The unique nature of middle school counseling.

While all levels of school counseling share similarities, the development of early adolescents and the ecology of the middle school require a distinctive role for middle school counselors. This article explores the implications of development and the middle school philosophy on the application of middle school counselor practice and the application of the ASCA National Model[R].

Over the past century, the American education system has seen two major shifts related to early adolescents. Initiated in the first few decades of the 20th century, the junior high school became a fixture in America's school districts in 1940, replacing the K-8, 9-12 models with K-6, 7-9, 10-12 versions (Lounsbury & Vars, 2003). The junior high was created based on the recognition of the developmental differences of early adolescents. Junior high schools typically were subject-centered, required a six-period day, organized teachers in departments, and emphasized primarily the academic development of students. Most of the research on junior high schools (e.g., Cuban, 1992) noted that these schools evolved into miniature versions of traditional high schools.

The middle school movement, initiated in the 1960s, became the centerpiece of the K-5, 6-8, 9-12 model of education (Lounsbury & Vars, 2003). Studies have documented an increase in schools organized around the 6-7-8 grade configuration from 15% in 1981 to 59% in the most recent count (Valentine, Clark, Hackmann, & Petzo, 2003). The expansion of the middle school model has changed the way in which educators work with early adolescents. In contrast to junior highs, middle schools are characterized as striving to be more student-centered, focus on creative exploration, allow for flexible scheduling, organize teachers into interdisciplinary teams, and emphasize affective and cognitive development of students. The middle school model not only recognized early adolescence as a unique developmental phase, but also that the educational structure, teaching, and learning needed to be congruent to students' developmental needs.

As attention to the developmental needs of early adolescents and the middle school philosophy gained prominence, a focus on accountability in education also has impacted middle school counselor practice. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) imposed a system of accountability that narrowed the mission of learning in schools to an almost singular focus on academic achievement as measured by test results. Partly in response to accountability demands, the school counselor role was redefined and more fully developed through the emergence of the ASCA National Model (American School Counselor Association, 2003). In the ASCA National Model, emphasis is placed upon comprehensive counseling programs that foundationally are congruent with school missions (e.g., academic focus), and school counselor leadership, advocacy, and systemic intervention are recommended to help students achieve.

As a result, middle school counselors find themselves adapting their practice to vast changes in priorities of policymakers and leadership (e.g., NCLB), structural and philosophical considerations in the building (e.g., the middle school model), emerging school counseling reform (e.g., ASCA National Model), and early adolescents in the midst of considerable developmental change. In effect, middle school counselors must be developmental advocates (Galassi & Akos, 2004) for rapidly developing students within a developmentally responsive environment. Embracing this culture of change provides the opportunity for middle school counselors to promote optimal development and academic achievement of early adolescents.

The purpose of this article is to delineate aspects of early adolescent development and the middle school philosophy, and to demonstrate how both impact middle school counseling practice and the ASCA National Model. The implications of puberty, identity formation, and expanding choices are considered. Further, the National Middle School Association's (2003) vision of the middle school is explored in the context of school counselor practice. Finally, the uniqueness of middle school counseling is further illustrated within the foundation and delivery system of the ASCA National Model, as well as with issues for future consideration.

EARLY ADOLESCENT DEVELOPMENT: CHANGING STUDENTS

Aside from infancy, no other phase of life is characterized by greater, more rapid, and diverse development than early adolescence (Pruitt, 2000). While there is no formal rite of passage into adulthood in the United States, early adolescence (approximately ages 10 to 14) is often recognized as the starting point. Traditionally, this phase of development has been characterized as "storm and stress" (Freud, 1969). In fact, there are some parallels to the toddler stage in child development in terms of taking risks and pushing boundaries, although more severe consequences exist for some of the risks (e.g., drugs/alcohol, smoking, sex) that middle school students take.

While there are many challenges for early adolescents, this coming-of-age transition is actually a complex interaction between internal changes (e.g., self-exploration, intellectual expansion) and interaction with a new and changing environment (e.g., elementary to middle to high school, peer interactions). These changes also provide exciting opportunities. Middle school students tend to become planful and idealistic, are able to examine gray areas in moral discussions, and build important and complex social structures. While a complete review of early adolescent development is beyond the scope of this article (see the Scales article in this issue for more depth), the understanding of developmental phenomena is critical to effective middle school counseling practice. Three developmental forces in early adolescence (puberty, identity development, and an increase in autonomous choices) are presented to illustrate the unique impact on middle school counseling practice.

