Middle schools still matter: As new school configurations grow, unique needs of young adolescents deserve attention.

Editor's Note: The School Administrator invited three strong advocates of the middle school movement to discuss why middle schools ought to remain a central part of the educational landscape as more communities consider K-8 schools and other formats. The article below by Marc Ecker, a superintendent and former middle school principal, precedes commentaries by Mike Dietz, a middle school principal (on page 31), and Susan Carlile, a central-office administrator (on page 32).

The middle school movement has in its development created a "me or they" syndrome that I believe has plagued our efforts to fully serve the early adolescent child.

I am an advocate for the "new" middle school and serve on the Board of the California League of Middle Schools, which is a contributor to the publications "Caught in the Middle" and "Taking Center Stage," produced by the California Department of Public Instruction. Though no longer a middle school principal, I continue to work with teachers and parents in supporting such middle school concepts as interdisciplinary teams, exploratory programs, extended academic time for learning and after-school extracurricular activities.

Upon becoming superintendent, I found the zeal behind the middle school movement motivated two board members to seek the elimination of our one remaining K-8 school by converting it to a K-5 and transferring the students in grades 6-8 to the neighborhood middle school.

Their proposal quickly brought out the defenders of the neighborhood cause. "Save our K-8!" signs sprung up throughout the community and board meetings quickly became a battleground to preserve the current organizational structure of the district.

Seeking Disparities

I approached this issue carefully, asking for compelling reasons to eliminate the K-8 option in our district. We looked critically at the academic progress of 8th graders as they entered and completed their first year of high school in an adjoining district. We searched for evidence that 8th graders from the one K-8 school performed at lower levels than their counterparts at the three middle schools. We explored discipline and other safety issues.

In addition, we asked if any data proved that 6th, 7th and 8th graders mistreated their younger counterparts or caused the younger students concern while sharing the same campus. We studied the historical enrollment trends at the K-8 and of course asked if the school's community and staff supported the K-8 concept. What we concluded in our final report to the school board was that no compelling evidence existed that would support the board's elimination of the K-8 school.

Therefore, it became important to develop a description of the K-8 and middle school programs. If we had two successful models from which parents could choose, we thought it was vital for us to spell out the similarities and differences. Each spring we mail to every parent of a 5th-grader a brochure inviting them to an orientation and open house held at each middle school and the K-8 school. We promote both settings in hopes of encouraging wise decisions. The brochure stresses the district's interest in educational programs that are appropriate to children's individual needs and differences in learning modalities.

The middle school movement in the Fountain Valley School District began nearly 20 years ago. The schools are popular and draw from large and diverse populations of students. Many of the teachers not only have an elementary credential, but single subject expertise as well. Students in the middle school enroll in exploratory elective classes and extracurricular activities such as academic pentathlons, extended field trips and intramural sports. The middle schools offer an afterschool activities program funded through a Cal Works grant.

All 6th graders are assigned to an English/language arts/social studies core. A three-period extended time block promotes instructional flexibility. The middle schools have a computer lab, as well as technology integrated throughout the instructional program.

The K-8 setting obviously has fewer students, maximizing the student/teacher contact. A child who needs a stronger bond would have it at a K-8 elementary. However, we thought it important to avoid creating the perception that the K8 setting was primarily for students with learning disabilities.

We made sure to provide our K-8 school with the resources for high-level academic progress and pilot programs. That is why we recently added algebra for every 8th-grade student. We hired a teacher skilled in higher-level math and funded an additional period prior to the beginning of school in which 8th-graders were given the opportunity to enroll in high school algebra. Students at the K-8 school take two periods of English/language arts.

Due to the comparatively small middle school enrollment at the K-8, thematic units were coordinated throughout the three grades and graded report cards are sent home every six weeks.

Abundant Similarities

The similarities, however, between the two 6-8 grade settings remain important for all of us who are committed to early adolescent education. The core curriculum is the focus for the instructional day. Board-approved academic standards are reinforced through instruction in all classrooms. Principals evaluate teachers on the progress that students make toward academic learning objectives. A gifted and talented program operates in both the K-8 and middle school settings. A performing arts program is visible in both.

Middle school education is a transition period, focusing on the changing needs of students moving from the primary to the secondary school. It must take into consideration the fact that the 10- to 14-year-old is changing physically, emotionally and intellectually faster than at any other time in his or her life. It requires flexible learning modalities that maintain a balance between structure and choice. It must maintain the close relationship between student and teacher and foster good communication and involvement of the parent. It must demand accountability but provide for opportunities to improve.

The effective middle school must involve the student in the life of the school through an array of activities where success is bred and self-concept is fostered. I am pleased that in Fountain Valley, we have accomplished this in two alternative middle school settings.

Marc Ecker is superintendent of the Fountain Valley School District, 17210 Oak St., Fountain Valley, CA 92708. E-mail: [e-mail]. He previously was a middle school principal.

RELATED ARTICLE: Fast, Fluid Responses to Early Adolescents

MICHAEL J. DIETZ

A crucial time in our development as a middle school came in January 1990 when our staff struggled to agree on a philosophy for our school. Finding common ground about our beliefs about students, staff and the school created plenty of tension.

Six months earlier we began this project full of optimism when a core group of staff from the middle school where I was principal participated in a summer seminar run by the Center for the Education of the Young Adolescent at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville. A half year of dialogue about the meaning of statements such as teachers "should be role models; have values that extend beyond the classroom; and recognize and respect the uniqueness of our students" caused us to truly reflect on what we wanted to become as a school.

Lake Shore Middle School went through the typical "storming and norming" in its struggle to achieve a core philosophy. From that turmoil grew a commitment to standards and student goodness that keeps young adolescents uppermost in our minds and defines our middle school of 495 students in grades 6-8. Today, everyone enters the school under a banner proclaiming "Striving to Make a Difference!"

