An Overview of Middle School Instruction

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An Overview ofMiddle School Instruction

• Presented by
• The Division of Instruction
• February 19, 2008

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Every day, twenty million diverse, rapidly
changing 10 to 15 year olds,
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enrolled in our nations middle level schools
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are making critical and complex life choices.
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They are forming the attitudes,
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values,
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and habits of mind
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that will largely direct their behavior as adults.
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They deserve schools that support them fully
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during this phase of their lives.
Taken from Executive Summary of This We Believe
position paper, NMSA
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Middle Schools
Theodore G. Davis
Matthew Henson
John Hanson
Mattawoman
Piccowaxen
General Smallwood
Milton M. Somers
Benjamin Stoddert
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Current Research

• The recognition of middle schools as a key bridge
  in the continuum of schooling has focused
  research and practice efforts on the middle
  grades.
• Research has identified early adolescence as the
  time when student drift, alienation, and
  underachievement in school often begin.
• Functional MRIs of the brain have shown that
  young adolescents go through tremendous brain
  growth and development not previously known.

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Nationally

• A March 2007 New York Times story tells of
  educators across the nation who are Trying to
  Find Solutions in Chaotic Middle Schools. The
  story describes the documented slumps in middle
  grades performance revealed by the National
  Assessment of Educational Progress in classrooms
  across the United States. Schools leaders, the
  story says, are puzzling over the right grade
  configurations for schools serving adolescents
  or the right mix of academics and student support
  programs for youth just entering their teens.

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National Middle School Association
Nationally
            This We Believe Successful Schools
for Young Adolescents is the landmark
position paper from National Middle School
Association in which the association's vision for
a successful school for 10- to 15-year-olds is
delineated in 14 characteristics. The most
profound and enduring lesson learned in 30 years
of active middle school advocacy is that the
characteristics are interdependent and must be
implemented in concert. Research and cumulative,
empirical evidence have confirmed that these
characteristics when present over time lead to
higher levels of student achievement and overall
development.
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Statewide

• Middle School Steering Committee
• Recommendations from highest performing middle
  schools
• Recommendations of best practices and must
  practices
• Voluntary State Curriculum
• www.mdk12.org clarifications, lesson seeds,
  toolkit

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Locally

• The vision of Charles County Public Schools is to
  create the best environment where all students
  experience academic success, develop personal
  responsibility and achieve career readiness for
  the 21st century.

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Physical Development

• During early adolescence, the body undergoes more
  development than any other time, except the first
  two years of life.
• Growth
• Changes in skeletal and muscular systems
• Fluctuations in metabolism
• Physically vulnerable
• Other

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Intellectual Development
Progress from concrete, logical operations
and problem solving
the ability to
develop and test hypotheses
think reflectively
analyze and synthesize data
argue a position
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What does instruction in middle school look like?

• interest
• active learning
• interactions with peers
• prior experiences and background knowledge
• hands-on learning, simulations, and service
  learning
• higher-order thinking skills and reasoning

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Shaping our middle schools

• Daily Schedule Adjustments
• Four-period day
• Double Language Arts Period
• Double Math Period
• Extended Learning Opportunities
• Expansion of World Languages
• Gifted Identification
• Exploration of AVID Program (Advancement Via
  Individual Determination)
• Exploration of the Middle Years Program of IB
  (International Baccalaureate)
• Personal Responsibility Programs (PBIS)

Hanson, PBIS Initiative
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Open Lines of Communication

• Monthly Instructional Principals Meetings with
  ILT (INS)
• Monthly Middle School Instructional Team Meetings
  (MIT)
• Instructional Leadership Teams (ILT)
• Instructional Specialist
• Reading Resource Teacher
• Gifted Resource Teacher

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Building a strong foundation

• Core Academics
• Language Arts/
• Reading
• Math
• Social Studies
• Science

• Related Arts
• Physical Education
• Physical Education
• Health
• World Languages
• Family and Consumer
• Sciences
• Computers
• Gateway to Technology
• Pre-Engineering
• Technology Education

• Fine Arts
• Music
• Band
• Orchestra
• Chorus
• Art

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Instruction in Charles County
Instruction
Special Needs Programs
Instructional Programs
Program Support
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Instructional Programs
Reading
Related Arts
Social Studies
Math
Science
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Instructional Programs

• Language Arts/Reading

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Instructional Programs
Reading
Related Arts
Social Studies
Math
Science
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Instructional Programs

• Math

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Instructional Programs
Reading
Related Arts
Social Studies
Math
Science
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Instructional Programs

• Science
• 6th grade Earth Space Science
• 7th grade Life Science
• 8th grade Physical Science
• STEM Initiatives
• Go Places partnership with NSWC CSM
• Physics First
• Steps Academy

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Instructional Programs
Reading
Related Arts
Social Studies
Math
Science
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Instructional Programs

• Social Studies
• 6th Grade World History
• 7th Grade Contemporary World Studies
• 8th Grade American History
• Emphasis on
• Vocabulary development
• Experiential Learning
• Enrichment Lessons/Backmapping

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Instructional Programs
Reading
Related Arts
Social Studies
Math
Science
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Instructional Programs

• Related Arts

Fit for Life
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Instruction in Charles County
Instruction
Special Needs Programs
Instructional Programs
Program Support
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Program Support
Career Technology Education
Staff Development
Instructional Technology
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Program Support
Spencer Kagan Brain-Friendly Learning
Language Essential for Teachers of Reading
Spelling
New Teacher Orientation
Staff Development County- Wide, Evening Sessions
Dr. Thomas Math Staff Development
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Program Support
Career Technology Education
Staff Development
Instructional Technology
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Program Support
Vital Source Laptop Project
Video Field Trips
CPS Student Response Pads
www.ccboe.com/library
Digital Library Resources
LCD Cart Technology
Google Earth
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Program Support
Career Technology Education
Staff Development
Instructional Technology
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Program Support

• Career and Technology

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Program Support
Career Technology Education
Staff Development
Instructional Technology
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Instruction in Charles County
Instruction
Special Needs Programs
Instructional Programs
Program Support
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Special Needs Programs
Interventions
Inclusion Models
Progress Monitoring
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Special Needs Programs

• Interventions

Language!
Wilson Reading Academy
Moving with Math
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Special Needs Programs
Interventions
Inclusion Models
Progress Monitoring
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Special Needs Programs

• Progress Monitoring

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Special Needs Programs
Interventions
Inclusion Models
Progress Monitoring
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Special Needs Programs

• Inclusion Models

General Educator Special Educator
General Educator with consult from Special
educator
General Educator or Dually certified Special
Educator Instructional Assistant
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Special Needs Programs
Interventions
Inclusion Models
Progress Monitoring
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Extended Learning Opportunities

• After School
• Before School
• During School
• Saturday School
• Summer Academy

Summer Academy 2007
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Extra Curricular Opportunities

• Math Counts
• Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement
  (MESA)
• Future Educators of America (FEA)
• National Junior Honor Society (NJHS)
• Student Government
• Destination Imagination (DI)
• Black Saga
• Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD)
• Chess Club
• Newspaper
• Book Study Groups

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• We live in an age when to be young and to be
  indifferent can be no longer synonymous. We must
  prepare for the coming hour. The claims of the
  Future are represented by suffering millions and
  the Youth of a Nation are the
• trustees of Posterity.
•   
• Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881) British politician
  and author.