2. Introductory Remarks
0 This SlideShare is meant to be an online multimedia
tool for teachers to access, share and critique.
0 As a shareable and, after downloaded, malleable
resource, it can also be annexed, pared down or
changed in any way.
0 The author hopes that this project can serve as
professional development tool around the position
paper written by the National Middle School
Association entitled “This We Believe: Keys to
Education Young Adolescents.’
3. The Four Essential Attributes
0 The NMSA (2010, p. 13) describes four integral and
essential attributes for successful middle level
education.
0 A discussion of the expounded and more specific
characteristics cannot take place without at least a
cursory understanding of these fundamental
characteristics. Paraphrased definitions follow:
4. The Four Essential Attributes
0 Developmentally responsive: Everything about
middle level education is shaped in response to the
developmental idiosyncrasies of young adolescents.
0 This includes but is not limited to assessment,
instruction, curriculum, policy, organization, etc.
0 Challenging: High expectations and standards are
held for every member of the learning community.
0 This includes but is not limited to students, teachers,
parents, administrators, paraprofessionals, etc.
5. The Four Essential Attributes
0 Empowering: This refers to the transmission of tools
which can be self-applied and result in the cultivation
of qualitative change.
0 This includes but is not limited to self-responsibility,
addressing life challenges, social functioning, etc.
0 Equitable: Every single student needs to be
recognized as an individual with a particular set of
rights
0 This includes but is not limited to the right to learn, to
be challenged, to have relevant learning opportunities,
etc.
6. The Four Essential Attributes
0 The NMSA (2010, p. 13) state that these attributes are achieved
by the practice of sixteen more specific characteristics.
0 The main body of NMSA (2010) is dedicated to describing these
characteristics, their application and their implementation.
0 It is noteworthy that the NMSA describe these characteristics as
being distinctly “interdepentent” and therefore they need to be
“implemented in concert” (NMSA, 2010, p. 13).
0 Despite this, this SlideShare will show some exemplifications of
particular characteristics that are not implemented in concert.
This is purely for expediency as portraying a single characteristic
is easier than threading out a range of attributes from a single
source.
7.
8. Curriculum, Instruction and
Assessment
0 Value Young Adolescents
0 Educators value young adolescents and are
prepared to teach them.
0 Explanation: This characteristic aligns itself with the essential
attribute of being developmentally responsive. Once again, this
characteristic calls for middle grade teachers and administration to
work with and advocate young adolescents qua adolescence. That is,
education professionals understand the uniqueness of the age group
and teach to that uniqueness by way of curriculum, assessment and
instruction set to the dynamics of youth culture; the desires, needs,
interests of young adolescents; and the developmental idiosyncrasies of
the age group.
9. Value Young Adolescents:
Describe
0 The National Forum to Accelerate Middle Grades Reform
criteria is a prime example of a set of policy
recommendations which seek to value young adolescents.
0 “The criteria are used as the basis for self-study by middle
schools seeking to improve their practice and by all
potential applicants and schools designated as Schools to
Watch™. The National Forum to Accelerate Middle Grades
Reform lists ten criteria for distinguishing a
developmentally appropriate middle school.”
0 The criteria explicitly seeks out to address the
recommendations from NMSA (2010) which address
adolescent developmental needs.
10. Value Young Adolescents:
Analyze
0 The criteria calls for a “personalized environment” which
responds to developmental needs. It lists these needs in a holistic
fashion as intellectual, ethical, social and physical.
0 The criteria call for small groups of students and teachers that
are based on these various needs.
0 The criteria encourage students to work on problems
collaboratively with adults, to aspire to their career goals with
informed adults, to take on their own self –interests by way of
learning study and organization skills, to care for their own
health with the help of specific instruction from trained adults,
etc.
0 By remaining sensitive to the developmental needs of the young
adolescent, including respect for their opinion and autonomy,
these criteria set out to respect as well as support adolescents in
their move towards self-regulation and self-determination.