Puberty

During puberty, early adolescents undergo a number of hormonal and physical changes. An imbalance between their maturity level and what their bodies start to feel often causes confusion. Puberty brings a growth spurt that includes reproductive systems, increased weight and height, and various other novel physical changes (e.g., pubic hair, voice change) (Pruitt, 2000). Because no two people develop at the same rate or pattern, middle school counselors are challenged to understand that normal development varies. In fact, setting outcome expectations based on the National Standards for School Counseling Programs (Campbell & Dahir, 1997) or other competencies becomes more of a challenge due to this variance and the developmental transitions that students are making. This challenge also impacts interventions. For example, individual counseling sessions require learning how a student's cognitive, moral, and emotional development impacts his or her ability to communicate. Although some students may be responsive to cognitive behavioral strategies in examining metacognition (e.g., thinking about and regulating their own thinking), others may require more concrete behavioral rehearsal when resolving a conflict.

In general, girls begin puberty 1 to 2 years before boys, and in some cultures (e.g., African Americans) puberty tends to begin earlier (Davis & Thompson, 2005). Research has shown that boys who develop at a faster rate have more of an advantage in the area of sports and social recognition, whereas girls developing at a quicker pace often experience scrutiny from peers (Eccles, 1999). Any deviation from the perceived norm, whether developing much quicker or slower than peers, may lead to the risk of psychosocial maladaption (Wiesner & Ittel, 2002). Therefore, middle school counselors should understand the salience of culture and timing in development. Middle school counselors can purposefully target students with early or late onset of puberty to explore the psychological and psychosocial impacts. Growing-up groups and collaborative classroom guidance with health/physical education instructors provide vehicles for psychoeducation and can help early adolescents understand how puberty impacts daily functioning, peer groups, intimacy, and identity formation. According to Akos and Levitt (2002), "promoting a healthy body image is a relevant outcome goal for middle school counseling programs" (p. 139) and can serve as a protective factor in early adolescent development. Middle school counselors also should be vigilant to how these physical developments and changes can bc expressed in positive (e.g., competencc in sports) and negative ways (e.g., sexual harassment).

Identity Formation

During puberty, an emerging identity becomes a focal point for early adolescents. Classic Ericksonian psychosocial theory described early adolescence as a drive toward industry and identity (versus inferiority and role confusion) (Cobb, 2001). Industry or developing competence is determined daily in middle school when students actively learn by exploring and identifying talents and capabilities. Middle school counselors should be engaged in conversations with school administration and staff about maximizing students' abilities to discover competency in exploratory curricula such as music, art, technology, and career development classes. Similarly, involvement in extracurricular activities has correlated positively to a host of important developmental (e.g., feelings of belonging and connectedness) and academic (e.g., increased GPA) outcomes (Akos, 2005; Eccles & Templeton, 2002; Mahoney, Cairns, & Farmer, 2003) and is developmentally ideal for building competence in interest areas. Industry and identity also are promoted in interaction with other aspects of school ecology (e.g., peer groups).

Adolescents are trying to discover their own identity and yet realize that they are a part of a social group (Cobb, 2001). Youth now contend with increased peer competition, and they fear being left behind or judged as substandard. In the same way, peers can help develop feelings of intimacy or connection and social competence. Middle school counselors may take advantage of the developmental importance of peers by utilizing mentors to help shape positive identities. Research has demonstrated that early adolescents perform better academically, have more achievement-oriented goals, and think more about their future when they have access to mentors (Zirkel, 2002). Peer programming (e.g., peer mediation, peer tutoring, peer ambassadors for transition programs) may be particularly potent for middle school counselors as it could capitalize on the positive use of peer pressure and potentially influence identity.

According to Fenzel (1991), middle school students often experience strain in terms of role ambiguity, role conflict, and role overload or underload. Early adolescents attempt to determine who they are with newfound cognitive abilities (e.g., metacognition, abstract thinking, future orientation). As an example, one often overlooked aspect of identity formation is ethnic or racial identity. These feelings of commitment and belonging to a group differ among students, but research (see Holcomb-McCoy in this issue) has made linkages to achievement and competence for an explored or achieved racial and ethnic identity (serves as a protective mechanism). As exploration and role demands increase, middle school counselors can educate parents on the various roles and competing identities of students. It is also incumbent on middle school counselors to find ways to explore with students how these experiences and choices impact feelings of competence and questions about who they will become.

