Middle school teachers are usually thought of in the teaching profession as having a unique quality that allows them to put up with -- sometimes even enjoy -- the students who are turning from sweet children to awkward teenagers.
But until yesterday no university or college had focused its undergraduate education majors on that period of life when kids need to learn a lot -- from how to write a paper to algebra -- and also get through those wacky, difficult years.
Villa Julie College announced yesterday that, beginning this fall, it will offer Maryland's first teacher preparation program designed for the middle grades.
Although Villa Julie's program might produce only a small number of graduates, it is seen as the beginning of a shift in teacher education and the first step in improving teaching in the middle schools, where students show the greatest dip in achievement.
Statewide, a third of all middle schools failed to meet federal and state standards for more than two years in a row. And more middle schools have a history of failure than elementary or high schools.
In part, state officials believe, the lagging achievement is a result of poor teacher preparation.
"We have our lowest performance in the middle school," said state schools chief Nancy S. Grasmick. "I don't think anyone can see us making progress until we really get the teacher piece straightened out."
Prompted by a change in the Maryland State Department of Education's teacher certification requirements, Villa Julie has moved to create a program for its undergraduates that will give them the choice of two tracks -- math and science or language arts and social studies.
Graduates will be certified to teach grades four through nine, giving them some flexibility to teach at the elementary or high school level.
Previously, education majors would be certified to teach elementary and middle or seventh through 12th grade. That meant that neither certification spent much time on grades six through eight.
Those with elementary and middle school certification learned the basics of teaching young children, while high school teachers concentrated on the content of whatever subject they wanted to teach.
But middle school teachers need to be well-versed in content and expert at understanding the development of students whose minds and bodies are going through profound changes. It is this period when students go from being concrete thinkers to abstract thinkers, from children to teenagers.
