Writing Feature Articles - Step 1 - Lesson 1 | Page 32

Writing Feature Articles - Lesson a
Writing Feature Articles - Handout .. a

Beginner

Name: ______________________________________ Date: ____________________

. a: Feature Articles Packet

(page of

)

In The Middle
By Kathryn Satter?eld, Time for Kids, January 2007
Kennedy Frank likes being a sixth grader. And why wouldn't she? "I have the privilege of changing
classes," she told TFK, "and I'm getting new experiences by not having the same teacher all day." But
she still takes comfort in being with old friends and seeing familiar teachers from years past.
Kennedy, 11, goes to Humboldt Park K-8 School, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Humboldt Park is one of 54
K-8 (kindergarten through eighth grade) schools in the area. The school is part of a growing movement
to change the way kids ages 10-15 are educated. More and more educators are turning away from
middle schools for grades 6-8 in favor of K-8 schools. School districts from California to New York are
opening more K-8 schools while doing away with many middle schools.
Learning From the Past
Middle schools were created in the 1970s to ?x ?aws in traditional junior high schools, which housed
grades 7-9. Some educators said that a too-strict junior high curriculum wasn't a good
match for the physical and emotional needs of kids just entering their teens. By contrast, middle schools
were supposed to ease kids into the rigors of high school with a curriculum tailored to ?t their changing
lives. The middle school model added sixth graders, in part to help ease overcrowding in elementary
schools.
Recent studies suggest that middle schools aren't faring any better than junior highs were. Psychologist
Jaana Juvonen worked on a 2004 report that reviewed 20 years of educational research. She says sixth
grade is a poor time to switch schools. Kids' minds and bodies are going through so many changes that
they need "more stability in terms of relationships with teachers and their peers."
The move to middle school also seems to have an effect on classroom performance. Between 1999 and
2004, the nation's elementary school students saw increased test scores in reading and math. Middle
school students made smaller gains in math but made no progress in reading. And in New York State,
grade-by-grade testing in 2006 showed that students' reading scores dropped between the ?fth and sixth
grades.
Still, some argue that test scores can't tell the whole story. Barry Fein, principal of Seth Low Intermediate
School, in New York City, says that the move from elementary to middle school is "a very hard
transition." But the adjustment is well worth it, he says, because middle schools offer students more
classes, team sports and clubs. Ryan Pallas, a seventh grader at Las Flores Middle School, in Rancho
Santa Margarita, California, agrees. He points to his school's three music programs and leadership
programs. "I like being challenged," he says. "It's more like real life."

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