Running head: MOVING THE MIDDLE

Moving the Middle:

Inoculating Middle School Ahead of the High School Disease

Catherine Baker

East Carolina University

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INOCULATING MIDDLE SCHOOL AHEAD OF THE HIGH SCHOOL DISEASE

MOVING THE MIDDLE:

INOCULATING MIDDLE SCHOOLERS AHEAD OF THE HIGH SCHOOL DISEASE

Middle School is recognized as a time in a student’s life where the transition can be

exciting or brutal. Students leave the warm cocoon of elementary school, where they have been

sheltered, guided, told what to do, when to do it, and then they are plunged into middle school,

an arena where one of the goals is to prepare students for high school. Because of this, the

organization of the school day tends to mimic a high school. Most middle schools have three

grades (sixth, seventh and eighth) and use the team approach for their structure. As a student

progresses from entering in the sixth grade and exiting after the eighth grade, the atmosphere,

activities and student responsibilities increasingly imitate high school.

The middle school used in this study (“Example Middle School”) is a traditional middle

school with three grades housed on a sprawling campus of older buildings. For the most part, the

sixth grade is kept separate from the other two grades. The sixth grade has four two-teacher

teams, while seventh and eighth grades have four-teacher teams apiece. Students begin to gain

the independence that they will need in high school. One of the most telling differences is the

behavior observed in hallways: the sixth grade still lines up and waits for teacher directions,

while the eighth grade travels to its locations without teachers’ guidance. Assignments increase

in depth and rigor, while parental involvement decreases exponentially. Student attitudes also

change during this three-year time span. In sixth grade, most students diligently complete their

homework, and the teachers and parents keep a watchful eye on grades and assignments. Within

two short years, however, homework and class assignments are not as important to students as

the social life that embraces these young adolescents, and this thought process becomes even

more pronounced with the move to high school. This shift in focus is a well-documented

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INOCULATING MIDDLE SCHOOL AHEAD OF THE HIGH SCHOOL DISEASE

phenomenon that many schools have attempted to adjust with the creation of Freshman

Academies.

The high school used tangentially in this study (“Sample High School”) has attempted to

implement a Freshman Academy several times without success. The administration found it too

restrictive to dedicate staff exclusively for use in an Academy. Faculty members did not

volunteer as anticipated, and resisted requests from administration to move. Classrooms were

spread all over the school grounds, and while close proximity to each other is not a necessity in a

Freshman Academy, it does serve to negate one of the problems that freshmen seem to have –

that of observing and imitating the behavior of upperclassmen who may not be the best role

model. The biggest enemy to the implementation of a successful Freshman Academy has been

that the time was lacking. No one has been willing to devote the time necessary to research it,

lay a supporting foundation, or to continuously revisit and revise the fledgling program.

Frequent changes in administration at the high school have brought new attempts at

implementation, but efforts tend to fade away when faced with a myriad of other problems that

rise in importance. Discipline issues, teacher and student morale, and graduation rates have

shifted the focus away from the creation of a Freshman Academy.

Due to this history, the focus of this study will be at the Middle School instead of at the

High School. It is hoped that a preemptive strike at eliminating some of the main issues that

hinder freshmen success can be successful while the students are still at the Middle School. In

this manner, we can inoculate the middle school students against the high school disease, which

so many freshmen experience.

Great efforts have been made at this middle school, to keep it a safe and nurturing

environment as well as to keep it a learning institution, which is focused on 21st century skills

that are engaging, technology-rich, and relevant. The community plays a large part in the

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INOCULATING MIDDLE SCHOOL AHEAD OF THE HIGH SCHOOL DISEASE

success, as the majority of the middle school students have family members that have also

traversed the same hallways and ridden the same buses. In fact, in this local education agency

(LEA), aligned to county lines, there are only four schools: one lower elementary school,

(housing pre-kindergarten to second grade), one upper elementary school, (housing third grade to

fifth grade), the middle school in this study, (housing sixth grade to eighth grade), and one high

school, (housing ninth grade to twelfth grade). A large percentage of the county residents with

school-age children have remained in the county. Very little movement occurs residentially

across county lines. The LEA has an arrangement with a regional children’s home that utilizes

many therapeutic foster parents, so there is a small transient population of displaced youth (some

with profound behavioral and social needs), as well.

