Do Minds Really Go Numb In Middle School?
Q. Most
middle schools run from sixth through eighth grades, and a lot of parents say
they are a wasteland academically. I've heard middle-school educators say that it
is pointless to shoot for high academics because the kids are too addlebrained
at that age to concentrate on school, and the best they can do is keep kids in
a "holding pattern" 'til they are out of those awful middle-school years. That
doesn't sound right to me. Are middle schools supported by the evidence, or a
bad idea?
There have
been lots of theories about what happens to the brains of children who
transition into adolescence. Not all of them were within the realm of sanity,
but they still had an impact, unfortunately. For instance, one such issue was "brain
periodization" or the "Plateau of Learning" theory. This was the idea that
children's brains virtually stop growing from 12 to 14 years of age, and
complex teachings could damage their brains.
That theory gave middle school
advocates scientific support to lighten the academic workload at the middle
school level, which happened in the 1980s.
The actually has since been
thoroughly disproved, but significant numbers of middle school teachers and
administrators still believe it to be true, since they learned it in their
college of education some years ago.
Perhaps the best way to combat that
"urban myth" would be to compare the test scores of middle-school age kids who
attend traditional, K-8 schools where the anti-academic focus has not taken
hold, to those middle schools that have chosen the "affective," or behavioral,
route instead of academics. The K-8 kids always out-do the middle-school kids,
both during those years, and later on in high school and college.
Policymakers and parents also should
consider that it is easier to fill vacancies in the middle grades of a K-8
school than in a middle school. The population of parents who are filling
vacancies are usually those who are moving in to an area from outside, rather
than those who have lived in that area all along. That indicates that in a
free-market situation, when parents have a choice, they prefer a K-8 setting.
Proponents of K-8 schools also say
their schools are safer than middle schools because older children with younger
family members attending the same school take on the part of protector, tutor,
and role model. That goes for before- and after-school hours, when safety
hazards are at an all-time high, and many "tweens" are being tempted to engage
in high-risk, anti-social behaviors involving sex, drugs and alcohol. In a
middle school, the same children must posture for a reputation, which often
leads to the disruption associated with larger middle schools.
Also, they contend, parental
involvement is greater in K-8 schools because parents remain connected to one
school longer and are more likely to have more than one family member enrolled
in the school at the same time.
Meanwhile, the school may be more
fulfilling for staff, because they are able to see their influence as the
students grow from small children into young adults under their supervision.
Homework: See
"The Great K-8 Debate" on www.philaedfund.org/notebook/TheGreatk8Debate.htm