Middle Schools and ‘Tweens

Juvonen, Jaana; Le, Vi-Nhuan; Kaganoff, Tessa; Augustine, Catherine; and Constant, Louay (2004). Focus on the Wonder Years: challenges facing the american middle school. RAND Education for the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation

It’s interesting to consider the history of middle schools in the United States and the role they have played in regards to tweens. Junior high schools, for 7th and 8th graders were developed at the turn of the 20th Century as a response to the societal pressures of increased enrollment in primary schools from immigration, the demand for a more educated class brought on by industrialization, and pressure from colleges to provide college preparatory classes for students starting at grade 7. The first junior highs emulated high schools and experienced failure, with only a third of the students making it to 9th grade. Regardless, the number of junior high schools increased exponentially from 1922 to 1938. The 1960’s showed a growing dissatisfaction with the structure of junior high school instruction, encouraging more focus on exploration and integration During the 1980s,the concept of a middle school emerged and aimed at serving 6th through 8th graders. New approaches toward serving the ‘whole child’ were being developed, to provide full-service to facilitate the development of young teens (Juvonen, et.al, 2004). These derived from the concern that problems existed for young teens from the ‘nature’ of the transition to a middle school – “teens undergo changes in school environment as they are going through major social, psychological, physical and cognitive changes. (p.14).

The National Middle School Association (NMSA) identified “components that need to be implemented for schools to be developmentally responsive:
Curriculum – challenging, integrative, exploratory
Varied teaching and learning approaches
Assessment and evaluation that promote learning
Flexible organizational structures
Programs and policies that foster health, wellness, safety
Comprehensive guidance and support services”

The report emphasizes that middle schools provide students with a balance of support and academic rigor, through creating small school learning communities where personal relationships between adults and students are developed and student’s academics are closely monitored. It also argues that schools configured for grades K through 8 are better than middle schools for tweens. This would reduce the number of transitions tweens would need to deal with in comparison to going from elementary self-contained classrooms, to middle school with different teachers.

This informative and interesting report reflects on the evolution of middle schools and the structure of their services. The notion of middle schools provides some insight in how tween students are viewed. From my experiences of working in middle schools, the staff have a definite preference and personality to work with this age group. They find them challenging yet fun, interesting yet frustrating; full of energy, emotion and hormones.

Additional reading: Scholastic in “Making the Transition: Help your child navigate these typical middle school challenges” by Margery D. Rosen provides suggestions for parents to assist their child in the new experiences that occur in middle school.