Our staff members strongly commit themselves to a team concept in working with children to provide curriculum and programs that are academically rigorous and developmentally appropriate. In light of the growing interest in K-8 schools and single-grade academies, we believe our approach is fundamentally sound and keeps the focus on what early adolescents need to know and be able to do as successful students and citizens.

Developing curriculum based on the brain learning principles described by Eric Jensen and curriculum integration advocated by James Beane and Heidi Hayes Jacobs, we are striving to have learning make sense and have meaning in the minds of middle-school children. One of our teachers, Carrie Wilson, demonstrated this when a group of 8th grade girls developed a science project titled "Melanoma Barbie," using the classic doll as part of a detailed study to help illustrate the meaning of skin cancer. Likewise, Sheila Jentsch's 8th-grade students' service learning project combines a year-long study of human growth and development with weekly class trips to work with preschoolers at a local day care center. Rose Riege, Jakke Tchang and Ethel Stern's service learning projects allow students to teach active reading skills throughout the year to 1st-and 2nd-grade study buddies at a neighboring elementary school.

These projects have rigor and a standards connection. The students' learning grows from their concerns, interests and needs, as well as their written reflections about their learning.

True Understanding

That some communities wish to explore or maintain other school configurations for middle grades might have more to do with truly understanding or committing to what early adolescents need to succeed academically. It also may reflect considerations such as tradition, finance, enrollment, facilities or other factors particular to a community.

What some devotees of other school configurations may lack is a systemic view of the quality, high-performing middle school. Peter Senge's The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization factors strongly into our thinking about quality middle schools. Principles of shared vision, mental models, team learning and systems thinking help us to better focus on what needs to happen as a middle-level learning organization.

For example, how can a schedule accommodate a team of teachers to meet daily to plan lessons, discuss units and focus on the needs of their students? What staff development will help our teachers grow as learning specialists? Through experience, we know that our teams of experienced middle-level staff can be fast, fluid and flexible in the design and delivery of challenging curriculum that meshes with the rest of our K-12 district. They can focus on the unique academic and developmental needs of our students without worrying about how it may fit into the world of the elementary or high school.

This is certainly true for Mary, who is Hmong and a Lake Shore 8th grader. Shy and reticent about using English, she struggled to gain academic confidence and competence, but she never got lost in the system. She received support from teachers, volunteers and peers. Mary considers her team of teachers and students a family. "They care for me and give me a chance to succeed. They are patient, and now I try to do things in class that I never tried before, like giving oral reports and doing group work. Now I know that I can be a good high school student."

Mary is not lost at our school because the teachers and support staff creates a web of support. Our monthly meetings of team CARE (Concerned And Responsible Educators) bring together the teachers, counselor, social worker and principal for problem solving to find ways to help children like Mary find their way successfully through middle school.

We know that our students are works in progress and that a myriad of future experiences beyond the middle school influence and shape the people they will become. Nevertheless, since that January a dozen years ago, understanding the maxim that "in the middle, the kids come first" reminds us at Lake Shore that early adolescents absolutely need and deserve challenging curriculum and programs that allow them to make connections with the content, community, teachers and each other. In making these connections they develop resiliency and the competency to achieve success and to make a difference at the middle level and beyond.

Michael Dietz is principal of Lake Shore Middle School, 11036 N. Range Line Rood, Mequon, WI 53092 E-mail: mdietz(c)mtsd.kl2.wi.us. He is a member of the Notional Middle Schools Association governing board.

'Poised to Make a Difference'

SUSAN CARLILE

He's the typical middle school student. Once you meet him, he wins you over in an instant, then turns right around and he drives you crazy. He's witty and curious, laughing one moment, teasing the next. He's definitely no angel, though his intentions are usually good.

But watch him, as I have, crush blackberry vines and dig holes for vine maple, restoring 20 acres of wetlands, creeks and forest behind our school. Stand behind his computer as he prepares his Power Point presentation to educate parent and community groups about the significance of the Fowler Wetlands to the local ecology. He's eager to make a difference.

Emil participates with other 6th, 7th and 8th graders in Watershed Legacy, a program designed to preserve and restore the wooded area and riparian zone at the middle school he attends in Tigard, Ore., near Portland. Students learned that native plants are threatened when invasive plants, such as Himalayan blackberry, take over space. They know that if Fowler's native plant population is reduced, it affects the population of other plants, insects and mammals and, ultimately, the health of the community watershed. Emil and his friends are doing something about it.

At Fowler Middle School, integration of math, science, social studies, language arts and fine arts with media, information technology, service learning, problem solving and communication skills--though a tall order for any school--has been supported through Watershed Legacy. In addition to pulling weeds, students like Emil develop proposals to solicit help from businesses. They create and update Web sites with current watershed data. They demonstrate first-hand that middle schooling done well, as at this school location, remains the best way to serve young adolescents.

We focus on the middle school age because this is when young people are first opened to a sense of identity and purpose. They are undergoing more rapid and profound personal changes between 10 and 15 than at any other period in their lives. They are curious and concerned about their world, far more than typically portrayed in the media. They are capable of identifying issues critical to the vitality of the community and can carry out projects that cause change. They want to contribute and are poised to make a difference.

The morning is bright and clear. The woods smell clean with a hint of fall. Emil says, "It's fun and good to know you are helping. If more people helped, we could do even more." Then, Carla and Nikki run squealing as he chases them through the dewy grass with a dead snake.

Susan Carlile is director of curriculum and instruction in the Tigard-Tulatin Public Schools, 6960 S.W. Sandburg St., Tigard, OR 97223. E-mail: [e-mail]