11. Value Young Adolescents:
Apply
0 I tend to take too much control in my classrooms and I believe this
may lead to many unnecessary and mutually pernicious power
struggles.
0 I think the essence of the criteria as expressing the NMSA
characteristic of valuing young adolescents is to respect self-
determination, to walk the line of treating students as independent
and intelligent youth. The trick is also teaching them the skills that
they need to function independently without patronizing them.
0 I think one of the ways I can apply these criteria in my own class
room is by having regular and structured one on one meetings with
my students in which I elicit their own personal goals, aspirations
and difficulties. In this, I will mimic the “small groups” which the
criteria calls for and get a better picture of the developmental needs
of each student while letting them know that I respect their input
and autonomy.
12. Curriculum, Instruction and
Assessment
0 Multiple Learning Approaches
0 Educators use multiple learning and teaching
approaches.
0 Explanation: This characteristic speaks to the need for middle level
educators to develop teaching strategies that are as varied as the
developmental characteristics of the young adolescents that they teach.
These teaching strategies take advantage of the idiosyncrasies of young
adolescents and therefore tend to use a variety of learning styles,
including physical effort, question making, and cultural expression.
Above all, these learning approaches express engagement and
interaction and critical attitudes which follow an ongoing discussion
and inquiry-session with the teacher (i.e. as opposed to traditional
listen and response). Likewise, inquiry and interaction take place
through collaboration and cooperation in group work and classroom
community development.
13. Multiple Learning
Approaches: Describe
0 Teaching Channel Video: Strategies for Group Work
documents the group work strategies of two partner
math teachers with different group work strategies.
0 Each teacher is shown teaching algebra to a group
with a variety of learning styles. The first teacher is
shown placing the class in various “gears” while the
second assigns very particular roles to each individual
within their groups.
14. Multiple Learning Approaches:
Analyze
0 The first teacher stresses classroom community development in
her expression of various group work styles as “gears”. When
students move from first gear to second, they stop their active
listening (i.e. listening as a continuous inquiry session) and
independent work, etc. These group work styles all require a
different set of skills but are differentiated enough to play on the
strengths of any given individual student.
0 The second teacher stresses individual roles within group work.
Each student represents a particular portion of a mathematical
process. In this manner, students focus on their individual steps
and literally synthesize these steps into a larger group to finish
the problem.
0 Each teacher uses multiple learning approaches that have
respect for student autonomy and differentiate so as to meet the
learning styles of a variety of preferences.
15. Multiple Learning Approaches:
Apply
0 I think the group work strategy of the first teacher is
something I will adopt in my classroom in its entirety. I
believe it is varied enough to respect the developmental
needs (i.e. autonomy, interaction, movement) of my
students but is controlled and structured enough to meet
their disability needs (i.e. Emotional Disturbance).
0 The classroom breaks into different “gears” at a regular
pace (every fifteen minutes) and allows students to work
in groups as the class wanes and students tend to become
more agitated. This seems especially apt for math which
comes directly before lunch.
16. Curriculum, Instruction and
Assessment
0 Varied Assessments
0 Varied and ongoing assessments advance learning
as well as measure it.
0 Explanation: This attribute speaks to the need for ongoing and
integrated assessments that either serve to advance learning itself or to
evaluate the learning process as a whole. These assessments are of
course developmentally appropriate in the sense that they evaluate
students as individuals and do not compare them to each other. The
ultimate goal of formative assessments is to create a self-assessment
(and therefore a self-regulation) dynamic in students. This leads to the
creation of personal goals, growth tracking, etc. In this way, students
discover qualities of themselves and the assessment procedure
facilitates identity formation.
17. Varied Assessments:
Describe
0 Professor Jon Mueller's "Authentic Assessment
Toolbox” is an excellent example of the varied
assessments that NMSA calls for.
0 The site lists a hypothetical set of middle school
assessments for a social science course.
0 It provides a set of concept maps and flowcharts to be
used as assessments, as well as a reflection sheet that
is meant to be assembled into a portfolio.
