Middle school often looks like “high school lite,” with early start times, busy classes, and frenetic passing periods. Advocates of middle school reforms say now is the perfect time to rethink the way middle school is structured.
In fact, the Community Lab School has been tasked with testing new approaches to middle school education which its district could scale to its five comprehensive middle schools. The school is also being studied by researchers at MIT and the University of Virginia as a possible way to better align middle school with adolescent development.
Scientists have recently learned that rapid and significant brain development occurs in early adolescence, which is typically ages 11 and 14. At this time, important brain connections form. Scientists also call middle school years “a sensitive period” for social and emotional learning because the brain learns a lot from social cues.
The trouble is, not many middle schools are following the researchers’ recommendations. Advocates of middle school reforms say now is the perfect time to rethink the way middle school is structured. The pandemic has sparked a focus on students’ mental and emotional health needs. Remote learning has shown us that there’s more than one way to “do school”. And it’s become apparent that this traditional way of learning doesn’t work – and hasn’t been working – for many kids.
Look, I’m no education expert. I’m just a mom of two kids who have been or currently are in middle school. But there’s no doubt that middle school is a powerful and critical time in our kids’ lives. If there are ways we can keep learning joyful and engaging for our kids, while harnessing the potential of all that brain development going on, I’m here for it.
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