TURNING POINTS -
THE MIDDLE SCHOOLS WE NEED
In 1989, the Carnegie Corporation of New York published the report Turning Points - Preparing American Youth for the 21st Century. The document contained the findings and recommendations of Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development - a task force empowered to explore strategies to cope with the complexities and incongruities associated with educating the young adolescent. Among the recommendations of this task force were:
1. Middle schools should create small communities for
learning. Teams of four academic teachers (math English, science
and social studies) having common groups of students are such small communities for
learning. It is imperative that the students feel that they belong to groups smaller than
the typical middle level school. Recall please that they are coming from elementary schools
where they belonged to one teacher and one set of about 23 classmates. The small community
for learning (the team) is supposed to approximate this.
2. Middle schools should provide a core academic curriculum that emphasizes literacy in the
academic areas and that enables critical thinking, responsible citizenship, cooperation and
student leadership. The team teachers, planning and teaching within the interdisciplinary process,
are best situated to accomplish this.
3. Middle schools should ensure success for all students. Nothing succeeds like success. All
students should be expected to produce and to be successful. The time necessary to achieve
should be allowed all students. Individualization is needed to insure success for all students.
The interdisciplinary team is again in the best position to do these things and make this work.
4. Teachers and administrators should be empowered to make the decisions about the
experiences of middle level students. Site-based management is in its infancy in the U.S., but it isa process to which we are all directed. The interdisciplinary team, working with counselor and
principal, knows the children best and is best prepared to make decisions for them and with them.
5. Middle schools should be staffed with teachers expert in teaching the young adolescent.
District and state staff development sessions, local in- services, and higher education should all
be used to familiarize the veteran middle level instructor with the young adolescent.6. Academic performance should be enhanced through the fostering of health and fitness. Middle
school children should have physical and health education and they should have many
opportunities to be active, to run. It is believed that students who are physically fit, and who
understand such health concepts as proper nutrition, will be more effective learners and
producers.
7. Middle schools should seek to re-engage the family in the education of the young adolescent.
The "pulling away" from their parents that young adolescents try to do appears to be reflected inthe traditional reduction in parental involvement in the school as the youngster proceeds through
late elementary and into the middle level. Communication with parents must be frequent if we are
to increase their involvement and reverse the trend. The teams are well-suited for this as they
tend to know the children quite well. Parents should be empowered to participate in decisions
affecting their child if we expect meaningful involvement. The teacher team is also an excellent
medium for parental input and shared decision-making.
8. Middle schools should be connected with the communities they serve. Partnerships with area
businesses, opportunities for students to serve the community, and ways for the community to
enrich the curriculum should be sought. It is believed that the responsibility for student and school
success should be extended to the community, and that by tying in to the community, we will
increase the effectiveness and the quality of learning.
Parents and patrons should examine the middle school in which his/her children are enrolled in light of the Turning Points recommendations. The Ponca City Oklahoma schools implemented a pilot program seven years ago to assess the effect of an instructional delivery system for seventh graders designed around these recommendations. They documented an 26 point (41 to 67 percentile) increase in ITBS 7th grade Total Language scores and a 37 point (39 to 76 percentile) increase in Total Math scores since that project. Further, a significant increase in positive self-concept was noted over the course of the program. Similar increases in student perception of climate were found.
