Education Level: Middle Grades
Middle Grades
Grades 5-8
In early adolescence, interventions are critical to move students up the path to academic success and keep them from veering off course. No transition is more important than the often-difficult one from 8th to 9th grade.
Challenge 2020 Goal
Student achievement for all groups in the middle grades will exceed state standards and national averages – at rates that close achievement gaps between groups.
Track your state’s progress toward this goal in SREB’s State Progress Reports.
A New Mission for the Middle Grades
Preparing Students for a Changing World
Report of the SREB Middle Grades Commission
The report of the SREB Middle Grades Commission issues an urgent call for states to improve achievement in the middle grades so students are ready for success in rigorous high school courses and better prepared to graduate and proceed to college or technical training. A New Mission for the Middle Grades offers a comprehensive roadmap for change,
A Critical Mission
Making Adolescent Reading an Immediate Priority in SREB States
Report of the Committee to Improve Reading and Writing in Middle and High Schools
Nationwide, students in the middle grades and high school are failing to develop the reading and writing skills they need in order to meet higher academic standards. This major new SREB report on adolescent literacy discusses the urgency of the problem in depth and presents specific solutions for SREB states based on the recommendations of the SREB Committee to Improve Reading and Writing in Middle and High Schools, chaired by Governor Tim Kaine of Virginia, the SREB Board chair. The report includes a message from SREB President Dave Spence and status reports on recent state actions on the issue.
Improved Middle Grades Schools for Improved High School Readiness:
Ten Best Practices in the Middle Grades
SREB compares 10 middle grades schools that made significant progress in improving reading, mathematics and science achievement with 10 middle grades schools that failed to make progress over a two-year period, in order to discern what actions resulted in the greater improvement. The report identifies the 10 best practices from the most-improved middle grades schools.
Challenge to Lead Goals for Education: Refreshed 2020
Challenge to Lead 2020 Goals for Education: Refreshed 2020 offers six critical goals. They were designed to help SREB state leaders connect measures of student achievement to essential state policies. Each goal includes background information and the steps states need to take to meet each goal in the years ahead.
MDC Is an Obsession for One North Carolina Teacher
Claudia Rodriguez sums up her excitement about the Mathematics Design Collaborative training with one word — obsessed. “I’m obsessed with the formative assessment lessons (FALs),” the North Asheboro Middle School mathematics teacher explains, referencing the formative assessment lessons she used during MDC training. “The FALs are really so rich in content — in math content and precision — that I love it!”
Principal is Key for Math Teachers’ Professional Development
The role of the administrator — attending professional development sessions with teachers and principals and participating in classroom observations and coaching visits — is critical to the successful implementation of the Mathematics Design Collaborative. To support teachers, leadership must understand math achievement gaps in students and the classroom process that teachers are taught to address the gaps.
Beginning With the End in Mind
Katrina Zimmerman is a science and technology teacher at Turrentine Middle School in Burlington, North Carolina. Zimmerman spearheads STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) at her school and is creating a whole new curriculum for it. She began using the Literacy Design Collaborative (LDC) strategies in February 2015, adding it as a curriculum tool for her classroom.
Keeping Middle Grades Students on the Path to Success in High School
This report, part of the Challenge to Lead education goals series, documents the stall of progress in middle grades reading and math achievement. It analyzes results on state assessments and the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) and indicates steps that will help states regain progress in achievement. It also lays out five specific strategies states can use to keep middle grades students on the path to success — from building a better- aligned sequence of math courses, to increasing professional development for middle grades teachers.
Get It in Writing
Making Adolescent Writing an Immediate Priority in Texas
A call to action for Texas middle grades and high schools to make writing instruction a priority. Writing is an essential tool for learning academic content in any discipline. Get It in Writing summarizes the status of writing instruction and learning, outlines challenges to progress and lists valuable resources, including “Elements of Effective Adolescent Writing Instruction.”
Technical Assistance Visit
The purpose of a technical assistance visit is to help school leaders and teachers take stock of where they are and where they want to go in school improvement. A technical assistance visit is not evaluative; rather, it represents efforts by the visiting team and the school to improve student learning
- Technical Assistance: A Guide for Local Sites
- HSTW Data Profile Packet
- CT Program Evaluation Tool
- Making Middle Grades Work Technical Assistance Guide for Site Coordinators
- Making Middle Grades Work Technical Assistance Visit Guide for Team Members
- MMGW Data Profile Packet
- Site Guidelines for a Making Middle Grades Work Technical Review Visit
- Establishing Benchmarks of Progress for Middle Grades Sites
- Technology Centers That Work Technical Assistance Guide
- CT Program Evaluation Tool
- TCTW Technical Assistance Data Profile Packet
- Read more
Cross-State Findings
State Implementation of College- and Career-Readiness Standards
SREB examined the efforts of 14 states to support implementation of new standards. The goal: Document steps states have taken, highlight exemplary efforts, provide feedback to states and foster cross-state dialogue to inform continuous improvement.
What successes, challenges and next steps did interviewees articulate? What recommendations does SREB draw from the study?
Smart Class-Size Policies for Lean Times
This policy brief summarizes class-size reduction policies across the region, reviews research on the issue, and offers recommendations on how states might make sensible adjustments without jeopardizing student achievement.