The Terry Sanford Institute of Public Policy at Duke University conducted research examining the effects of placing 6th graders in middle school. The excerpt shown below is pulled verbatim from their research abstract. The full contents of the research paper can be found at:
http://sanford.duke.edu/research/papers/SAN07-01.pdf
ABSTRACT
Using administrative data on public school students in North Carolina, we find that sixth grade students attending middle schools are much more likely to be cited for discipline problems than those attending elementary school. That difference remains after adjusting for the socioeconomic and demographic characteristics of the students and their schools. Furthermore, the higher infraction rates recorded by sixth graders who are placed in middle school persist at least through ninth grade. An analysis of end-of-grade test scores provides complementary findings. A plausible explanation is that sixth graders are at an especially impressionable age; in middle school, the exposure to older peers and the relative freedom from supervision have deleterious consequences. These findings are relevant to the current debate over the best school configuration for incorporating the middle grades. Based on our results we suggest that there is a strong argument for separating sixth graders from older adolescents.
I do understand the concerns of parents about the 5th grade moving to NAMS. I will have a daughter in 5th Grade next year, and would rather she went to NAMS than faced the Overcrowding NAES that is already an issue. Below are some figures from the 2009-10 School report Card for NAES; available at the office or online.
ReplyDeleteElementary Class Size NAES STATE
Fewer than 20 Students 0% 17.6%
20-25 Students 0% 46.3%
25-30 Students 33.3% 30.2%
More Than 30 students 66.7% 5.8%
So, compared to the rest of the state, it would seam we are already packing the kids in like sardines. I can only "Imagine" that the situation will worsen with the closure and consolidation of Fir Grove and Fairmount.
Yes, Oak Grove has a similarly bleak school report card in regard to class size. Next year, class sizes will be even bigger because the district is proposing to cut more teachers. However, that doesn't stop after elementary school. The middle school class sizes are also large.
ReplyDeleteDo you have children older than 5th grade as well? I have a daughter in 6th grade at NAMS this year. She has adjusted well to middle school and enjoys it overall. However, she is also exposed to new "vocabulary" words and conversations that mostly eluded her in grade school. She seems much more "grown up" in many ways -- something that is inevitable, but I don't want my 3rd grader to experience sooner than she must. Most troubling to me is that my 6th grader frequently says to my 3rd grader, "The teachers tell you that middle school is hard, but don't believe them. I have much less homework now than I did at Oak Grove, and everything is easy." At Oak Grove, she was able to pace herself in math, but not at NAMS. Her spelling/vocabulary words are similar to the lists she studied in 3rd grade. I think NAMS has its strengths, but I am not eager to push my children there any earlier than they need to go.