Middle schoolers need longer school days, specially trained teachers and more challenging academics if schools officials hope to reverse a decades-long trend of sagging achievement rates, according to a report presented yesterday to the State Board of Education.
The report included 16 recommendations from a panel of teachers, administrators and psychologists. State schools Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick convened the committee two years ago to look for ways to improve education in grades six through eight.
The panel's co-chairman, Gerald Scarborough, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction for Harford County public schools, said middle school students need stronger math, foreign language and reading and writing skills.
"We have higher expectations," Scarborough said after the board's meeting. "With No Child Left Behind, our middle school and high school assessments, the stakes are higher now."
Students need not only more instruction in these areas, they need longer school days - possibly through before- and after-school programs - to get more time and practice with the material, the committee's leaders said. The committee also said students should complete algebra by the end of eighth grade and be enrolled in a foreign language course by sixth grade.
The committee's report, "The Critical Middle: A Reason for Hope," details 16 recommendations and dozens of strategies, including:
* Integrate math, science and technology instruction that is focused on problem-solving and "real-world application."
* Expose all students to fine-arts classes, such as dance, music, theater and visual arts.
*Provide "accelerated and enriched instructional pathways" for gifted and talented students.
*Train teachers to deal with middle school students' particular developmental and cognitive needs.
Scarborough said communities, including employers, are demanding better-prepared high school graduates, and preparation at the middle-school level is crucial.
"I think school systems are going to take a long look, and a hard look, at these recommendations," he said.
The committee's recommendations are advisory, meaning that school systems won't be required to adopt them.
But Grasmick said state educators would expect to see evidence of the suggestions in the master plans that districts are required to submit annually.