New and Important Choices

While not a biological or psychosocial force, part of this quest for competence and identity involves making choices. Students at all levels make choices, but middle school students are often, for the first time, making independent and autonomous choices that may significantly shape developmental paths. The desire for independent choices and increased responsibility is developmental, as early adolescents seek differentiation from parents and must respond to the choices required in the new middle school environment. Middle school counselors should promote decision-making skills and help students identify resources that can help with making choices.

For the first time, middle school students are able to choose classes they will take. They are offered multiple electives to choose from that ideally are based on students' interests. These choices serve as an early career decision point and are significant in forming early career identities (Akos, Konold, & Niles, 2004). Beyond academic choices, the middle school requires independent choices during class changes, negotiating multiple teachers and new peer groups, and determining how to be successful in a more complex environment.

THE RESPONSIVE MIDDLE SCHOOL PHILOSOPHY

Based in part on the challenging nature of early adolescent development and the need for an environment that supported this uniqueness, the National Middle School Association (NMSA) was established in 1973 and articulated a new philosophy in This We Believe (NMSA, 1982). This vision was revised in 1995 and the most recent, This We Believe: Successful Schools for Young Adolescents, was published in 2003. Table 1 presents the major tenants of the philosophy. These tenants include cultural beliefs and programmatic structures that respond to the developmental needs of early adolescents. Similar recommendations about educating early adolescents have come from the seminal report Turning Points (Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development, 1989) and the most recent revision, Turning Points 2000 (Jackson & Davis, 2000). Recommendations include a rigorous curriculum relevant to how early adolescents learn, staffing schools with teachers who are experts at teaching early adolescents, providing a safe and healthy school environment, involving parents in student learning and healthy development, and organizing relationships for learning and a caring community.

"For middle schools to be successful, their students must be successful; for students to be successful, the schools' organization, curriculum, pedagogy, and programs must be based upon the developmental readiness, needs, and interests of young adolescents," according to NMSA (2003, p. 1). Although early adolescence is demanding, the developmentally responsive ecology put forth in middle school reform can be utilized by middle school counselors to address students' developmental needs. Most school counselors have learned about individual human development, but ecological development (Bronffenbrenner, 1979) or the interaction and interdependence of self and various microsystems (e.g., peer groups, classrooms, schools, families) is equally salient for middle school counselors. In fact, Keys and Lockhart (1999) made a case for ecological assessment and multisystemic intervention plans for school counselors that use indirect intervention to manipulate the environment to help students. This is particularly useful in light of the middle school reform efforts at a developmentally responsive environment.

Both This We Believe and Turning Points have important implications for the way middle school counselors practice. One of the most notable tenants for school counselors endorsed by NMSA (2003) is multifaceted guidance and support services. Classroom guidance (including supporting advisory programs), one-on-one and small group guidance, peer mediation and peer tutoring, consulting with teachers and parents, and facilitating transition programs are essential to the multifaceted guidance and support services section (NMSA). In fact, NMSA advocates for school counselors as leaders with the following: "School counselors coordinate the support services provided by the school system, ensuring the most effective use of specialists such as school psychologists, social workers, and speech therapists" (p. 34). NMSA also discourages non-counseling functions, noting that "counselors are important specialists with people-oriented skills and should not be burdened with administrative or report-related responsibilities" (p. 34). In fact, Bergmann (2001) noted that middle school writings documented a need for advocacy and guidance for almost 100 years.

Although NMSA (2003) language on support services resonates most with middle school counselors, school counselors need to engage other aspects of the middle school philosophy and Turning Points" recommendations in order to promote students' optimal development and achievement. In particular, an inviting, supportive, and safe environment and organizing relationships for learning and caring (Jackson & Davis, 2000) are utilized to demonstrate the congruence to school counseling and the uniqueness of middle school counseling.

An inviting environment starts with students' transition from elementary to middle school. NMSA (2003) highlighted transition programs that include comprehensive career and educational planning as being integrated and collaboratively planned to connect students to the middle school and prepare students for the rigor of high school. Middle school counselors should serve as advocates and leaders of transition programs (Akos, 2003; Akos & Galassi, 2004), as this particular role is both unique to middle school and critical in building an inviting middle school environment. Middle school counselors can collaborate with elementary school counselors to prepare students and parents for the transition, and coordinate orientation programs in the middle school to help connect and engage students. The organizational, academic, and social concerns highlighted by research (Akos, 2002; Akos & Galassi; Schumacher, 1998) on the transition to middle school parallel the National Standards (Campbell & Dahir, 1997). Wigfield, Lutz, and Wagner (in this issue) examine the middle school counselor role in enhancing student motivation and promoting positive adult relationships in the transition to middle school.

