Making Middle Grades Work

The Southern Regional Education Board's middle grades initiative is designed to help states, districts and schools look at what they expect, what they teach and how they teach young adolescents to prepare for success in further education. Too many students leave the middle grades unprepared to take advantage of all that high school can offer and unable to be successful in career opportunities after high school.

Making Middle Grades Work is a network of schools, districts and states committed to implementing 10 essential elements in a comprehensive improvement framework. The MMGW brochure details the essential elements and other components of the framework. The elements focus on a rigorous and challenging academic core curriculum for all students and on the teaching and learning conditions that support continuous improvement in student achievement.

With the support of the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation, SREB provides member states and schools with technical assistance, publications, assessments and networking services. As school sites identify the help they need to implement the framework, SREB links them to specific professional development resources. A summer conference enables sites to learn what works with other middle grades and high schools and to plan further actions to improve student achievement.

Please join our listserv to receive periodic e-mail messages about MMGW activities.

SREB works with more than  200 middle grades sites. Making Middle Grades Work has partnerships with 16 states. The participating states are Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. SREB is expanding the number of participating schools and states. There are three ways to join our network:

1. If your school or district is in one of the 16 states listed above, contact your Making Middle Grades Work state coordinator.

2. If your school is applying for a Comprehensive School Reform grant and wants to use MMGW as the model, call MMGW at (404) 879-5588. 

3. If your state is not a member, call MMGW at (404) 879-5588 or e-mail mmgw@sreb.org.

• Each prospective site needs the support of its superintendent, the local school board and the state's department of education.
• The school principal must support the comprehensive improvement framework and be willing to work with the faculty to implement the framework and improve student achievement. For more information on the framework, please read the MMGW brochure.
• The faculty must agree to participate in a middle grades effort and must understand the requirements associated with implementing the comprehensive improvement framework.
• The school and district must conduct the Middle Grades Assessment, which includes student testing, teacher and student surveys, and a technical assistance visit.
• The school and district must commit the necessary resources — finances, time and effort — to make the school and its students successful.

For more information, e-mail Toni Eubank at toni.eubank@sreb.org.