Middle School Task Force

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Middle SchoolTask Force

• Board of School Trustees Update
• August 19, 2008

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Middle SchoolTask ForceResearch Report
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Carnegie Turning Points Reports

• Initial report was completed in 1989
• Focused on education of young adolescents
• Identified eight recommendations to address the
  challenge of middle level reform

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8 Recommendations of Turning Points 1989

• Divide middle level schools into smaller
  communities
• Transmit a core of knowledge in ways that foster
  problem solving, curiosity, and critical thinking
• Utilize cooperative learning and other
  developmentally appropriate teaching/learning
  tools to maximize student success

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8 Recommendations of Turning Points 1989

• Teachers and principals should have authority and
  responsibility to transform their own schools
• Teachers should receive specific middle-level
  preparation and professional development
• Schools should link education and health of young
  adolescents

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8 Recommendations of Turning Points 1989

• Families and school staff should be mutually
  respectful and cooperative allies
• Schools should be partners with a variety of
  community organizations students should be
  involved in service learning experiences

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The 1989 Turning Points report was further
revised in 2000. This report is central to all
current research in the area of middle level
education.

• Jackson, Anthony W., and Gayle A. Davis. 2000.
  Turning Points 2000 Education Adolescents in
  the 21st Century. (Carnegie Corporation Report).
  New York Teachers College Press, 2000.

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Turning Points defines success as helping every
child achieve a vision of the adolescent as

• An intellectually reflective person
• A person en route to a lifetime of meaningful
  work
• A good citizen
• A caring and ethical individual
• A healthy person

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Turning Points 2000 Recommendation 1
Curriculum and Assessment

• Teach a curriculum grounded in rigorous, relevant
  public academic standards
• Considerations of excellence and equity should
  guide all decisions
• A mix of assessment methods should be used to
  allow students to show what they know and can do

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Turning Points 2000 Recommendation 2
Instructional Methods

• Use instructional methods designed to prepare all
  students to achieve higher standards and become
  lifelong learners
• Classes should be diverse on many levels, and
  instruction should be differentiated to
  acknowledge and celebrate diversity

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Turning Points 2000 Recommendation 3Staff
Preparation Professional Development

• Staff middle grades schools with teachers who are
  experts at teaching young adolescents
• Engage teachers in ongoing, targeted professional
  development opportunities provide a facilitator
  specifically to coordinate professional
  development for middle level teachers
• Provide mentors for new teachers

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Turning Points 2000 Recommendation 4Organize
Relationships for Learning

• Recognize that interpersonal relationships are
  critical to a climate of shared educational
  purpose
• Divide large schools into smaller learning
  communities
• Maximize the strength and effectiveness of teams,
  pay attention to team dynamics, composition,
  planning time, and continuity

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Turning Points 2000 Recommendation 5
Inclusive Democratic Governance

• Govern democratically, through direct or
  representative participation by all school staff
  members, the adults who know students best. All
  decisions should focus relentlessly on attaining
  the goal of success for every studentSchools
  should be proactive, not reactive.

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Turning Points 2000 Recommendation 6Ensure
Safe and Healthy Schools

• Provide a safe and healthy school environment,
  and access to health services, to improve
  academic performance and develop caring and
  ethical citizens
• Promote physical and mental health, and positive
  interpersonal and intergroup relationships

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Turning Points 2000 Recommendation 7Involve
Parents Communities

• Engage parents and communities to support student
  learning and healthy development
• Schools and families must collaborate and
  communicate
• Learning must be expanded beyond regular school
  hours, and outside school walls

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Middle SchoolTask ForceGrade Configuration
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• Grade Configuration Data collected in
• March 2007
• 65 of public schools in Indiana with grade 7
  responded

Information provided by Dr. Jim Snapp, of
Franklin Twp. CSC, 2008
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National Middle School Association

• Schools with a 5-8 or 6-8 configuration have
  grown from 23 in 1971 to 69 in 2000.
• A national study in 2002 found that 65 of middle
  level principals believed that a 6-8
  configuration was ideal.
• 62 believed a K-5, 6-8, 9-12 configuration was
  the best overall plan.
• NMSA Research Brief. Research in support of
  middle level grade configuration. Online
  www.nmsa.org. August 12, 2008.

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Middle SchoolTask ForceParent Survey Results
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What should be included in a successful middle
school educational experience?
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Curriculum Instruction
69 comments

• Curriculum should be challenging and stimulating
  with more hands-on activities.
• Instruction should be related to reality and
  real-life skills (e.g. career, computer,
  presentation).
• There should be similar learning and curriculum
  expectations for non-ALPS students.
• More emphasis on sex and health education.
• More project-based learning and multiage learning
  experiences.

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Teachers Staff
29 comments

• Teachers should be willing to respond to and
  communicate with interested parents who want to
  be involved in childs academics at all times.
• There should be teachers who are well qualified
  (not just certificated).

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Communication
24 comments

• Id like more invitations for parent involvement
  during the school day.
• There should be more teacher communication with
  parents.

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Extra-curricular Activities
18 comments

• Community service and field trips should be added
  to extra-curricular activities.
• Many extra-curricular experiences are open to all
  students.
• There should be more choices in extra-curricular
  activities such as intramural sports and music.

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Environment Facility
13 comments

• There is a safe, supportive environment.
• The information on the website should be updated
  quickly.

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Character Training
10 comments

• Students need to feel a sense of belonging or
  ownership.
• Students should learn more about morals,
  etiquette, respect, responsibility, independence,
  etc.

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ALPS
7 comments

• The ALPS program needs to be more rigorous
• The students in the ALPS program should be truly
  challenged.
• Procedures for high ability identification need
  to be better communicated to parents and
  teachers.

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Class Size
7 comments

• There should be smaller class sizes so teachers
  can really know students and students can develop
  meaningful relationships with teachers.

Schedule
7 comments

• Give more time for students to socialize.
• Keep block scheduling.

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Electives
4 comments

• We need more electives like choir and strings as
  well as more fun activities or clubs after
  school.
• Classes offered as electives when only 1 or 2
  electives are available means most students will
  not get a chance to take these classes.

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Food Health
2 comments

• There should be more education on nutrition.
• Students should be fed whole foods, not the junk.
• Grading
• 2 comments
• There should be high expectations and an
  appropriate grading system.

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Peer Relations Bullying
2 comments

• The school should have a bully-free policy and
  enforce it.

Rules Discipline
2 comments

• In the classroom, rules and discipline should be
  rigorous and developmentally appropriate.

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Middle SchoolTask ForceTop Priorities
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Curriculum

• Middle level curriculum must be personalized,
  rigorous, developmentally appropriate and meet
  the needs of all students.

Professional Development

• Professional growth opportunities must be
  designed to help teachers learn skills and
  develop expertise necessary to teach young
  adolescents.

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Student-Teacher andStudent-Counselor Ratio

• The student-teacher and student-counselor ratios
  need to be lowered in order to effectively meet
  the needs of middle level students.

Student-Parent-Community Involvement

• Strategies to increase parent involvement with
  middle level schools and to form school-community
  relationships must be investigated and initiated.

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Next Steps

• Model middle level schools are being identified.
  Members of the task force will visit these model
  sites in the coming months.
• The task force members have designed a survey
  that will be distributed to MCCSC teachers this
  fall. The survey is intended to gather
  information about the beliefs of MCCSC teachers
  regarding effective middle level schools.
• Two community forums will be held during the fall
  semester to provide an opportunity for open
  discussion and to address questions about the
  work of the task force.

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Questions