The county has grown substantially in the last decade or so, as the town has received

accolades from both Our State magazine (2011) and Forbes magazine (2011) as the “South’s

Prettiest Town” and “one of America’s Prettiest Towns, ” respectively. Because of this and other

advertising campaigns, there has been a surge in the population of retirees and investors. The

county now has two disparate groups: an older, well-established population who have purchased

the stately old homes on the waterfront in the Historical District, and a younger population who

lives from paycheck-to-paycheck, or on government-subsidized federal programs and struggle to

make ends meet. In between these dichotomous extremes, is a small, typical middle-class

population. The LEA is approximately 42% black, 50% white, and 8% Hispanic and other races.

There are some low-income housing areas that experience many of the crimes that large cities

experience. Notably, the town does not have the gangs and thugs that news people love to

advertise, but it does have youth who are struggling to find their identity, and are quick to adopt

characteristics of well-known youth groups in an effort to feel like they belong to a larger group.

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INOCULATING MIDDLE SCHOOL AHEAD OF THE HIGH SCHOOL DISEASE

This is beginning to create areas of town that are avoided by the retirees, but that support

students who populate the community schools.

Within the middle school that is the focal point for this analysis, one can find three grades

of about 175 students each. Students range in ages from eleven to sixteen, although most of the

fifteen and sixteen year old students are those that have repeated at least one grade in elementary

or middle school.

There are 24 core-subject teachers, 10 health/physical education/elective teachers, four

special education teachers, three teacher-assistants, three administrators, four custodians, six

cafeteria workers, one guidance counselor, one nurse, one school resource officer, one librarian,

one instructional technology facilitator (ITF) and three office staff. Two grant-funded “Gear Up”

positions are shared between the middle school and the high school, which focus on college and

career readiness. One partially federally funded behaviorist position is located at the middle

school, but is only used for those students who have a Behavior Improvement Plan (BIP). There

are currently five students with an active BIP, and one on “consultative services.” This

behaviorist position also is partially funded by the state’s judicial system, providing a liaison

between the school, probation officers and the juvenile court system. There are currently nine

students being served in this capacity (most have documented behavior issues, as well, hence the

same person being “shared” by both programs.) There is one English as a Second Language

(ESL) counselor that is shared by all four schools, and two School Psychologists that are also

shared among the schools. They primarily handle the frequent testing and screening that is

required for the Exceptional Children’s (EC) program.

At the same time that students are awkwardly transitioning from elementary school to

middle school, most students are beginning to feel the affects of puberty. Puberty begins around

age 11 for adolescents, which is usually about sixth grade. It can manifest itself in many ways,

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INOCULATING MIDDLE SCHOOL AHEAD OF THE HIGH SCHOOL DISEASE

but some of the more common characteristics include physical and social awkwardness,

moodiness, stress, elevated emotions, testing established boundaries, and changes in appearance

(American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 1996). Most students begin middle

school at the same age, so the changes occurring in school, physically, socially, and emotionally

frequently conflict with each other, creating some awkward social interactions, as well. Middle

school is fraught with anxiety, and students handle the changes they face daily in a myriad of

ways – some with grace, some with awkwardness, and some with disastrous results. Teachers,

counselors and administrators struggle to assist students to find a balance in this upheaval, and to

help with organization, priorities and anxiety. Enter into this maelstrom academic rigor,

deadlines, high stakes testing, and a change in routines, and you set up a “perfect storm” for

adolescents.

In this research study, the middle school and high school will be analyzed for multiple

factors. This can best be shown with a hybrid combination of Action Research, and Policy

Evaluation. Table One shows such a logic model.

Table 1

Hybrid Logic Model of Qualitative Analysis of Example Middle School & Sample High School

INPUTS ACTIVITIESWhat We Invest: What We Do: Who We Reach:

Beginning research Time, energy, personnel Money Administrative Planning &

Research Time

Survey HS teachers Create modules Scheduling Develop timeline Identify needs and

characteristics Investigate similar programs

in similar districts

Targeted students Students’ stakeholders

(Parents & family) Community Volunteers School

OUTCOMESWhy This Project:Short Term Results

Why This Project: Intermediate Results

Why This Project:Long-Term Results

Real-time observations of Yearly effectiveness Strategies learned and

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INOCULATING MIDDLE SCHOOL AHEAD OF THE HIGH SCHOOL DISEASE

effectiveness Daily data Analysis of data (primarily

test results) Student feedback Needs satisfied Data shows decreased

growth Reduced class sizes

measured through data (growth, percentiles, etc)

Anticipation of continued testing

Analysis of long term data (primarily test results)

Comparative study with students over time

Stakeholder’s feedback

developed will help future students

Increased test scores = increased growth

High School success due to Middle School success.