In addition, advisory programs and teaming are used in middle schools to promote positive adult relationships and a supportive environment. Advisory programs, in which teachers and other adults in the school serve as advocates to a limited number of assigned students (12-18), vary by focus and definition. Advisory programs seek to improve teacher-student relationships, promote social and emotional development, and build feelings of belonging and caring (Galassi, Gulledge, & Cox, 1998). Murdock and Miller (2003) found that higher-quality teacher-student relationships predict stronger motivation for eighth-grade students. They even suggested that a perceived positive relationship with one's teacher might help compensate for lack of educational support from friends and family (although support from all is obviously most desirable). Due to the variety of advisory programs in practice, generalized conclusions about their effectiveness are limited; however, there seems to be consensus on the importance of building adult-student relationships.

Galassi et al. (1998) suggested that middle school counselors can serve as advisers, consultants, trainers, supervisors, or leaders of the advisory program. Each role has advantages and disadvantages, but middle school counselors can clearly advocate for advisory programs. They also can help middle schools initiate and maintain advisory programs by assisting advisers in understanding the developmental nature of students and by creating or sharing developmentally appropriate curricula or activities. Examples of advisory activities include "discussing problems with individual students, giving career information and guidance, developing student self-confidence and leadership, and discussing academic issues" (Mac Iver, 1990, p. 459). "Advisory is not a time for intensive personal counseling," according to Jackson and Davis (2000, p. 144), but instead may be an effective tool to deliver guidance curricula and may serve as a referral source for middle school counselors. A typology of advisory purposes and additional information is available in Galassi et al.

Like advisory, teaming has the potential to provide more opportunity to build meaningful relationships between students and teachers. Teaching teams in middle school typically consist of two or four teachers who teach all of the core subjects to a small group of students. By clustering teachers and students into teams, middle schools have the ability to create smaller learning communities, which have been associated with positive outcomes (e.g., increased achievement, increased feelings of belonging) (Farber, 1998). Jackson and Davis (2000) suggested that teams can provide students a psychological home to reduce anonymity, help build peer group affiliation, and provide teachers a structure for professional development centered on effective instruction. Teaming has implications for how middle school counselors work and consult with teachers, and school counselors may be able to facilitate more effective team leadership by sharing knowledge of group process and leadership techniques.

Middle school counselors can benefit from the multiple perspectives that teams may provide on student referrals or ongoing individual counseling cases. During common planning time, behavioral contracts can be created with students and a team of teachers that impact multiple classes, provide multiple reinforcement strategies, and are consistently monitored across classes. Ideally, effective teacher teams can facilitate the flow of information and increase counselors' ability to schedule and deliver classroom guidance or conduct groups. Even so, as with any group structure, not all teaching teams are effective. Erb and Doda (1989) suggested that teaming in middle school has suffered from a limited vision on what teams could be. Dickinson and Erb (1997) and Rottier (2000) suggested improving the team process by improving team leadership and dealing with group conflict effectively. Middle school counselors can work with administrators in determining the optimal composition of teams (both teachers and students) and advocating for appropriate planning time for teachers. They also may serve as consultants to team leaders to build more effective task groups and team leadership skills. As Pounder (1998) noted, teams typically need professional development on relationship building and management prior to moving to collaborative teaching and curriculum integration.

There are additional concepts in the middle school philosophy that are unique or must be uniquely applied by middle school counselors to promote early adolescent development. Active learning and exploratory curricula, as noted earlier, are ideal ways to help students negotiate competency and identity development. Both allow for students to make choices, experience hands-on learning, and have "potential career value" (NMSA, 2003, p. 24). Middle school counselors may lead or collaboratively teach career development as part of the exploratory curriculum. Even parent engagement, while desirable at all levels of schooling, is more salient in middle school due to the typical drop-off in parent involvement (see Davis and Lambie in this issue). In sum, middle school counselors can advocate for middle school reform concepts (e.g., teams, advisory, active learning) that are developmentally responsive and complement a comprehensive school counseling program. This aligns middle school counselor practice with broader educational reform, and it positions school counseling as an "integral part of the total educational program" (ASCA, 2003, p. 15).

