Downey, AJC Get Schooled blog
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54 comments Add your comment
Mike Honcho Himself
November 22nd, 2010
9:13 am
I’ve been teaching high school for the past 15 years or so and I have to say I’m not a fan of the 9th grade academy. I have no data to back up my claims, but they just seem to delay the maturation process.
Lynx
November 22nd, 2010
9:15 am
In my daughter’s middle school of 950 students, the grades each have their own wing complete with lockers, classrooms, labs, etc. Lunch periods and electives are by grade. Band, orchestra, chorus and sports teams are mixed, though it is rare for a 6th grader to be selected for a sports team. The 7th and 8th graders mix for PE (100 kids per PE period, split into groups of 15-20 across the two grades). There are occasionally schoolwide assemblies in the gymnasium.
Now in 7th grade, my daughter can handle herself with problems arising from interaction with other kids. As a 6th grader, she got trapped in the 8th grade hallway during a class change (8th grade hallway is the only access to the cafeteria, which she was leaving), and had some pretty rough, sexual commentary aimed at her by a couple of 8th grade boys. A similar problem happened right after school one day when she was on her way from the afterschool extended day program in the cafeteria to the library upstairs and had to go through the 8th grade hallway with a friend.
The segregation of 6th graders is almost necessary when the age groups are so wide between 6th and 8th.
LaLaLa
November 22nd, 2010
9:19 am
The middle schools in Athens and Oconee segregate lockers and classrooms by hallways. Of course, teacher teams are by grade so there isn’t much interaction in classes, other than orchestra, band, or chorus, and afterschool activities, clubs, and sports. In Oconee county, the 8th graders even have their own recess area. I think the idea has been to encourage 8th graders to act more mature, rather than to protect the 6th graders from the 8th graders, but I can see how grade-level segregation would accomplish that, too.
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Dr. Proud Black Man
November 22nd, 2010
9:38 am
fad
catlady
November 22nd, 2010
10:07 am
Almost everything “new” that comes down the pike now can be called cure du jour. Not worth the money spent on the publicity.
My opinion, based on no nation-wide study, but based on years of observation, is that we should move back to the k-7 model. Have small, community schools of less than 400. Give the 6th and 7th graders, at a time of intense change for them, a chance to be the leaders of the school. Groom them for it. Give them the chance to grow into it.
My observation is based on almost 2 decades of teaching at such a school, and more than a decade of monitoring the changes that occurred when the 6th and 7th grade was “sent away” to middle school. It has been a disaster for the children in the community. They are now “one of hundreds” instead of “one of 30″.
Why do we think we “save” money by cramming as many as we can into a building (even one with separate hallways)? For every child “lost”, how much money do we lose? The business model has been repeatedly shown to be bogus for education!
A smaller, more nurturing school is able to develop the talent, ameliorate the problems, and engender confidence and buy-in in the parents.
Here is what I saw over those years: The kids from the small school stood head and shoulders academically above all but the most wealthy from the rest of the kids, who were bused in to one large school from all other reaches of the system. While the former 7th graders from the small school were one eighth of the graduating class, they were half the honor graduates. The dropout rate from the small school to graduation was less than half of the rate from the large, bused-together school. (You must remember that SES favored the large school kids by far.) Realize this is just one small example, times about 20 years of observations.
At some point we will realize we have not been “saving” money at all, when we factor in the cost of the “graduation coaches” and “counselors” and “welfare” and “jail” and the other interdictions we have had to put in place as we lose kids in these mega-schools. God speed the day!
catlady
November 22nd, 2010
10:13 am
Let me add that when the parents at this small school were given the choice (ie bus service) to send their kids to the “middle school” with all its bells and whistles, they almost without a single exception chose to keep their 6th and 7th graders at the small school, even though that meant they did not have the “advantages” that the middle school kids had (ie art, music, pe all taught by specialists, band, sports teams, clubs) The system had to finally INSIST on making all the 6th and 7th graders leave, and there is still, 15 years later, anger about this.
Middle School
November 22nd, 2010
10:29 am
I’ve been wondering recently if the middle school concept (6-8) is really the best idea socially for kids. I’ve taught in three different middle schools, and in each one, the 7th graders are the wildest. The 6th graders are still intimidated and getting used to middle school, not to mention most of them are still like little kids, while the 8th graders are reaching more mature levels. But the poor 7th graders (or should I say 7th grade teachers) deal with knowing the system but not yet being mature enough to handle it. Maybe we should go to K-6, 7-8, 9-12. Anyone have thoughts on that?
