Bright Futures

The commission that was doing this points out that there isn’t a model for successful middle schools. They also state the need to balance the goal of education as well as the need of improvement and that current research. Also they recognize that middle schoolers need have skills in tune with the 21st century. It also emphasizes the importance that middle school has in connection to elementary school and high school. Many of Maine schools have not implemented programs and practices that have shown from research to work. There are core principles that need to be implemented in the middle schools in order to achieve the goal of having all middle school students learning at a high level. Some of the core principles that need to be recognized are that academic success of students are more likely to happen if students development needs are met. Also schools must use evidence to show that they are successful schools. There also must be opportunities for high learning. The middle school also needs to prepare its students for the next level of their education as well as life beyond. There are twelve core practices for effective middle schools, the first is that students have access to curriculum that is relevant, challenging, integrative, and exploratory and is organized and executed to maximize accessibility for all students. Another is teachers in all content areas use teaching and learning practices that are anchored in 21st century classroom. Also students need to have access to a co-curriculum program that encourages all students to participate, develop skills, be a member of a team or activity, and simply have fun. Lastly teachers, administrators and staff who are responsible for the education of young adolescents are knowledgeable about their developmental needs and appreciate them for their uniqueness. This commission also made recommendations on how this can be done in the middle school.
Two things really stuck me about this commission. One is how they seem to value the importance of 21st century skills. This is so important, not only for students but for teachers as well. I really don’t think someone should be teaching if they do not have any knowledge of technology. More and more of it is coming out every day and educators; we need to be able to use these technologies to our advantage. We also need to know how these technologies affect our students. I also really liked how the curriculum needs to be set up so that it is relevant as well as interesting to students. If a student is not interesting in the subject, chances are, he or she will not want to learn about it. Also I think it is really important for students learn how to work with people and one of the core principals states this. I also think that they acknowledge that students need to have fun.