Teaming Up for Student Success in Today

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Teaming Up for Student Success in Todays Middle
Schools

• Teresa T. BagwellUniversity of Louisiana at
  Lafayettettb8484_at_louisiana.edu

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Evolution of Middle School
Divide Elementary and Secondary Education 6-6
vs. 6-3-3 (historical events and societal
implications) Persistent conditions- Inadequate
ly prepared teachers Teaching methodology
centered on class lecture Tracking of
students Lack of opportunity to explore
vocations Schools were incompatible with
developmental changes in children, tended to
focus on promoting subject matter. (RAND
Corporation) Desegregation orders quickly
shifted large numbers of students from one
building to another.
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Middle School Concept

• Recognized the unique needs of students
• Merges student focus (elementary) with subject
  matter (secondary)
• Represents a pedagogical shift in educating early
  adolescents

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Middle School Research

• Turning Points-Carnegie Council on Adolescent
  Development (1989 2000) reported ways to bridge
  the gap between student needs and practiced
  curriculum
• Small learning communities
• Core academic program for all students
• Empowerment to make site-based decisions
• Teacher preparation specifically for early
  adolescents
• Connecting schools and communities
• National Middle Schools Association has conducted
  extensive research on the implementation and
  outcomes of the middle school concept.
• National Assessment of Educational Progress
  (1971-2004) reported an overall decline in
  achievement scores among middle school students.

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Components of Interdisciplinary Teaming

• Logistical Elements
• Size, location, content
• Collaboration
• Continuous and structured
• As teachers work together
• Shared Decision Making
• Scheduling of students
• Input into school-based decisions
• Common Planning Time
• Scheduled daily for preparation, examine
  student-related issues and integrate classroom
  practices
• Shown to increase effectiveness (MacIver, 1999)
  and student achievement (Flowers, 1999).

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Documented Outcomes of Teaming

• Students
• Self-esteem
• Student Achievement
• Mitigating negative effects of economic
  conditions
• Developing student-teacher relationships

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Documented Outcomes-continued

• Teachers
• Decreased isolation
• Increased parent communication
• Mitigating certification discrepancies
• Schools and Staffing Survey (2000) reported 19
  of 7th and 8th grade English teacher and 23 of
  math teachers did NOT hold either a bachelors
  degree with a major OR a teaching certificate in
  the field in which they teach.
• While 46 states offer middle school
  certification, in 18 states it is an endorsement
  (NMSA, 2007).

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Can interdisciplinary teaming positively impact
student achievement?

• Conflicting results, may be difficult to isolate
  the impact (Felner Jackson, 1997)
• Marzano (2001)-20 of achievement variation
  results from the school setting, 13 from the
  teacher
• Mid-South Start Initiative (2003)-economic
  conditions were most predictive of student
  achievement
• No Child Left Behind (2001)-method of defining
  and measuring student achievement

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A longitudinal study (1996-2004) conducted in
Philadelphia middle schools revealed the impact
of predictor variables on high school dropout
rates.

• 5 Warning Flags that a student in 6th grade may
  not graduate from high school
• Failing math (54 less likely)
• Failing English (42 less likely)
• Attendance rate below 80 (68 less likely)
• Being suspended
• An unsatisfactory behavior rating (56 less
  likely)
• Problems experienced in 6th grade do not
  self-correct as students
• mature and adapt to the middle school setting.
• Balfanz, Herzog, MacIver, 2007

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Contact information-Teresa Bagwellttb8484_at_louis
iana.edu tbagwell_at_stmary.k12.la.us