Middle Grades
Middle grades: A complex, challenging, and confusing time in adolescence. Also a complex, challenging, and confusing age for adults to support and develop! Nonetheless, there is more and more research that points to the critical importance of this stage of childhood. Supporting students as they transition physically, cognitively, emotionally, and socially is key to ensuring that they are successful and healthy in high school and beyond.
From the Whole Child Blog
One Size Doesn't Fit the Middle Grades
We love a good one-size-fits-all approach. It's uncomplicated and seems to get to the heart of the problem without being bogged down in the details. It gives us focus and helps us know where to invest resources.
The problem is, issues involving humans are rarely, if ever, straightforward and simplistic enough for this kind of approach to be successful. In few cases is this truer than when it comes to the problems we face ensuring the success of each student during the middle grades.
Research has shown that no one factor, such as teacher support or parent involvement, is the key to a winning formula. While many factors are important, each one has only a modest effect. Only when multiple factors come together can we consistently and powerfully support students in making progress.
To further complicate education and development of students during the middle grades, most young people are consumed with trying to determine who they are, who they want to become, and how to establish their independence. Middle school educators are faced with droves of students who resist the one-size-fits-all approach at every turn.
Although we must attend to students' need for freedom, choices, and opportunities to explore and express their identities, these needs cannot trump the academic learning that must occur. To guarantee that we are successfully supporting, developing, and educating students in the middle grades, we must take a "both/and" mentality to maintain an equal commitment to their academic success and personal growth.
Throughout April, we're looking at what research and experience tell us about creating "both/and" middle grade environments where students thrive and educators maintain their sanity. Download the most recent Whole Child Podcast, read and post your comments here on the Whole Child Blog, and e-mail us resources and examples of promising practices.
Have you signed up to receive the Whole Child Newsletter? Read this month's newsletter and visit the archive for more strategies, resources, and tools you can use to help ensure that each child is healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged.
Whole Child Examples
Middle Grades Example
School Focuses on More Than Just Academic Achievement
Port Jervis's school improvement efforts over the past few years have completely changed the school into a thriving learning environment that focuses on more than just student academic achievement.
All Middle Grades Examples
Middle Grades Example
Caring and Belief Are Key at this New Jersey Middle School
Middle Grades Example
School Library Program Engages Students and Meets Community Needs
Elementary Example
An Individualized Education Rich in Academics
Middle Grades Example
Nurturing, Supportive Environment Prepares Students for the Future
Middle Grades Example
Related Posts
Exceeding Needs Through a Partnership Perspective
Giveaway: Classroom Instruction That Works DVD Series
Dealing With Students Who Bully: Part II
Dealing with Students Who Bully: Part I (The Essential First Step)
Podcast
The Middle Grades: Zits, Braces, and Hormones
In this episode, we examine how to foster middle grades students' healthy development, create environments that facilitate learning throughout this transitional time, and support those who are working with them in schools, in the community, and at home.