18. Varied Assessments: Analyze
0 The key expression of the NMSA characteristic here is
the use of a multitude of assessments.
0 Further, the portfolio style assessment allows
students to be assessed individually without
(necessarily) a quantitative component which
automatically relates one student to his/her
classmate.
0 Finally, the use of extensive “reflection” assessments
also provide the evaluative purpose that NMSA
distinguishes, that is, it provides feedback on the very
process of learning itself.
19. Varied Assessments: Apply
0 I believe my usage of assessments tends to give me skewed
and useless results. I tend to rely on informal assessments
instead because of this.
0 I think due to the population I work with (i.e. Emotional
Disturbance) my students grow accustomed to standard
tests and get bored with the pattern, then self-sabotage in
protest.
0 If instead I were to use varied assessments, especially
assessments that did not increase anxiety by way of their
comparative function, I think the experience of these
assessments would be different and would tell me more
about my students’ understanding as well as my own
teaching abilities.
20. Leadership and Organization
Characteristics
0 Shared Vision
0 A shared vision developed by all stakeholders
guides every decision.
0 Explanation: This characteristic details the relationship between a
vision and a mission statement. A vision is an “acute sense of the
possible” that draws from contemporary research and galvanizes
stakeholders towards a set of goals in harmony (NMSA, 2010, p. 27).
This vision is then transcribed into a mission statement in a
collaborative manner, taking into account the distinctive language,
input and needs of relevant stakeholders in it’s articulation. The
missions statement in its fully operational form is then used as a source
for decision making.
21. Shared Vision: Describe
0 The Blissfield Middle School Mission Statement is a
concise example of a shared vision that works in
parallel with a mission statement which can be
applied practically.
0 The Mission Statement is clearly described and
labeled on the Blissfield Middle School’s website. This
provides easy access and shows the centrality of the
mission statement to the working of the school.
0 The site lists the mission statement along with a
simple yet effective list of core values that it
expresses.
22. Shared Vision: Analyze
0 The Blissfield middle school mission statement is an
attainable vision, that is, it is within the realm of the
possible and therefore lends itself to practical
application.
0 The middle school mission statement reflects a vision
in its discussion of creating an environment which
expresses various values.
0 Most importantly, the mission statement takes a
concise, straightforward and simple form so that it is
easily introduced into the creation of practical
application.
23. Shared Vision: Apply
0 I think the role of a mission statement can be important
within the classroom environment. I think creating a
democratic and collaborative process with the students
would make them feel invested in it.
0 Further, if the NMSA method of creating a vision within the
realm of possibility is practiced, a significant amount of
discussions and imagination can be applied to the practice.
0 Finally, rendering the vision into a mission statement that
sets high expectations for all my students should be given a
central place in the classroom– perhaps above the
blackboard at the front and center of the room.
24. Leadership and Organization
Characteristics
0 Professional Development
0 Ongoing professional development reflects best
educational practices.
0 Explanation: This characteristic speaks to the necessity of educators
to be constantly developing, that is, to practice being reflective
practitioners. Effective middle grade teachers and administrators are
trained in the praxis (i.e. theory and practice) of teaching relative to
their distinct needs as a learning community. The gist of this attribute
stresses the need for professionals to be constantly reviewing and
revising their practices based on areas of need and to draw from a
series of best practices as developed by their peers, appropriate
research and district relevant trainers.
25. Professional Development:
Describe
0 The District 75 Professional Development
Management System is an example of the type of
ongoing professional development system that NMSA
calls for in the respective characteristic.
0 The site details the logistics , subject matter, and titles
along with contact and registration information
regarding the various professional developments
available for District 75 teachers.
26. Professional Development:
Analyze
0 The District 75 Professional Development page is an
excellent rendition of the NMSA characteristics regarding
professional development primarily because it specifically
meets the needs of teachers who work with students of the
most profound disabilities.
0 District 75 professional developments have very specific
content and teachers who are train with only the best
practices regarding students with disabilities.
0 Further, they reflect the changing needs of these teachers
and are constantly changing to meet both the demands of
special education policy, the needs of teachers and
developments in technology.
