Middle school, and education generally

[Fifthfiend]

This was interesting.

Trying to Find Solutions in Chaotic Middle Schools
By ELISSA GOOTMAN

Sit in with a seventh-grade science class at Seth Low, a cavernous Brooklyn middle school, as paper balls fly and pens are flicked from desk to desk.

A girl is caught with a note and quickly tears it up, blushing, as her classmates chant, �Read it!� The teacher, Laura Lowrie, tries to demonstrate simple machines by pulling from a box a hammer, a pencil sharpener and then, to her instant remorse, a nutcracker � the sight of which sends a cluster of boys into a fit of giggles and anatomical jokes.

�It�s the roughest, toughest, hardest thing to teach,� Ms. Lowrie said of middle school. �I�ll go home and feel disappointed with what�s going on and I�ll try a different tactic the next day.� As for the nutcracker, she sighed, �I should have used a stapler.�

Driven by newly documented slumps in learning, by crime rates and by high dropout rates in high school, educators across New York and the nation are struggling to rethink middle school and how best to teach adolescents at a transitional juncture of self-discovery and hormonal change.

The difficulty of educating this age group is felt even in many wealthy suburban school districts. But it is particularly intense in cities, where the problems that are compounded in middle school are more acute to begin with and where the search for solutions is most urgent.

In Los Angeles, the new superintendent, David L. Brewer III, has vowed to transform middle schools as a top priority, and low-performing schools are experimenting with intensive counseling.

In Philadelphia and Baltimore, school systems are trying to make the middle school problem literally disappear, by folding grades six through eight into K-8 schools. In one Columbia, S.C., school district, all five middle schools have begun offering some form of single-sex classes, on the theory that they promote self-esteem and reduce distractions.

And middle schools across the five boroughs of New York City are experimenting with a grab bag of strategies, from adding special periods dedicated to organizational skills, to reducing the number of teachers that each student has. At the Brooklyn Secondary School for Collaborative Studies, in Carroll Gardens, which includes grades 6 through 12, school does not start until 9 a.m., because the principal, Alyce Barr, believes adolescents are by nature not morning people.

Middle schools, sometimes called intermediate schools, were created starting in the 1960s, after educators determined that seventh-through-ninth-grade junior high schools were excessively rigid and unattuned to adolescents� personal development. But now, a battery of standardized tests, some required under the No Child Left Behind law, are starkly illustrating that many of these sixth-through-eighth-grade schools are failing, also.

The most recent results of math and reading tests given to students in all 50 states showed that between 1999 and 2004, elementary school students made solid gains in reading and math, while middle school students made smaller gains in math and stagnated in reading.

In New York State, grade-by-grade testing conducted for the first time last year showed that in rich and poor districts alike, reading scores plunge from the fifth to sixth grade, when most students move to middle school, and continue to decline through eighth grade. The pattern is increasingly seen as a critical impediment to tackling early high school dropout rates as well as the achievement gap separating black and white students.

�If you don�t get them hooked into school here, by the time they leave they�re gone.� said Barry M. Fein, the principal of Seth Low.

The troubles transcend test scores. While 74 percent of elementary schools reported at least one violent incident in the 2003-4 school year, 94 percent of middle schools did, federal statistics show.

Mr. Fein spent a recent evening counseling a student who had used a blunt kitchen knife to slash her face and arms: Her wavering self-esteem, it seemed, had ebbed to a low after two friends went out to lunch at McDonald�s without her.

�You handle stuff like that and you go, �O.K., now you want me to raise test scores?� � he said. �They don�t really think past tomorrow.�

In New York City, almost every kind of experiment is under way. At Intermediate School 211 in Canarsie, students of all grades are grouped into academies with themes like business and cultural arts based on their interests rather than their age. The principal, Buffie Simmons-Peart, confiscates explicit romance novels with airbrushed covers, saying they have a �dumbifying� influence.

I.S. 339, near Claremont Park in the Bronx, is working with Turnaround for Children, a nonprofit group, to focus on the most deeply troubled students, who can have an almost magnetic power over their peers. Nearly every seventh grader has a laptop computer � an excellent antidote, the principal, Jason Levy, has found, to adolescents� fidgeting and demand for attention.

The city has also been experimenting with grade reconfiguration on a grand scale. Since 2004, the Bloomberg administration has converted 42 elementary schools into K-8 schools and closed 14 traditional middle schools, with plans to close eight more by 2008.

The city has also recently created 38 schools for grades 6-12, another twist on the middle school model. And 44 large middle schools have been carved into �small learning communities,� in which groups of students take their classes together, functioning almost as a school within a school.

