Anybody out there want to rethink middle schools?
Regular Get Schooled readers know that I have doubts about the efficacy of the middle school model.Despite decades of experimentation and refinement, middle school still doesn’t work in most places, leading me to conclude that the problem is not with the execution of the concept but with the concept itself.
In 2011, a Harvard study found that students moving from fifth grade to a middle school setting suffer a sharp drop in academic performance in reading and math, compared to peers who attend k-8 schools. The findings of the Harvard study confirmed an earlier Columbia University study.
Writing in Education Next, Harvard researchers Martin West and Guido Schwerdt explained:
Our results cast serious doubt on the wisdom of the middle-school experiment that has become