WORKING TOGETHER
Harnassing Community Resources
to Improve Middle Schools

• Excellent teaching, challenging subject matter, and positive attitudes on the part of school staff help young adolescents set high standards for themselves and strive for excellence.
  
  
• Young people at this age are defining who they are and how they see themselves in relation to the world. As they pull away from more familiar surroundings (including their families), they need strong, appealing role models and activities to channel their interests.
  
  
• Students need solid preparation for the demands of high school. Those who arrive in high school without that preparation find their prospects for work or education severely compromised.
  
  
• In many communities, middle schools have been virtually ignored. Test scores show that, nationally, children tend to do measurably less well in the middle grades than they did in elementary school.
  
  
• Inequities between high-achieving and low-achieving children can deepen during these years, with lifelong consequences for those left behind.
  
  
• Because they typically spend time each day with several teachers, middle school students are not as well known by any one teacher as they were in elementary school. This creates special challenges for parents and schools as they seek to monitor each student's progress.
  
  
• As young people assume more responsibility for completing their assignments and negotiating school-related problems, parents can lose touch with day-to-day school matters. Many parents are hungry for feedback about how their children are doing but don't know how to get information.