Lynx
November 22nd, 2010
10:36 am
Agree with Catlady about small schools! In Arlington, CO, VA, middle school is 6th-8th grades. In neighboring Fairfax Co, VA, middle school is 7-8th grades. Seeing kids in sports and arts programs mingling from both school districts, I noticed the Fairfax 6th graders are actually more immature socially than the Arlington 6th graders. But, by staying in a smaller (elementary) school a year longer before being tossed into the 900-1200 student middle school, the Fairfax 6th graders get an extra year of intensive math instruction in small classes and do not have the distraction of school sports and clubs, of which there are fewer at the elementary level than in middle school. The result “seems” to be better test scores in middle school in Fairfax than in Arlington county, when comparing the top middle schools in both counties.
ScienceTeacher671
November 22nd, 2010
10:36 am
I agree with Catlady about the smaller community schools, although I have no data either. I know that the state made our county close our small neighborhood school (too small) and bus the children from this area about 15 miles further – some were already being bused 15 miles or so to the school that closed) so that 2 small schools could be closed.
On the whole, I liked the K-6, 7-9, 10-12 model better also, especially since the 7-9 students were more likely to be taught by content specialists. Right now, middle school seems to be a vast academic wasteland in which students are socially promoted whether or not they learn anything.
I do like the idea of a separate school for all those students who are turning 16 and about to be promoted to the high school even if they can’t read or do math anywhere near grade level – IF they’d do true remediation and keep them there until they are capable of doing high school level work or age out, whichever comes first.
catlady
November 22nd, 2010
11:00 am
ScienceTeacher: Love that idea. Call it Remedial Academy. That way the student and parents are SURE to know the kid’s work isn’t up to level. Allow no sports, no clubs, nothing but intense instruction. I would like to see it in the elementary as well. No sense continuing the fiction that the kids who are 2 or more grade levels behind will “catch up” from 20 minutes (or even more) a day of needs-based instruction. If you are in 5th grade and have to count on your finger what 9-6 is, you CANNOT do 5th grade math. Perhaps at some point we will require MASTERY of a few basic things, or acceptance of the child into sped with its IDEA protections. Of course, we should gut RTI, as it leads nowhere in my school. If, in 3 weeks, a child can show he has learned 3×4 is 12 he has been “successful” even though he cannot add 5+8 this week! What a farce! We have kids who have been in RTI for YEARS!
Also, ST, you may have heard me tell this, but in the early 1970s the state decided that all the small country schools in our area were not cost efficient. They closed all but 2. One hung on for about 10 years before it closed. The other one, the one I tell about, when it was threatened with no more money for upkeep, the PARENTS came together and put a new roof on it and painted it. The state backed down, and that school goes on (but they did manage to take away the 6th and 7th grades about 15 years ago.) It is a thriving center of the community, as many families have 5 generations–or more– who attended it! Parents show up, volunteer, and take an active role in the school, even though only 5 houses are within walking distance!
Dr. Tim
November 22nd, 2010
11:17 am
Carl Sandberg once said that the best school is Abe Lincoln on one end of a log and a student on the other. I went to school in the Atlanta system when the scheme was K-7 for elementary and 8-12 for high school. Other folks went to K-6, 7-9, 10-12. Still others went to the modern” K-5, 6-8, 9-12 system. Basically, it doesn’t matter. There is no “right” or “wrong” way to organizer a school. Some of the best prifvate schools (Lovett, Pace, Woodward) are K-12. Just hire good teachers and DEMAND parental involvement and you’ll educate kids well.
Elaine
November 22nd, 2010
11:21 am
“Community” schools are another fad that is great in theory but not feasible in practice. They rely upon the notion that nuclear families stay put throughout the child’s education, which is quite rare these days. Many lower-income schools like mine have high transiency rates, with students attending several different schools through their K-8 years. This negates the benefits of a child staying with the same core of teachers/students and emerging as leaders in those last few years. And now even the wealthier suburbs are showing transiency, as families buy a starter home then trade up as their incomes rise. My parents still live in the same house that we moved into when I was in 5th grade, which was in the same neighborhood where I’d been since kindergarten; how often do you see that anymore? K-8 “Community Schools” are a really nice idea that might work in rural areas or even a few insular suburban areas, but that selling point is unrealistic now in our mobile urban society.
oldtimer
November 22nd, 2010
11:30 am
I am a big proponent of smaller k-8 schools. Seems to me I see more mature students and more responsible students. Also 9 years in one school is long enough for a family to become very involved.
