E U R O P E A N
L E A G U E
F O R
Three Ways to Promote Student
Empowerment and Ownership at the
Middle Level
By
Melissa Baker, PhD – University Liaison,
Fulmer Middle School
Megan Carrero – Principal,
Fulmer Middle School
Middle school administrators and teachers
often wonder what structures can be put in
place to promote student empowerment and
ownership of their learning. One middle
school principal and their University liaison
share three practical ways they are working
together to embed this in their school culture.
Establish an Advisory Program
Middle school students are developing in
many ways and need the support of all adults
in their schools to help guide them through
young adolescence. One way this can be
done is to establish an advisory program that
consists of a small group of students and an
adult at the middle school who meet regularly
“for the primary purpose of helping students
develop trusting relationships with an adult
and close social bonds with a small group of
classmates” (Brown & Knowles, 2014). When
forming advisory programs at the middle level,
school personnel should create opportunities
that build on a sense of choice because
“people learn best when they perceive a
sense of control, and have choice and
ownership in their learning
experiences” (Stanchfield, 2014).
Building relational capacity is the top priority
of our middle school’s Advisory program,
where each student has an adult advocate
that shares their same interests. All adults in
M I D D L E
L E V E L
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our school, including all teachers,
administrators, guidance counselors, the
school nurse, and paraprofessionals, propose
an idea for a group that is an area of
expertise, hobby, or passion in or out of
school. Students are tasked with choosing
from over fifty groups that may be of interest
to them that link them to adults in our school
that share those same interests. Some of
these interests include the Star Wars history,
the Harry Potter Fan Club, Pinning Down
Pinterest, Weightlifting, Yoga, Recycling, and
many more opportunities of high interest to
students. Students also have the opportunity
to engage in various philanthropy projects
throughout our community to include Relay for
Life, the Special Olympics, and Stand-Up, an
anti-cyberbullying group. Within this process,
students receive academic advisement,
where their group leader assists them with
monitoring their academic progress and
setting goals for improvement.
Adult group leaders are also serve as a
resource to prepare students for their student-
led conferences by facilitating the process of
building the students’ portfolios with
exemplars of their work throughout the school
year. All in all, advisory serves as an
opportunity to students to build relationships
with adults outside of the classroom, expand
their social and developmental growth in the
middle grades, and support our school’s
mission of assuring our students the
opportunity to grow in a safe, positive, and
nurturing environment, as well as enhancing
the fun factor of middle school.
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