[speedgibson] Speed Gibson: Do Middle Schools Work? Part 1

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Posted by Speed Gibson:
Do Middle Schools Work?  Part 1
http://speedgibson.powerblogs.com/posts/1201491771.shtml


   Consider this from [1]Time Magazine (Aug 2005):

     It's 10 a.m. on a bright May day, and the arts wing at Gustav A.
     Fritsche Middle School in Milwaukee, Wis., is hopping. In a band
     room, 21 members of the jazz ensemble are rehearsing Soul Bossa
     Nova with plenty of heart and impressive intonation, in preparation
     for a concert downtown. In another room, woodblocks, timpani and
     bells are whipping up a rhythmic frenzy as the 75-member Fritsche
     Philharmonic Orchestra tackles Elliott Del Borgo's Aboriginal
     Rituals. In an art room, eighth-graders are shaping clay vessels to
     be baked in the school kiln. Down the hall, students are dabbing
     acrylic paints on canvas to create vivid still lifes à la Vincent
     van Gogh. At 10:49, when the 82-min. arts period ends, kids of all
     sizes, colors and sartorial stripes pour out of classrooms,
     jostling and joking, filling the hallway with the buzz of pubescent
     energy. Then it's off to language arts, math, social studies and
     the array of other subjects offered at this sprawling arena for
     adolescents.
     A few blocks away, at Humboldt Park Elementary School, which serves
     kindergarten through eighth grade, a charming scene unfolds in
     Karen Hennessy's classroom. Her kindergartners are enjoying a visit
     from their eighth-grade "buddies." All around the room, big kids
     sit knees to chest in miniature chairs or cross-legged on the
     alphabet carpet. Each little kid has chosen a picture book to share
     with a big buddy. Some lean on eighth-grade laps as they listen.
     Logan Wells, a strapping 14-year-old, reads The Little Engine That
     Could to Alec Matias and Jacob Hill. Jacob, 5, seems mesmerized
     equally by the bright illustrations and by the eighth-grader
     turning the pages. He presses against Logan as if to absorb some
     big-kid magic. The older boy reads on with gentle forbearance.
     If you were 13 years old, where would you rather be? Big, frenetic
     Fritsche, with its thrilling range of arts classes, bands, Socratic
     seminars and TV studio, all aimed at 1,030 sixth-, seventh- and
     eighth-graders? Or calm and cozy Humboldt Park, where the teachers
     seem to know the names and histories of all 585 students, ages 4 to
     14? If you're the parent of a 13-year-old, which would you choose
     for your child? The two schools represent two sides of a debate
     that has ripped through Milwaukee and other U.S. cities. For the
     past decade, middle schools have been the educational setting for
     roughly two-thirds of students in Grades 6 through 8. But
     increasingly, communities are questioning whether they really are
     the best choice for this volatile age group.

   I found this and many other interesting articles by web surfing after
   one of the local school professionals I met with last week put the
   "K-8" bug in my ear. I had never heard of this concept, at least in
   America. I had only heard of K-6, K-5, and recently, K-2/3-5 pairing
   as proposed in District 281. But K-8?
   Actually, that is sort of what is going on at the old Robbinsdale High
   School, which houses a K-5 Spanish Immersion Elementary operation and
   a general 6-8 "Robbinsdale Middle School" in separate areas of this
   large structure. But as the Time article suggests, the idea provides
   for some contact and interaction between the grades.
   This got me thinking about our former Minnesota Education Commissioner
   Cheri Yecke, who had openly criticized the middle school concept. If I
   remember, she was concerned that mediocrity was being tolerated in the
   name of other goals and programs, like self-esteem.
   Personally, I have to admit that 7th Grade, my first year after
   leaving dear old Brookside School in St. Louis Park was my hardest
   transition, even with all my 6th grade friends there. The 9th graders
   who towered over us didn't exactly go out of their way to help us
   along, either.
   My informal research suggests that indeed, test scores for middle
   school / junior high students seem to suffer from this transition as
   well. The bridge from one room to scheduled classes has to happen
   sometime, but maybe the onset of puberty isn't the best time. In fact,
   maybe having the familiar settings and routine of elementary school
   are helpful during this period.
   More in Part 2.

References

   1. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/printout/0,8816,1088694,00.html