Looking For Change -- In All The RIGHT Places...
According to an article written by the Office of Program Policy Analysis & Government Accountability (OPPAGA) – an office of the Florida Legislature – the shift toward separating out middle grades was intended to focus on the unique characteristics and needs of early adolescents and better prepare them for secondary education.
Consequently, in a national study statistical trending in mathematics and science found that 4th graders performed at or above the international average [This was quite surprising to learn – and definitely something our Elementary schools should share with the children to give them a true perspective of their achievements and potential!! – It’s a fact]. These same scores fell at or below the international levels by the 8th grade [How sad is it that we have readily and consistently shared this information with our students either directly --indirectly]. These compelling trends led to the 2004 passage of the Middle Grades Reform Act (Laws of Florida) in an effort to revise the middle grade curriculum and improve learning mandated the reassessment of reading and language arts for all schools that had less than 75% of the student population reading at or above grade level. The Commissioner of Education along with the State Board of Education developed and adopted rules that would require the implementation of a rigorous curriculum aimed at promoting scholastic achievement and test proficiency for grades 6th – 8th. Ergo, the cause for the reconstitution of the K-8 Model was born.
As we have discussed in this series -- there is research available that substantiates that middle grade students within a K-8 structure tend to outperform students in junior high schools.
So, what does Plainfield hope to gain by implementing this model?
Six school districts serving (Baltimore, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Milwaukee, Oklahoma City and Philadelphia) cited the following reasons for reconfiguration of the current middle school model:
- 100% - Poor student performance
- 67% - Parental dissatisfaction with middle schools
- 50% - Too large classroom sizes
- 33% - High absenteeism/dropout rate and/or suspension rates
This list should be very familiar to the parents in Plainfield. Over the last 2 ½ years of my involvement with PEP all of these have been cited repeatedly as concerns for our school district. It stands to reason then just why PPS has not only considered implementing K-8 school modeling but will move forward with a “test” run in September 2008 at Cedarbrook and Cook Elementary schools.
Besides meeting and improving on the challenges identified, it is hoped that this continuity will provide greater stability during particularly challenging times for adolescent’s self-awareness and self-discovery, and further that the close knit-ness derivative often associated with K-8 models will help improved student behavior and thus student performance.
The information, facts and figures for this article were obtained from “K-8 Schools May Help School Districts Improve Student Performance” A full copy of this article can be found at: http://www.oppaga.state.fl.us/reports/pdf/0502rpt.pdf
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