Richard
November 22nd, 2010
11:41 am
I’ve always thought is was amusing to have 6th grade “babies” going to school with 8th graders who are shaving.
That gap will exist somewhere regardless.
B. Killebrew
November 22nd, 2010
11:43 am
What I think is the ideal model?
K-8 (smaller, community/neighborhood based)
9-12 (town/city oriented high school)
*At the high school, there would be a separate 9th grade academy for transitional purposes. A school within a school. The 9th grade academy would built around the teacher-team concept. The goal is to ease the transition to high school, while still getting all of the high school benefits but in a safe, secure setting.
Doris M
November 22nd, 2010
12:03 pm
Fad! Fad! There have been more changes in education and nothing has worked. Just go back to regular teaching and corporal punishment. Stop wasting money and using the kids as guinea pigs. My 29 year old son still cannot spell after they instituted “whole language” when he was in kindergarten.
ScienceTeacher671
November 22nd, 2010
12:18 pm
GAAAHH! Catlady! You had to mention RTI! What a misuse of research!
Here’s my idea: if they aren’t learning, test to ensure that there are no undiagnosed hearing, eye, or learning disability type problems – FIRST. In other words, eliminate or diagnose the organic problems that might interfere with learning in the beginning, before making the children deal with them for years without assistance. If no such problems are found, we may conditionally assume that either there is a teaching problem that should be remediated or that the child is not putting forth sufficient effort.
NCLB was supposed to stop the social promotion, but in many ways it seems to have made it worse.
APSMomTo3
November 22nd, 2010
12:25 pm
This blog is timely.The APS North Atlanta cluster will be adding a 2nd middle school, and is currently soliciting input: Should they go with a 6th grade academy in 1 school, and then 7th-8th in the other, or have 2 6th-8th grade middle school?
There are many issues that come into play here. I know that having 2 middle schools is desirable in the northern part of the cluster (Jackson, Smith, Brandon) because they can keep their kids together at Sutton without having to deal with the “diversity” that comes from the elementary schools a little south. My elementary school values diversity, so we see that as a plus. But which setting is a better place to educate kids? I wish I had the answer.
Lori
November 22nd, 2010
12:33 pm
I never understood the move from junior high to middle school. Why put the 6th graders in the same school, but not allow them to participate in sports and other programs offered to 7th and 8th graders? If they are too young to be with the other kids, then they should have been left in elementary school. Seems like they are babying the middle schoolers more. When I was in junior high, we changed classes, had lockers, were expected to use the restroom between classes, etc, with all the same responsibilities as a high-schooler. When they changed over to middle school (my last year there), they repainted the library in rainbow colors, added clouds to the light covers, and started walking us to classes. It was so stupid. We had been just fine the previous two years, then they started treating us like babies.
Mike the Original
November 22nd, 2010
12:36 pm
Recycled fad. I went to a seperate 6th grade school well over 30 years ago. Made 0 difference one way or the other. Actually, if pressed, I’d have to say it was the worst school year I had instructionally.
Geter in the Gym
November 22nd, 2010
12:41 pm
I agree with Catlady…K through 7. Then 8 through 12, with 8th graders kept on a certain side of the campus for the greater part of the day. I was against the middle school pampering approach with all its hype in the mid-1980s from the jump street. I taught at an 8th through 12th school (Southwest DeKalb) in the old days. Worked like a charm. I also worked at 9 through 12 and 10 through 12 schools. I Iike the 8 through 12. The 8th graders bring a lot of innocence and enthusiasm to the school. Sometimes, it’s hard to find enough time for all of the teams on the football field or in the gym. But, it worked for years in DeKalb and elsewhere.
My next favorite set-up is 7 – 9 and 10 – 12. But, this 6 & 7 or 5 -7 mumbo jumbo is based on pampering kids. It’s a “Let’s coddle little Keith before he has to meet those big bad high schoolers” approach. Then, Lil Keith is not responsible for anything. Can’t even remember (or care) to bring his pencil, paper, and books to class.
