The Successful Middle School: This We Believe

Copyright © 2021 by the Association for Middle Level Education

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews or articles.

AMLE and This We Believe are registered trademarks of the Association for

Middle Level Education

Printed in the United States of America.

Citation

Bishop, P.A. & Harrison, L.M. (2021). The successful middle school: This we believe. Association for Middle Level Education.

Stephanie Simpson, CEO

April Tibbles, Editor

Dawn Williams, Designer

ISBN: 978-1-56090-305-5 (digital)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction

The Importance of Middle Level Education

Culture and Community

Educators respect and value young adolescents.

The school environment is welcoming, inclusive, and affirming for all.

Every student’s academic and personal development is guided by an adult advocate.

School safety is addressed proactively, justly, and thoughtfully.

Comprehensive counseling and support services meet the needs of young adolescents.

The school engages families as valued partners.

The school collaborates with community and business partners.

Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment

Educators are specifically prepared to teach young adolescents and possess a depth of understanding in the content areas they teach.

Curriculum is challenging, exploratory, integrative, and diverse.

Challenging

Exploratory

Integrative

Diverse

Health, wellness, and social-emotional competence are supported in curricula, school-wide programs, and related policies.

Instruction fosters learning that is active, purposeful, and democratic.

Active

Purposeful

Democratic

Varied and ongoing assessments advance learning as well as measure it.

Leadership and Organization

A shared vision developed by all stakeholders guides every decision.

Policies and practices are student-centered, unbiased, and fairly implemented.

Leaders are committed to and knowledgeable about young adolescents, equitable practices, and educational research.

Leaders demonstrate courage and collaboration.

Professional learning for all staff is relevant, long term, and job embedded.

Organizational structures foster purposeful learning and meaningful relationships.

Young Adolescent Development and Implications for Educators

A Historical Account

With Gratitude

Endnotes

Dream Big by Mohammed A., Grade 7

In this drawing I made the character dreaming about his future and what he will do.

He has big dreams and is always positive about doing the best he can to achieve his goal in life. He wants to make his school and family very proud so he can make a name for himself.

Introduction

As this edition of the foundational position paper of the Association for Middle Level Education is being published, our communities face a global pandemic that has closed many school buildings, and we have witnessed racial and social injustices that have shined a light on the inequities that middle school students around the world face on a daily basis.

Despite this adversity, I have seen countless examples of the power of middle school educators to make profound and positive impacts on their students’ lives and on their futures. While these times may be uncertain, what is clear is that middle school educators are successful when they focus on creating strong relationships with students and building school environments that are responsive and guided by the distinctive nature and identities of young adolescents. The essential principles first published in this paper nearly 40 years ago remain as relevant and as important as ever.

As stated in this paper, Vision is an acute sense of the possible. I invite you to commit to building middle schools that are responsive, challenging, empowering, equitable, and engaging. I invite you to honor, respect, and value our young adolescents and to be the adult advocate that helps them wrestle with big ideas and the ups and downs of life. And most importantly, I invite you to join us in imagining what is possible for our students, our school communities, and the world that surrounds them.

Stephanie Simpson

CEO

The First Day

By Roya P., Grade 6

That first day

Where the hall is crowded and loud

You’re all alone

And you just want to find a place

Where you can belong

And be yourself

Where you aren’t worrying

If what you say, or do, or look like is enough

But this time, that never happened

Because today,

Even though the hall is still crowded and loud

And you don’t know anyone here

At this school, people care

No one is afraid to greet you

To show you around

Give you a smile

And show that there is a place for you

Because

You

Are

enough

The Importance of

Middle Level Education

The middle school years are an exciting time, as young adolescents are in the midst of profound personal change and identity development. They are growing physically, intellectually, morally, psychologically, and socio-emotionally. They are thinking more deeply about who they are in relation to their race, ethnicity, social class, gender, sexual orientation, religion, and other identities. They are beginning to ponder some of the quintessential questions of life.

Every day, these diverse middle schoolers develop as they engage with the world around them. They socialize with peers and interact with their families and caregivers. They encounter new decisions and make complex life choices. They consume media and express themselves creatively. Along the way, they construct the attitudes, values, and dispositions that will form who they become as adults. Each of these moments is a learning opportunity and the stakes are high; young adolescents’ personal development and academic growth during these middle grades years can dramatically impact their futures.¹ The quality of students’ middle school experience substantially affects their overall sense of well-being² and, in particular, their later chances for high school completion and post-secondary success.³ Creating successful middle schools, then, is crucial for both individuals and society at large. But what is a successful middle school?

Successful middle schools are responsive. They respond to the nature of young adolescents in all their amazing diversity and are designed specifically to support the developmental needs and social identities of students. Educators and administrators view students in a positive way, rejecting the deficit perspective too often foisted on middle schoolers by society. They are critically conscious of the fact that students’ multiple and intersecting identities influence their experiences, opportunities, and perspectives. Therefore, their practices and policies are just and equitable. Teachers build relationships, design curriculum, and create learning environments that support, affirm, and celebrate young adolescents holistically. They expect and plan for a range of capacities and idiosyncratic change, both within and across youth.⁴ Such educators know that designing programs on the assumption that every student is ready to become proficient in specific skills at the same time is unrealistic and counterproductive. Instead, teachers offer abundant and meaningful opportunities for each young adolescent to grow, develop an appetite for learning, and acquire needed skills and knowledge. Knowing that students’ needs change over time, they offer supportive and scaffolded opportunities for learners to try new things and to make mistakes and learn from them.

Research is clear that not all youth have the same access to responsive middle schools that lay a foundation for success. Learners from historically marginalized groups disproportionately suffer the harmful consequences of bias, discrimination, and systemic oppression.⁵ These inequities exist both within and across schools. Latinx and Black students are more likely than students from other racial/ethnic groups to attend under-resourced schools.⁶ Students of color are more likely than their White counterparts to experience inequitable and adverse disciplinary actions in school, such as in- and out-of-school suspensions and expulsions.⁷ And lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBTQ) students have less access to resources and support and are at a higher risk of victimization than their non-LGBTQ peers.⁸