NYT Middle School Article

The two sides of the middle school debates agree on one thing, the classic separate middle school does not work. A separate school for middle school children has been showing a “slump” in learning in recent studies, and educators are looking for a way to increase learning at this stage. Not only are the students changing schools, but they are also coming into their prepubescent years, a hard time on any kid. The two different sides have different approaches on how to increase learning and minimize the slump each getting rid of the transition into a separate middle school. One side has schools K-8 where students stay at the same school with their K-5 peers but are in a different part of the building with separate teachers for the different subjects. The other side of the debate has schools being 6-12, where middle school students are integrated into the high school setting in sixth grade. Keeping the kids at the same school setting during their middle school years offers them stability and familiarity. While moving them up to high school keeps them moving forward and gives them the goal of learning to move on to college. Teachers now have 7 years to get them ready for college and not just 4. The problem that both of these options face is that the age level of the students is very wide, the first option has kids around the age of 6 to around the age of 14 in the same school while the second option has kids from the age of 11 to the age of 18 in the same building.

I agree with the first group that kids should be in a school that has students K-8. I might be a bit biased as this is the type of school that I went to. In these schools, the students are changing in to a different setting as they no longer just have one teacher, but they have the same surroundings and are in a class with the same people they grew up with. I think that 11 would be a very young age to start in high school and would be quite traumatizing to be growing up both physically and mentally around students that are so much older then you are. I starting kids off in high school so soon makes them grow up too fast; isn’t 11 a little to old to be worried about college? K-8 offers a safe and known surrounding and yet it’s change of environment and class set up gives a change that students can look forward to. As a teacher in high school I think if would be easier if the school wasn’t 6-12 because there wouldn’t be a dramatic change in learning and maturity levels from class to class. Keeping kids in the same school for 9 years gives them one less transition and change to deal with while their bodies and minds are growing up.