Middle schools focus of state panel review Group to assess gains made since 1988

A new group created by the Maine Department of Education will study the state’s middle schools and report back to the commissioner next year.

The Maine Commission on Middle Level Education will review curriculum and assessment measures; analyze data on high performing schools; and address issues including the Learning Results and Gov. Angus King’s laptop initiative.

The 25-member commission, which includes teachers, principals, students and parents, will determine how far the state has progressed on the recommendations issued in 1988 by the Middle Level Task Force.

Those suggestions included having the Department of Education, local school districts, colleges and professional associations each take steps to promote good schools for young adolescents. School districts were supposed to provide ongoing professional development for middle level teachers, while colleges would offer strong middle school level preparation programs.

The new group will go well beyond what’s already been done, commission co-chair Edward Brazee, a University of Maine education professor, said this week.

“So many things have changed during the intervening years,” he said. “There’s been a tremendous amount of research that’s come out about what middle level schools should be. It literally is a whole new world. So it’s time to revisit where we are and see what we’ve accomplished and where we need to go.”

Also chairing the new group is Mary Callan of Maranacook Middle School.

More work needs to be done on integrating middle level curriculum, Brazee said. Instead of having a series of separate subjects, students should be asked to focus on a theme and to look at “big picture” issues that concern young adolescents, he said. For example, the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks could be used to launch discussions about why people don’t get along, Brazee said.

“That’s how young adolescents learn best – they’re trying to make sense out of the world, but they’re not at a point where they can begin to make connections” between individual subjects, he said.

Another priority for the commission will be to create more connections between middle and high schools. That way they can work together so students have a smoother transition, Brazee said.

The commission’s work will involve a parallel initiative taken on by the Commission for Ethical and Responsible Student Behavior. That group was charged by the Department of Education to come up with standards for conduct that mesh with the Learning Results.

Young adolescents have a keen interest in what they can do to make the world a better place, Brazee said.