RESPONSIVE PRACTICE: THE ASCA NATIONAL MODEL APPLIED TO MIDDLE SCHOOL

Several implications of early adolescent development and the middle school philosophy for middle school counselors have been noted, but these also need to be considered when developing and implementing comprehensive school counseling programs in middle school. The ASCA National Model (2003) components of foundation and delivery system are utilized to provide examples of how unique and specific applications for middle school are needed.

Foundation

The key elements of a foundation from the ASCA National Model (2003) are a set of beliefs and philosophy, a mission statement, and the ASCA National Standards (Campbell & Dahir, 1997). Principles and beliefs that guide a middle school counseling program should align to the school and district's mission. Both the middle school philosophy (Table 1) and the Turning Points recommendations (Jackson & Davis, 2000) outline developmentally responsive principles relevant to a shared foundation for a middle school counseling program. These system-level principles should then be combined with beliefs and philosophy about early adolescent development (e.g., the heterogeneity of development, the relevance of competence and identity, and support for student autonomy needs).

Flowing from these beliefs and guiding principles, a mission that describes the program's purpose and goals is needed. To be sure, middle school counselors' efforts are most accepted and become more valuable when harmonious to the focus on academic achievement. This is particularly true as middle schools have come under fire for the declines in achievement during the middle school years (Yecke, 2003). Middle school counselors do not directly deliver core academic curricula, but it is necessary to address outcomes that are particularly relevant for early adolescent learning in the mission. For example, academic motivation (Wigfield, Lutz, & Wagner in this issue) and self-regulated learning (Lapan, Kardash, & Turner, 2002; Sink this issue) are very salient and can be impacted by school counselor practice.

While academic achievement has been the mantra for NCLB reform, the middle school, unlike other levels, has included effective development as core to its mission. Therefore, middle school counselors are also in accord with school missions when constructing a program to promote student competencies in personal/social or affective realms. Middle school counseling programs also must construct outcome goals for early adolescents that are flexible to the heterogeneity of student development. The National Standards (Campbell & Dahir, 1997) are one useful guide, but they may not be developmentally responsive to school levels or particular stages of development. Due to the developmental variance in early adolescence and the holistic mission of middle schools, it may be more useful to center a middle school counseling program on individual assets (Benson, 2003) or ecological conditions that research has correlated to positive youth development (Lerner et al., 2005).

"Thriving ... is representative of an active individual who is functioning across time and place to interact with active context in manners that enhance both person and setting," according to Theokas et al. (2005, p. 117). The competencies within the foundation of a middle school program can utilize positive youth development (Lerner et al., 2005), with a focus on systems and building positive behavior (e.g., competence, confidence, connection, character, caring, and contribution). Galassi and Akos (2004) proposed developmental advocacy as a framework for school counselors to integrate emerging research on developmental assets, resilience, positive psychology, and competence. With this focus on positive developmental conditions, rather than particular developmental markers, the delivery system for middle school counselors corresponds to the developmentally responsive foundation.

Delivery System

A foundation built on promoting optimal development dictates a unique structure for the activities and methods for middle school counselor practice. Although the ASCA National Model (2003) recommends a distribution of time for middle school counselors as 25-35% for guidance curricula, 15-25% for individual student planning, 30-40% for responsive services, and 10-15% for system support, these may vary dramatically in order to be responsive to early adolescent development and middle school pedagogy. For example, although middle school counselors will contribute and help develop a guidance curriculum, it may be delivered entirely by other school staff through advisory programming. The guidance curriculum also might be delivered to teams rather than classrooms or integrated into the core curriculum in interdisciplinary units. Middle school counselors also may deliver guidance curricula in an exploratory class on career development. In fact, guidance curricula may be where much of the student educational and career planning (see Trusty, Niles, and Carney in this issue) occurs due to the common educational choices (e.g., exploratory choices, high school academic paths) that essentially serve as early career choices for middle school students.

The developmental phenomena of early adolescence have implications for relevant topics and how middle school counselors conceptualize responsive services. Exploring newfound physical and cognitive abilities and the expanding meaning of relationships lead to the expected need for topics such as anger management, decision making, and conflict resolution. While responsive services always will be required (e.g., family change, grief), it is important that middle school counselors do not pathologize early adolescent development. A delivery system for middle school counselors should balance time proportionally to promoting positive youth development, prevention, and responsive services based on school and students' needs. Individual, group, or systemic interventions also should be selected that are most meaningful for early adolescents and that capitalize on systems (e.g., team structure) or components (e.g., advisory) present in the middle school.