Andres Alonso, the deputy chancellor for teaching and learning, said the department was also revisiting the way sixth through eighth graders are taught science and noted that it had added $40 million yearly for struggling middle school students. �The work in the middle schools is extraordinarily important,� Dr. Alonso said.

At Seth Low � also known as I.S. 96 � in the Bensonhurst neighborhood, Mr. Fein is skeptical of the rush for quick answers.

�Nobody�s ever come down and said, �This works,� � he said, speaking amid an office cluttered with John Lennon memorabilia, congratulatory plaques and student work like a glittery card reading �Mr. Fine, He So Fine.�

Mr. Fein worries about test scores because he has to; although some of his students take a special test to get in, his school is listed as failing under No Child Left Behind because it has narrowly missed performance targets for special education students, Hispanics and non-native English speakers. But scores are not exactly his priority.

One recent day, Mr. Fein rode in the back of a police car to a building where a runaway student was hiding out. He climbed to the sixth floor, where he found her, dried her tears and, when she was ready, escorted her down.

Another day, he spent hours arguing with superiors who insisted that a suspended student serve her time at a school in Park Slope, which the principal feared was so far away that the girl would never show up.

Still, Mr. Fein, 58, a former teacher who could have retired three years ago, sticks with it. To cope, he has taken to spending a few predawn minutes meditating in his office, to the glow of candles and a lava lamp.

Students also have to find ways to cope. For sixth graders like Atticus Rollins, 12, a video game and science fiction aficionado, the adjustment to middle school has been a strange mix of empowering and emasculating.

He likes being able to �walk wherever you want in the hallways� without having to follow a teacher in a straight line. Still, he said: �It feels like you�re in kindergarten again, because you�re the youngest group of all. There are the tall eighth graders, they�re like skyscrapers, you have to look up to them.�

For Raechelle Ellison, 11, transition was marked by tears, nightly pleadings to her mother that she did not want to return and the composition of poetry with verses like, �Life in despair/I don�t really care.�

�Being in middle school is just like a bird being kicked out of its nest by its mother,� Raechelle mused in the cafeteria one recent morning.

At Raechelle�s old school, nearly everyone was black, like her; at Seth Low, which has a mix of black, white, Asian and Hispanic students, she was initially the only black person in her class.

Last year, the private preK-8 school she attended was �way smaller,� and she spent most of the day in one classroom, with a single teacher. This year she shuffles from room to room, and it has taken her 10 teachers longer to figure out that her name is neither Rachel nor Rochelle but a unique blend of the two.

Raechelle, with her earnest reflections and pigtails, seems a world away from the eighth graders who rush into the cafeteria two periods later.

Robert Combs, 14, whose mind has already turned to high school and the eighth grade prom, listened to 50 Cent on his iPod. Nazli Sevuk, 14, sported a glittering ring from her boyfriend. Kimberly Basic, 13, with long, dark hair and snug jeans, plotted with friends about what to wear and how to meet up for a night out at a nearby nightclub�s under-18 party; she can no longer be bothered with eighth grade boys.

Middle school teachers point to the gulf between the smooth-skinned sixth grade �babies� and these eighth-graders on the verge of adulthood, and note how they must guide these students through the profound transformations of adolescence.

�These kids go through more change in their lives than at any other time except the first three years,� said Sue Swaim, executive director of the National Middle School Association.

The Seth Low seventh graders have their own theories about why middle school scores plummet.

Nadine George, 12, said she is struggling in science class now because she never understood it in elementary school, despite getting good grades on tests. �Not that I knew how to do it, but whatever was in my notes I just copied it down,� she cheerily elaborated.

Jeorge Coronado, 13, said he was distracted now by fights and girls, who were starting to �look mad good.� Fabiola Noel, 12, disclosed that during a recent math class, her mind wandered to the look of her hair. In the note that was torn up in science class, Lillian Safa, 13, had asked a friend why a third girl was ignoring her. Two weeks later, Lillian reported, they are once again friends.

Wasn't sure whether to make this discussion or general. I guess we'll see how it goes.

[Toast]

Starting school later in the day can actually have great benefits. Since the target age group discussed is starting to go through puberty there's an associated shift of the circadian rhythm. Meaning they tend to fall asleep later and wake up later. Some sleep research

Speaking of the circadian rhythm, weekends are somewhat problematic. Creating a shift on Friday to stay up later and creating a second shift on Sunday to go to bed earlier is two shifts in two days and lowers quality of sleep significantly (and we wonder why we hate Mondays?)