I am still in the Gym and remembering about those good ole days with Principal Eddie Rogers at Riverdale Jr. High School (7 – 9).
Geter in the Gym
November 22nd, 2010
12:43 pm
APSmomTo3: Just really toughen up your North Cluster kids and send them over to Wild Kingdom Middle School (Sylvan Middle) under the fine leadership of Gwen Atkinson.
high school teacher
November 22nd, 2010
12:46 pm
I am part of a freshman academy, and yes, we hold their hands. We hound them to do their work. We give them second chances. If students are missing assignments and are failing, we pull them out of their elective or PE classes and make them complete their assignments. We meet with parents excessively. We call home excessively. We have a positive behavior support system in place. It’s a lot of work.
However, in three years’ time…
Our 9th grade retention rate went from 14% to 3%.
We cut our discipline referrals in half.
We raised our English EOCT scores by 25%. Last year we had an 89% pass rate, which was 10% higher than the state average.
Our Math I EOCT scores last year were 69% passing, but it was still higher than the state average.
Our Physical Science EOCT scores were 85% passing.
The 10th grade teachers notice a difference in the sophomores who now come into their classroom.
If done correctly, freshman academies work. Oh, and to piggyback off of the previous blog, we have a 51% free and reduced lunch rate.
catlady
November 22nd, 2010
12:54 pm
Dr. Tim: Long before Carl Sanders, the actual quote was about COLLEGE: Mark Hopkins on one end and a student on the other. Hopkins, you might remember, was the president of Williams College in the mid 1800’s.
Batgirl
November 22nd, 2010
12:59 pm
We moved our 6th graders back to elementary school two years ago and our middle schools are now 7th and 8th grade. The two 7th grade classes that have come to us after spending the 6th grade in elementary school are the most immature bunch of kids I’ve ever seen. They are also more innocent which is nice, but their immaturity and inability to do for themselves is ridiculous. We have got to stop babying them.
@MikeHoncho, you’re right. The 9th grade academies just delay the maturation process, also.
Those parents who don’t want their wide-eyed 11 and 12-year-olds in the same school as
mature 13-15 year-olds should realize that in three years their innocent little 14 and 15-year-olds will probably be in the same school as mature 16-18 year-olds.
Someone mentioned that transiency might not be a problem in rural areas, but we have it, too. Mostly they just alternate between the schools in our system, but we also have kids who move to a neighboring county or to Tennessee for a few months and then come back.
catlady
November 22nd, 2010
1:05 pm
ScienceTeacher: you are the RTI Man! Or Woman!
What drives me crazy is how much time we waste. These kids are hurting. We have not had a viable testing/placement program in 5 or 6 years. Part of that is due to RTI and our lack of understanding what was supposed to happen. We continue to revise the “requirements” and paperwork monthly! Not kidding! (The other part of our problem is inadequate testing by someone who does the minimum, rather than FINDING OUT WHAT THE PROBLEM IS!)
I think it is illegal, and I KNOW it is immoral to do this the way we (aren’t) doing it!
When teacher after teacher, year after year, says there is a problem—FIND IT! And don’t accept from someone who has never been in the classroom, “He’s just a slow learner. He missed the cutoff by a few points,” from someone who spent less than 2 hours with him. Experienced teachers have taught slow learners before. Kids referred for RTi are the most extreme of the extreme–teachers have used every trick in the book to help them!
I think I love you (like a brother or sister).
B. Killebrew
November 22nd, 2010
1:08 pm
APSMomto3:
If they do two 6-8 middle schools, the configuration should be as follows:
Smith, Garden Hills, 60-67% Jackson (split) -> Sutton Middle
Brandon, Rivers, Bolton Academy, 33-40% Jackson (split) -> New Middle School*
*possible names: Northside Middle, Wesley Middle, Peachtree Creek Middle
B. Killebrew
November 22nd, 2010
1:11 pm
@high school teacher: Good post about the good 9th Grade Academies (if done well).
catlady
November 22nd, 2010
1:17 pm
I might add, on topic, that there is a wealth of data available through NCES (National Center for Educational Statistics), an ed.gov agency, with their huge national databases, which have indicated that, for at risk students, school size is very important, holding constant things like SES, parental education, and “ability”(however imperfectly measured).
oldtimer
November 22nd, 2010
1:33 pm
I left metro Atlanta after 30 years. In the rural county I now live the schools out of town are K-8. In town there are K-5, 6-8 and HS. At the HS it is obvious which students went to the smaller K-8 school. They are so much better prepared and do not need hand holding in the 9th grade. Their parents are also more involved from the beginning. After having spent 15 years in middle schools. I do agree they can be a wasteland. Too much babying. Too many redos-do-overs, and little parent involvement.By the way I am certified for grades 4-12. I now teach at a HS in this lovely area. When I call a parent..the student actually will come apologize.
