Published: July 06, 2008 12:04 am      

Report offers recommendations to accelerate learning

A new state middle school report offers a variety of recommendations to improve academic performance in grades six through eight.

The report, The Critical Middle: A Reason for Hope, contains 16 recommendations that local school systems in Maryland may opt to implement. The recommendations in the state report will serve to focus the Allegany County Middle School Task Force, which should be organized by August, according to Janet Wilson, assistant superintendent for instruction for the Allegany County Board of Education.

“The MSDE (Maryland State Department of Education) report contains recommendations that are meant to be considerations for all districts in Maryland who are engaged in examining and evaluating middle school programs as Allegany County public school system is doing,” said Wilson. “No one report will make recommendations that serve to meet the needs of all districts in Maryland. We must pick and choose what we believe will be worth evaluating for implementing for our students.”

“Recently both Washington and Frederick counties have engaged in task force efforts designed to thoroughly evaluate their middle schools,” said Wilson. “The MSDE report will, no doubt, cause similar actions in other districts.”

In 2006, State Superintendent of Schools Nancy Grasmick established the Middle School Steering Committee to accelerate learning during the middle school years, a time when progress tends to slow across the board in Maryland, a pattern found across the nation, according to MSDE.

“Too many eighth-graders are leaving middle school without the knowledge and skills they need to do high school-level work,” according to the report.

“Our middle schools can be a launching pad for higher-level learning, and this report offers school systems a variety of ideas to make that happen,” said Grasmick. “We are committed to helping students maintain and accelerate their educational progress throughout the middle years.”

The report includes the following recommendations:

• Extend the middle school days or year as dictated by the needs of the learner.

• Prepare students to complete algebra by the end of the eighth grade.

• Provide students with integrated math, science and technology instruction with a focus on problem-solving and real-world applications.

• Enroll every student in a sequential world language course by the sixth grade.

• Stress the reading, writing and thinking skills in each discipline.

• Provide all students with fine arts instruction that develops their literacy in music, dance, theater and visual arts.

• Teach information literacy and use technology in all subjects.

• Teach those skills that in addition to content mastery are essential for school success.

• Provide accelerated and enriched instructional pathways for advanced learners.

• Ensure that teachers are prepared to work specifically with the middle- level learners.

• Provide all middle school teachers with high-quality professional development.

• Establish a leadership team in every middle school led by a principal who is an instructional leader.

• Regularly assess student learning to guide instruction and organizational decisions.

• Emphasize students’ mastery of essential skills.

• Partner with students and parents, using student data to guide educational decisions.

• Develop flexible schedules that provide adequate time for students to master concepts and skills and for teachers to collaborate.

The state committee is co-chaired by Gerald Scarborough, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction in the Harford County public schools; Ilene Swirnow, director of elementary and middle school initiatives in MSDE’s Division of Leadership Development; and Mary Gable, director of instructional programs in MSDE’s Division of Instruction.

To read the full report, log onto www.marylandpublicschools.org.

Contact Jennifer Raley at jraley@times-news.com.