It is also important to note that some signs of sleep deprivation can mimic the symptoms of ADHD. Another sleep article

Given that kids in this age range generally need about 9 hours of sleep per night it isn't surprising to notice the effects of losing out on even a couple hours worth of sleep.

[Roy_D_Mylote]

What, exactly, are we TALKING about, here? Problems in middle schools?

Cause the middle school in my town hasn't had any problem like that. Only thing that's happened in the past five years is some self-described Wiccan said she was going to blow up the school.

It was kinda funny.

[Magus]

No Child Left Behind is a ridiculous system, because the pressure that is supposed to be being put on the schools to raise scores is simply passed on to the students. Students are basically threatened with long, long hours of forced extracurricular tutoring. And then when you leave Middle School and go into High School, the fun really begins, because then the threat is withholdance of graduation. That's right. You just spent 11 years of your life taking classes, eh? Well guess what! It doesn't count for shit! You have to pass this test or you don't graduate!

Granted, the test really isn't THAT hard, but that's coming from my perspective. Most people think it's ridiculously difficult.

Most teachers hate the system simply because school is about teaching for the tests now. Forget about earned credits or anything not on the test.

Then again a lot of this could be avoided by not even bothering to MAKE people do well in school. I know plenty of jerkoffs who didn't deserve the sweat and toil teachers went through to make them do their work. Middle School, maybe, but once they hit High School, if they don't want to put the effort in don't make 'em. It'll only help our economy when they graduate with a terrible GPA, can't go to college, and go to work low class style. Don't even make 'em do the general track if they don't wanna, just let 'em fail. I have no sympathy for most of the people I went to school with. If they didn't apply themselves and are screwed now, they deserve it.

[Nique]

I really have no idea what would make school systems just work better - I mean, I guess no one really does, becuase it always seems like something is just wrong.

However, I do know that middle school was an absolute nightmare for me a lot of other kids to an even worse extent. I understand how most of the teachers in 6-8 are morons becuase all the good ones get nicer positions at a high school or elementary school where the children aren't ruining everyone's lives... How once you become a target for the other kids, your whole world just goes to shit... I went to a middle school in a ghetto area we called 'the villa' and I am amazed that my self-esteem and sense of security was not completely shattered in those 3 years. Middle school is the worst of Elementary and High school combined.

[Mirai Gen]

I don't really think I have any true solution to 'fixing' the school systems, because the best way to 'hook kids onto school' is to have teachers who know what they're talking about and try to show the kid how something he's interested in has actual application with learning...

But then I remembered all the teachers I had to go through and remembered that not every teacher can do that for each individual student.

It's interesting for me to look back and try to find out what exactly got me so interested in staying in school and going to college, because I'm coming up blank, and that's not exactly the thing you shouldn't just remember.

[Darth SS]

Originally Posted by Magus

You just spent 11 years of your life taking classes, eh? Well guess what! It doesn't count for shit! You have to pass this test or you don't graduate!

That doesn't sound like a pointedly bad thing.

Are you suggesting people just say "You just spent 11 years of your life taking classes! Here's your graduation certificate with no quality control whatsoever!"

[ZAKtheGeek]

Then again a lot of this could be avoided by not even bothering to MAKE people do well in school. I know plenty of jerkoffs who didn't deserve the sweat and toil teachers went through to make them do their work. Middle School, maybe, but once they hit High School, if they don't want to put the effort in don't make 'em. It'll only help our economy when they graduate with a terrible GPA, can't go to college, and go to work low class style. Don't even make 'em do the general track if they don't wanna, just let 'em fail. I have no sympathy for most of the people I went to school with. If they didn't apply themselves and are screwed now, they deserve it.

I wouldn't be so quick to severely limit the quality of one's life based on adolescent foolishness... I mean, okay, some kids are dumb. Maybe instead of reviling them we should help them?

[42PETUNIAS]

I personally was pretty lucky in going to a middle school that was part of a k-8 program. Looking at the stories from people coming from the other junior highs, ours was way more controlled, a much better place to learn. However, when everyone moves onto the same high school, a lot of people are caught unawares by how different it is. There really is a difference between a k-8 school and a junior high, but its not always good.

[Krylo]

Originally Posted by Darth SS

Are you suggesting people just say "You just spent 11 years of your life taking classes! Here's your graduation certificate with no quality control whatsoever!"

Well considering you were graded on every aspect of your school-life DURING those 11 years, the quality control is built right in. The testing doesn't do anything for quality control for multiple reasons.

Firstly: With the testing in, as others have said, school is no longer about teaching classes. It's about teaching the graduation test. In other words, you learn very little that isn't on the test, and, half the time, instead of learning more material you're learning test tips and tricks which will only help you taking tests, which you never ever do outside of schooling (I had these tests).