FUTURE ISSUES IN MIDDLE SCHOOL COUNSELING

Although a foundation and delivery system may be unique in middle school, the ASCA National Model (2003) also includes components (i.e., management systems, accountability) that are not necessarily unique or lack evidence to warrant strong recommendations. For example, part of the ASCA National Model management system includes counselor assignment. Often counselors work as a team (two to three counselors) in middle school. Unfortunately, there is no existing research that suggests the most effective system of assignment. ASCA (2003) provides several options including alphabet-type assignment, grade-level assignment (with or without looping with students or teachers), specialty-area foci, or even rotating foci. While the advantage to spending multiple years with the same students (alphabet or looping) seems obvious, perhaps grade-level assignment would permit more cohesive counselor-teacher relationships and more consistent transition programming.

Similarly, ASCA (2003) recommends that 80% of all counselors' time be devoted to direct contact with students in order to meet students' needs and to protect counselors from noncounseling activities (e.g., testing coordination, classroom coverage). It seems relevant to early adolescent development that peer programming takes on additional salience in middle school, dictating an increase in indirect service through coordination of peer-related programs. The Turning Points reforms, in fact, advocate for peer mediation and peer support groups as optimal means for a sale and healthy school environment (Jackson & Davis, 2000). It seems that developmentally responsive practice is yet undefined in the design and implementation of the ASCA National Model (2003) and will need to be more precisely defined by developmental age and school setting.

Finally, the cumulative focus of the ASCA National Model (2003) on accountability will be relevant to all school counselors. Determining results is by no means easy. Early adolescents are going to be different over time due to developmental change, so pinpointing the specific effect of school counselor interventions will require more than action plans and the examination of data. Evaluation of action plans is an important initial step, and outcome research (i.e., experimental design, control groups, random assignments, large-scale studies) needs to inform practices. Both Whiston and Sexton (1998) and St. Clair (1989) noted more research activity on counseling in the elementary and high school levels as compared to middle school, and limited evidence to make decisive conclusions for middle school counseling.

In sum, middle school counseling requires a unique design and implementation for a developmentally responsive comprehensive school counseling program. It also will require ongoing research to determine effective or optimal delivery systems, management systems, and practices for early adolescents.

FINAL THOUGHTS

It would be naive to assume that all middle schools are developmentally responsive and have implemented the middle school philosophy well. Although some research (Felner et al., 1997) demonstrated better student outcomes (e.g., achievement) for schools implementing middle school practices, other research (Brown, Roney, & Anafra, 2003) attributed better outcomes to different organizational factors. Additionally, a variety of configurations (e.g., K-8, 4-5, 5-6, 6-12) still exists for early adolescent education. Even so, the importance of school as a context for early adolescent development is clear (Roeser, Eccles, & Sameroff, 2000). School counselors who serve early adolescents have the opportunity to utilize systems in the school (e.g., teaching teams) and have the responsibility to create developmentally responsive practices to promote optimal student development and achievement.

As early adolescence presents many developmental challenges, it also tends to challenge students' families and those school professionals who work with them. Middle school counselors have the unique opportunity to implement comprehensive counseling programs with a focus on early adolescent development within a responsive ecology.

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Patrick Akos is with the School of Education, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. E-mail: [e-mail]

Table 1. National Middle School Association's Vision for a Successful
Middle School

The National Middle School Association believes the following:

Successful schools for young adolescents are characterized by a
culture that includes--

* Educators who value working with this age group and are prepared to
  do so
* Courageous, collaborative leadership
* A shared vision that guides decisions
* An inviting, supportive, and safe ecology
* High expectations for every member of the learning community
* Students and teachers engaged in active learning
* An adult advocate for every student
* School-initiated family and community partnerships.

Therefore, successful schools for young adolescents provide--

* A curriculum that is relevant, challenging, integrative, and
  exploratory
* Multiple learning and teaching approaches that respond to their
  diversity
* Assessment and evaluation programs that promote quality learning
* Organizational structures that support meaningful relationships and
  learning
* School-wide efforts and policies that foster health, wellness, and
  safety
* Multifaceted guidance and support services. [boldface added]