Assumptions: Enrollments will continue the current trend Funding from Federal supplements will

remain Leadership Vision will remain the same

External Factors: Funding (Federal, State & Local) Budget restrictions lifted Actual enrollment

The methodology of this research project involves interviewing Sample High School

teachers, counselors and administration for topics that they feel need to be covered to prepare

students for High School. Short seminars, online modules and assemblies will be created at the

Middle School to meet the highlighted needs. A concluding assessment in the form of a survey

or discussion will give necessary feedback. The students will be asked follow-up questions after

their first year in high school, to determine the effectiveness of the preparation. As a part of the

improvement science approach, the process will be “tweaked” every few weeks in order to

continuously fine-tune and keep the research on point.

Table 2

Important High School Skills (according to High School Teachers)

Q. What are important skills that students need to be successful in high school?

Time Management

Organizational Skills

Establishing Priorities

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INOCULATING MIDDLE SCHOOL AHEAD OF THE HIGH SCHOOL DISEASE

When using data between the feeder elementary school and the middle school, or

between the middle school and the high school, it is necessary to concentrate on student growth.

According to NCDPI, student growth is defined by “the amount of academic progress that

students make over the course of a grade or class. Students enter grades and course at different

places; some have struggled while some have excelled. Regardless of how they enter a grade or

course, students can make progress over the course of the school year.” (NCDPI) North

Carolina uses a value-added growth model (VAM) for data analysis, called the Education Value-

Added Assessment System data, or EVAAS. It allows educators to make projections and

predictions about student success, and is based on the last three years of each student’s testing

history. This data should never be used as the sole indicator of success, but does have a proven

history of being on target. Example Middle School uses EVAAS data to guide its decisions, and

has found it to be extremely useful and accurate. In fact, over the last seven years, Example

Middle School has been a School of High Growth, an accolade that the school touted with

pride.

To begin the data analysis, look at the students that comprise next year’s sixth grade at

Example Middle School. This shows that their class as a whole is experiencing some academic

difficulties, and could use additional support in the classroom. Having a projection like this

report enables administration to be ready to help the teachers with resources, as well as allows

for strategic placement of the student into the appropriate classrooms. It would be worthy of an

additional insight into past performance of these students, in order to examine whether this is

truly the ability level of each student accurately portrayed, or if it is due to a new test on a new

curriculum. There are other factors which would also be worthy of a deeper look into the data.

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INOCULATING MIDDLE SCHOOL AHEAD OF THE HIGH SCHOOL DISEASE

Figure 1

EVAAS Projection of 5th Grade EOG Math Test

It is immediately alarming to see that only 37% have a chance of being proficient on the 5th grade

Math EOG. The test results from the actual EOG will be interesting to examine. The yellow

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INOCULATING MIDDLE SCHOOL AHEAD OF THE HIGH SCHOOL DISEASE

slice represents the student who can go in either direction, and the white slice represents students

who have not been in the district for at least three years, and do not have enough of a testing

history to make predictions and projections. Both of these “unknowns” can affect the actual

percent that is proficient on the EOG, but the main take-away from the graph is that the incoming

sixth grade will most likely need additional math support.

Figure 2

EVAAS Projection of 5th Grade EOG Reading Test

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INOCULATING MIDDLE SCHOOL AHEAD OF THE HIGH SCHOOL DISEASE

The projections for the 5th grade Reading EOG appear to be just as bleak, as can be seen

in Figure 2. Only the user who interprets it limits the data analysis that is possible in EVAAS.

This will prove to be an important characteristic, for the data establishes the context for the

problem. The students themselves provide a richer element and a depth to the problem that

numbers alone cannot accomplish. Regardless, the data does indicate to the administration that

support is needed – which can be translated into budgetary items in the form of supplemental

books, a tutor program, or even a remedial class.

This research topic is a bold one, but it is also a necessary one. The school is not

fictional; rather, it is a school with faces, stories and names. The study is important for the

middle school students as they transition to the high school, and the facts will be shared with

local policymakers as well as stakeholders. Public perception of a failing high school may

change. Armed with data analyzed in this project, administration can introduce changes that may

be made for the benefit of the children. This project is important to the success of our students,

for they are our future.

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