27. Professional Development:
Apply
0 I have had nothing but good experiences with District 75
professional developments. Indeed, I was surprised at how
rigorous the workshops were. I need to identify my needs
at the beginning of the year and sign up for the
corresponding professional developments early.
0 I think professional development is something that can be
done outside of these formal workshops. I would like to
engage in informal professional developments such as
internet forum threads for teachers and participation in
the NYC Teaching Fellows forum.
28. Leadership and Organization
Characteristics
0 Organizational Structures
0 Organizational structures foster purposeful learning
and meaningful relationships.
0 Explanation: This attribute discusses the need for teams of two or
more teachers working across disciplines to work with students in
learning groups. This is one of the most specific attributes that the
NMSA (2010) describes which can be translated directly into a learning
style. They detail small teams of two that complement each other in an
organic manner, take regular planning time and address the needs of
students.
29. Organizational Structures:
Describe
0 This video of co-teaching meets the demands of the
specific learning style that NMSA sets forth in their
Organizational Structure characteristic.
0 The video shows live footage of two teachers who
work as a team of co-partners in a middle school ELA
class crossed with a social science class.
30. Organizational Structures:
Analyze
0 The video series clearly shows a small team of two
teachers working in concert to provide an interdisciplinary
lesson.
0 The use of readings comprehension skills complements the
social science teacher’s focus on the meaning of the
constitutional terminology.
0 The reflection portion of the video shows the time set aside
for planning sessions and the unique process that the
teachers use. One, creating a baseline lesson plan and the
other adding a variety of ELA activities and interpretation.
This intense cooperative teaching surely meets the NMSA’s
organizational demands.
31. Organizational Structures:
Apply
0 I have the opportunity to work with a paraprofessional in
my school, however, I rarely feel confident enough to create
situations where we both teach (i.e. to the extent to which
we are trained). I think that with ample planning, including
the thoughtful discussions of student needs that are
exemplified in this video, I can develop a system of
coteaching that works. I might begin with a health class to
experiment with the strategy.
0 Modeling from the video, both of us can take time to
discuss what we feel comfortable lecturing about. Then we
can brainstorm on various activities that would meet our
needs best.
32. Culture and Community
Characteristics
0 Adult Advocate
0 Every student’s academic and personal development
is guided by an adult advocate.
0 Explanation: This characteristic calls for pointed advocacy on the part
of adults within the learning community which assume responsibility
for each student as an individual. This responsibility is shaped towards
the individual student’s needs as a young adolescent and takes on
developmental contours. This advisory is different from counseling and
takes one of two central aspects: listening and advising. Listening is
necessary to provide an outlet for students in their normal and
expected developmental “ups and downs” (NMSA, 2010, p. 35).
Advising consists of the process of teaching values and skills that meet
the needs of the individual student in their period of “storm and stress”.
33. Adult Advocate: Describe
0 The Idaho State Department of Education’sleadership
policies are an explicit attempt to align an advocacy
system with the NMSA adult advocate characteristic.
0 The policies require all adults to work together for the
advisory program to work.
0 The site lists the various organizational components
of successful advisory programs.
34. Adult Advocate: Analyze
0 The advisory programs detailed by the Idaho DoE are
explicitly designed to meet the standards of NMSA
(2010). It calls for all teachers to serve as advisors and
form meetings with students in groups of 10-18.
0 These teachers are responsible for these students and
the development. Teachers meet for 20-30 minutes
daily, at the least two to three times a week.
0 The purpose is to have a personal adult advocate “to
help him or her personalize the educational
experience.”
35. Adult Advocate: Apply
0 The Idaho DoE website cites research that shows that
advisory programs reduce failing grades, dropouts, and
student- teacher relations improve.
0 This data shows the benefits of advisory and advocacy. I
think they would be particular welcome in the population
of students that I work with, who tend not to have any
adult advocates at home.
