Behind the Headline: Middle School: Not So Bad

On Top of the News
Middle School: Not So Bad
1/14/14 | The Atlantic

Behind the Headline
Stuck in the Middle
Fall 2010 | Education Next

While middle school has a terrible reputation, Hillary Conklin, a former middle school teacher writing in the Atlantic writes

I have seen firsthand that middle schools can be constructive, happy places. When there are teachers who understand young adolescents and are prepared to teach them, smaller schools and classes that facilitate meaningful relationships, and an intellectually challenging, engaging, and relevant curriculum, middle school can be some of the most inspiring and enlightening years of a young person’s—or teacher’s—life.

It’s time to give middle schools a new narrative, Conklin argues.

But a study published in Ed Next found that student achievement declines when students enter middle school, and that students who attend K-8 schools perform better.

Peter Meyer laid out the complete case against middle school in “The Middle School Mess.”

-Education Next

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