APS Teacher
November 22nd, 2010
2:48 pm
Fad. If it were up to me, I would abolish the middle school model altogether and return to a K-8, 9-12 model.
ScienceTeacher671
November 22nd, 2010
3:07 pm
Catlady, proud to claim you as a sister!
I suspect that “they” have been told how many of which demographic we’re allowed to admit to special ed this month, and testing proceeds accordingly. Agree about immoral, if not illegal!
Our latest is that they require data to be gathered for a certain period of time before they’ll consider testing, but since we’re on block schedule, usually the poor student has entirely new teachers before the time period is up, and then it starts all over again. The only students I’ve seen get placed are those whose parents really pushed it.
Ole Guy
November 22nd, 2010
4:17 pm
Sometime during the 70s or so, employers started refering to employees as associates…as in associates, within a law firm, with vested interests within the organization in which they toiled. The idea, much to managements’ delight, was/is a cheap means by which to bolster employees’ desire to “bust their collective humps” for the benefit of the organization. At the same time, it was/remains a cheap means by which the employee is made to feel of greater worth than reality dictates…an hour’s worth of labor in exchange for an hour’s worth of moola. In other words, a vain means of motivating employees.
The very same concept applies in this “sixth grade academy” mickey mouse. By enabling an otherwise struggling student body to believe that they have achieved “academy’” status, maybe…just maybe, they might perform accordingly. Yet, as in corp America, with the universal promotion of the every- day employee to associate status, it is hoped, by the educational powers that be, that the socially-promoted 5th grader, realizing “academy” status, will perform accordingly.
SOMEDAY…MAYBE SOMEDAY, people will realize that there is NO OTHER WAY to realize student achievement than the old ways…ONLY by demanding results in a no-excuses educational environment. Of course, this will require a departure from the pc-saturated environment which has, over the years, been allowed to permeate the social fabric and to dominate over any-and-all common sense solutions.
Anyone out there have the spheroids to reverse the mickey mouse train, or will we be content to forever accept the mediocrity which has become the sorry excuse for education? Look folks, I don’t have to worry about kids futures, YOU DO. I don’t have to worry about good educations leading to good economys. YOU DO. I’M educated. While comfortably retired, I can still hold well-paying rewarding jobs. CAN YOU? CAN YOUR STUPID KIDS? YOU…I repeat, YOU better get on the stick and start doing the difficult, unpopular things which will, ultimately lead to educational par. Anything else is mickey mouse.
What's best for kids?
November 22nd, 2010
4:35 pm
Middle schools do not follow the original design which was pretty good. We could save a heck of a lot of money if we did away with MS.
catlady
November 22nd, 2010
4:38 pm
ScienceTeacher: We have been TOLD we have “too many” sped kids! So I KNOW we have kids who have been excluded because we don’t fit in someone’s understanding of “how many” we can have. We have what we have. Not calling them sped, and not giving them the protections of IDEA is WRONG at every possible level! We can “needs-based” till we are blue in the face; we can Tier 2 until the cows come home; we can Tier 3 them till the world stops turning, but children who are 2-3 years behind (out of 6 years at school) HAVE SOMETHING WRONG! Yeah, they might have had a poor teacher, BUT NOT FOR SIX STRAIGHT YEARS! They need help!
An American Patriot
November 22nd, 2010
4:50 pm
Hey folks, this is a stupid argument……let’s just go a step further and have a separate school for each grade from k-12. Why is education costing more?…..well, this controversy is one reason
You know, just go back to the basics and quit messing with our kids.
An American Patriot
November 22nd, 2010
4:54 pm
Ole Guy
November 22nd, 2010
4:17 pm
Right on, Ole Guy
Elisabeth
November 22nd, 2010
5:19 pm
Here in Habersham we have 6th and 9th grade Academys. We moved here when my son was just going into the 9th grade and didn’t know another kid in the whole county. It worked well for us and he has made the move to high school very well. I love that the whole county has only ONE high school.