0 I think setting aside a certain amount of time every day to
just talk to students and discuss how their scholastic
activities and personal life is going might help to create the
self-awareness, interpersonal skills and decision making
abilities that are necessary to implement during the young
adolescent stage.
36. Culture and Community
Characteristics
0 Health & Wellness
0 Health and wellness are supported in curricula,
school-wide programs, and related policies.
0 Explanation: Health & Wellness are absolutely critical to the middle
level education process as the physical and mental self-regulation of
students becomes increasingly interconnected, turbulent and takes on
new qualities. The risk of drugs, alcohol, smoking, eating habits and
sexual activity take on a new meaning for young adolescents as their
exposure to vice and their developmental changes open them up to
vulnerability. This characteristic demands that adults model good
habits and take on community-wide initiatives that identity risk and
promote positive behaviors.
37. Health & Wellness: Describe
0 Project Adventure’s Creating Healthy Habits program
is a particular method of teaching health which can be
utilized by teachers in their own schools.
0 The program works in conjunction with schools and
teachers and the site shows all the information
relevant to starting these interactions (i.e. workshops,
scheduled talks, etc.).
38. Health & Wellness: Analyze
0 Project adventure sets forth to implement a whole host of
activities and programs that are aligned with state and federal
standards and can be “used in conjunction with approved school
Health and Wellness curricula”.
0 The focus here is not only on nutrition, but also cultural
awareness, substance abuse prevention and anxiety
management, all knowledge sets that are necessary to implement
in the young adolescent phase and therefore are developmentally
appropriate.
0 The “Creating Healthy Habits Adventure Kit” sets out to cultivate
a broad conception of health by way of using physical activities in
a “scavenger hunt” fashion. This is appealing to adolescents and
plays into their daily necessity of movement as well as
establishing a cognitive basis for health studies.
39. Health & Wellness: Apply
0 Project Adventure has activities that meet the NMSA
guidelines for health and wellness that are directly useable
in my classroom.
0 Teaching to a broad definition of health and wellness is
critical for students in the socio economic bracket that I
teach (i.e. low income), especially so during the adolescent
phase. One of Project Adventure's “Adventure Activity
Guides” seem particulary appealing.
0 I think my students would enjoy the “student fitness
journal”, allowing them to become self-regulating and self-
aware in terms of their health habits.
40. Culture and Community
Characteristics
0 Family Involvement
0 The school actively involves families in the
education of their children.
0 Explanation: This characteristic calls for the aggressive outreach of
teachers and school staff towards the parents of students and the
incorporation of them in the education process and learning
community. This demands the creation of teacher-parent meetings,
“development” programs akin to “professional developments” for
teachers, and parallel home-school curricula and behavior
implementation plans. As with students, teacher and staff disposition
towards parents should include high expectations, frequent evaluation
(informal or course) and solicitation of input.
41. Family Involvement: Describe
0 P369k (i.e. the D75 middle school that I teach in) has
an interesting program relating to the idea of family
involvement.
0 In addition to Parent-Teacher conferences, parents are
called in every single month for a “Town Hall”
meeting.
0 These meetings are not PTA meetings (of which the
vast majority of parents do not go). They are simply
large meetings in which parents come to ask
questions, air grievances and listen to various
announcements from administration.
42. Family Involvement: Analyze
0 I think this practice addresses NMSA standards
regarding family involvement because it constitutes
an aggressive outreach to parents.
0 Further, it pulls them into the learning community by
keeping them informed on the happenings of the
school and its changing curriculum.
0 Finally, it provides a method of informally assessing
parents in their availability and capacity for support
while holding them to high expectations.
43. Family Involvement: Apply
0 I wish to practice family involvement to a higher
degree. I think this is an area which I lack in.
0 I think I can take the P369k model as an example and
interact with all parents every month with a
newsletter. This newsletter can not only inform
parents on what is happening in our class, but it can
also provide a variety of examples and modeled
methods of interaction between them and their
children.
44. References
0 National Middle School Association (NMSA). (2010).
This We Believe: Keys to Educating Young
Adolescents. USA: Professional Publications.