Secondly: Two words--Test Anxiety. Testing isn't an accurate way to measure whether someone has learned anything. Testing is, however, a good way of watching otherwise smart and studious people break under pressure and fuck up their lives because they got nervous. In the meantime the guy who doesn't know shit other than how to test (clues in the questions, stay calm, C is, statistically, the most common multiple choice when all else fails, don't second guess yourself, etc.) will pass easily.

Thirdly: Any psychologist can tell you that there is no such thing as a good test. Tests never, ever, test your knowledge in a general area. They test your ability to take that test. This is why it's generally accepted that things like IQ tests and other standardized tests are only accurate in about 20-40% of cases, and why to get certain testings done you have to take about five tests and have the scores looked at and calculated through by trained professionals.

Testing someone on what they learned in their entirity of highschool is obviously stupid if you take the time to learn anything about testing in general. The only time tests work is when it's something very specific (like how to do quadralateral equataions), but the more general you get (how to do algebra, or highschool math in general) the less viable the test results become.

Oh, and shit, FOURTHLY: The amount of money going to schools is decided by their test scores. High-scoring schools will get more money. What does this mean? Well, ok, first, let's pretend for a minute that these test scores are actually an accurate portrayal of success, even though they aren't. What happens? The rich suburban white kid school where they have new books and proper teaching aides and small class sizes--all contributing to a good learning environment leading to good learning in general, gets even MORE money, despite the fact that it is currently doing well. How about that urban school over there where they don't have enough money to pay their teachers, are using ten year old books, are laying off staff, etc. etc.? Well, guess what, guys. You're fucking screwed. The government is going to continually send you LESS money because you can't get high test scores, which means that you will only get worse as time goes on.

ALSO building on that, the money thing is the reason it causes the other problems (kids learning to take tests instead of math). Teachers need kids to pass this stupid damn test or they aren't going to have a paycheck next year, which motivates these teachers, particularily in the poor urban environments where teaching properly is hard enough in the first place, to teach students how to test. It's easier than trying to teach them calculus, and, honestly? As far as the test goes? More effective.

Also, as to how they could make things better: Smaller class sizes.

People have ALWAYS known that small class sizes increase teacher to student interaction, allow teachers to better control students (it's easier to shut ten kids up than twenty, and easier to shut twenty kids up than fourty, obviously), as well as allowing the teachers to tailor the teaching more specifically to the students in their class.

Teachers always have to work from the LCD (lowest common denominator, for all you non-math people) within their class. In a class sizes of thirty to fourty, this is going to cause a huge discrepency between your LCD and your brightest student, or even the average of the class. What this means is that it's hard to keep the class interested and challenged, without leaving behind your LCD.

With class sizes of ten to fifteen, the discrepency between LCD and everyone else is generally lower, and where it isn't, the LCD from each class can be moved around and put into a class with others of the same learning capability, and the same goes for the brightest. Think of an honors system, only with five tiers instead of two. And with higher tiers actually meaning something BESIDES more homework.

Speaking of homework, that's another thing. You could custom tailor the amount of homework for the class. Some people need a lot of homework to grasp something, and this slows things down. Some people can grasp concepts without any homework. And, the majority, can grasp some concepts without any homework while with others they need to practice.

With class sizes of ten to fifteen the teacher can decide on the fly whether a certain chapter actually requires homework and how much for that particular group of ten students. I mean, if only two guys need practice, the teacher could, with such a small class size, actually help those two herself without slowing down the rest of the class for them.

Once you get into class sizes of thirty, it's not as easy to gauge who is getting it, nor is it plausible to tutor people who don't every time. In fact, in class sizes of thirty, because the lesson plan can't be as customized, you generally end up with over half the class needing to practice the material no matter what the material is.

The only problem is that more teachers cost more money and the places that could benefit most from having more teachers don't have any money because no one sends money to underperforming schools, despite the fact that underperforming schools are where it is needed the most.

ALSO: Teacher pay/morale. It's much easier to get up every morning excited about your job and wanting to help your students grow and prosper when you're getting paid well, have benefits, and have a good boss. I guess, I'm saying it's easier to be good and giving to others when you're in a good mood, which is, really, a no-brainer.

However our school systems are currently underfunded for the number and pay of teachers we have now. Both of which is far below what it should be at.

So... I guess what I'm saying is: Throw more damn money at the problem, but not in the form of dumbfuck extra programs, but rather in the form of teacher pay-raises, benefits, and hirings as well as new books, school supplies, and equipment. Also, fire or demote jack-offs in administration and replace them with people who care about the teachers and students.