I grew up in Dekalb in the 80’s and went to a 1st-7th (before public kindergarden) and 8-12 high school. We all survived.
EdDawg
November 22nd, 2010
7:36 pm
Tell me about it Catlady & Science Teacher … the RTI process is so flawed. If my child was having problems and the same things were tried for weeks 6, then let’s try some more stuff for 6 more weeks before we consider actually testing to see what is wrong … I would be livid.
It troubles me daily that my ELL students who have a real chance at success have to put up with the kids that are in/should be the RTI process disrupting class with behaviors done to mask their learning difficulties. It’s sad to see these middle schoolers who with the disguise of ESOL have been passed on year-after-year who can’t read or write in any language.
say what?
November 22nd, 2010
7:44 pm
Doesn’t matter what program is put in place. Does not matter how much research is completed. Fact is nothing survives without parent involvement/support. Not just supporting the financial arm of parent involvement in your local school, (ie the PTA/PTSA/PTO), but true belief that parents do hold the answers. Everyday teachers should not have to sit in content planning, team planning, PLC co-teach meetings. Use what we have in place, share the data with the parents, and stop believing that all parents are the anti-christ (of course the way the kids behave sometime, you do wonder:))
Every subject on education leads back to the home-the parent-the child’s first teacher.
just watching
November 22nd, 2010
10:08 pm
If you are alluding to the proposal for Sutton MS….it’s about preserving the IB designation.
Can you post the full reference for the 2 articles you site above? Thanks.
Maggie B
November 22nd, 2010
11:02 pm
When I was in school (I graduated in 1982), we had 1-6; 7-9; 10-12. However, in my town within the county, students went to seventh grade at one school; then on to 8th & 9th at one of two Jr. High schools. I think this was to alleviate over-crowding at the two Jr. High schools. This was done from @ 1972 until 1989. I liked it as a student because it allowed us to get out of the elementary type model to switching classes, etc. As an educator, I think this is an ideal set up for many of the same reasons mentioned in the article.
B. Killebrew
November 22nd, 2010
11:23 pm
@What’s best for kids…
Good post. Most people don’t realize, the true middle school has never been fully implemented in most places–and those very few places that were doing right, have abandoned it.
This is why I have changed my tune–I think the middle school model will really never be implemented in full anywhere–I now therefore believe that the K-8, 9-12 model is best.
Melissa
November 22nd, 2010
11:45 pm
This argument, and so many other time wasting arguments like it, demonstrate the very reason I sacrifice in order to send my daughter to private school.
Why not concentrate on why our state is almost LAST in academic performance in relation to the rest of the country? Why not go to states that are excelling in their approach to education and collaborate with them in order to bring EFFECTIVE methods to our state to save our children’s futures?
No, we develop cockamamie approaches like this one so that we create more jobs while, at the same time, do NOTHING to truly develop the MINDS of our children. I’m so over Georgia’s education system. I’m so over the approach to government-funded education, period.
B. Killebrew
November 23rd, 2010
12:47 am
…and the new high school in Buckhead/the northern-part of Atlanta should be called “Buckhead High.”
BehindEnemyLines
November 23rd, 2010
1:35 am
@ Elisabeth re: “I grew up in Dekalb in the 80’s and went to a 1st-7th… 8-12 high school. ”
I never realized DeKalb did that then. I thought that was only a handful of the (what we would now call) exurbans and maybe a few rurals. Count me among those who know what a “sub-freshman” is
Mitch
November 23rd, 2010
6:50 am
Single grade schools for any reason are a mistake. There is no time to develop student leaders so the school leadership comes from the students who are retained, not the high achievers.
Middle School Principal
November 23rd, 2010
7:41 am
I vote for PreK-6th and then educating 7th and 8th graders together.
Just Wondering
November 23rd, 2010
8:52 am
The fewer changes in a childs education the better. For those of you prone to research, middle schools did not live up to the hype after school districts across the country adopted them and are now stuck with trying to force them to work, which they aren’t. They were a wrong idea then and need to be corrected now. The academies are a waste of time and money. We’ve lost to many kids to this inadequate and unequitable mode of educating because now its “just the way we do it”.
Just wondering when are we going to realize that when something doesn’t work in education we need to fix it immediately!