HISTORY OF MIDDLE LEVEL EDUCATION
Summary, in-depth timeline, notable people, sources
Summary
The middle school movement began in the late nineteenth and early twentieth
centuries. It all started when university figures argued that their incoming freshman were
unprepared for the material presented in college. There was also a high dropout rate after
eighth grade in 1-8 and 9-12 settings. This led to the invention of a six-year secondary
school to better equip students for college. However, teachers soon discovered that some
of the younger students in secondary school were too immature for the curriculum and it
was determined that high schools were just not appropriate for young adolescents.
Eventually, a 6-3-3 system was instated: six years of elementary school, three years of
junior high school, and three years of high school. Originally, junior high school was a
bridge between elementary and high school. As research proceeded on the young
adolescent, it was realized that junior high schools should not be considered a small high
school at all, but rather something completely different. Young adolescents needed a
school to guide them in their rapidly developing lives – they needed a middle school.
In-depth Timeline
1857: The National Education Association (NEA) is born in Philadelphia.
1872: Public schools struggled for financial support in the nineteenth century and many
individuals felt that tax supported public education was essential for social stability and
democracy. In 1872, there was finally a legal mandate in the state of Michigan to have
tax-supported secondary schools. From there, “state schools” were born.
1888: Charles Eliot of Harvard University speaks to the National Education Association
(NEA). He argues in his speech that college freshmen were not adequately prepared
during their years in public school for the challenges of the university. He introduces the
idea of a more rigorous and varied curriculum earlier in public schooling.
1892: The National Education Association realizes that American high school was
becoming divided into two main thought processes: 1) the viewpoint of a traditional
college preparatory institution and 2) the viewpoint that high school should serve as a
“people’s school,” offering a range of real-world courses. NEA tackles controversy
between the two viewpoints by appointing a Harvard-led “Committee of Ten” to establish
a standard curriculum. The Committee recommended that several changes be made to
secondary education.
* President of Harvard University, Charles P. Eliot, recommends two options:
1. Earlier entry of some subjects 2. Teaching of subjects for both college-­‐bound and terminal students * The Committee of Ten recommended eight years of elementary education and four years of secondary education * Significance of the committee was that it believed that the same subjects would be equally beneficial to both academic and terminal students. It had a basic goal to prepare all students to do well in life for their own well-­‐being and the good of society. 1893: Changes in society (due to the industrial revolution) caused a committee on
secondary school studies to decide that algebra, geometry, natural science, and foreign
language should begin before the ninth grade. A six-year high school was suggested as a
solution.
1899: The Committee on College Entrance Requirements concluded that seventh grade,
not ninth grade, was when young adolescents undergo major developmental changes.
Therefore, it was concluded that a six-year course of study be implemented, starting with
the seventh grade.
1901: The Committee of Ten declares that high schools were not meeting the needs of
young adolescents.
1903: John Dewey recommends six years of secondary school and also starts the
Progressive movement. Dewey believed that students should be involved in real life
tasks and challenges; he replaces traditional education with the central purpose of
education being problem solving.
1904: G. Stanley Hall argues that adolescence is a time of significant changes in every
aspect of human development: physical, mental, social, emotional, and moral. Hall
suggested that young adolescents need assistance in the midst of the “storm and stress,”
but schools were stuck on sorting students into academic, remedial, and vocational tracks.
1905: Critics state that high schools were not appropriate for young adolescents as there
was a high dropout rate before tenth grade (for example, 52% of Columbus students
dropped out before tenth grade, while only 7% graduated from high school). Students
also seemed to be too immature for the curriculum with many discipline problems.
1906: Carnegie units became the basis for college entrance requirements and secondary
school academics as they standardized high school courses and times. Fourteen Carnegie
units started to accumulate in ninth grade.
1909: Gradually, the 6-3-3 concept emerged: elementary school of six years and
secondary school for six years and the first three of those years would be spent in a junior
high school. On July 6, the first junior high school was established in Columbus, Ohio
(Indianola Junior High School).
1910: Fewer children were needed in factories to due to mechanization, so more students
were staying in school because of new compulsory education laws. Along with the
population boom, the growing student population made a great space crunch in schools.
1913: A small number of junior high schools are implemented when high schools
become too large.
1918: National Education Association Commission on the Reorganization of secondary
education approves the junior high school concept. As junior high stabilized curriculum,
instruction, and organization, it became apparent that the schools also needed personal,
developmental, and academic needs of young adolescents.
1922: 387 junior high schools exist in the United States.
1938: 2,372 junior high schools exist in the United States, but are still a minority to the
6,203 six year high schools.
1950: The first MIDDLE school was opened in Bay City, Michigan.
1960s-2000s: Beginning in the 1960's and developing quickly in the 1970s and 1980s, middle schools outnumbered junior high schools; finally, the middle school concept dominated. Notable works of the time included: The Junior High That We Need (1961) and This We Believe (1982). The National Middle School Association (1974) was founded.
Present: American Middle Level Education (AMLE); currently 34 states including
Pennsylvania have a middle level certificate.
Notable People
William Alexander - In 1963, Dr. William (Bill) M. Alexander spoke at a conference on
the Cornell University campus. In his speech, “The Junior High School: A changing
View,” he argued that the concept of junior high schools be changed to middle schools so
that they could be "more responsive to the needs and interests of young adolescents"
(Middle School Journal). He put the idea out there, and the proposal is said to have
sparked the beginnings of the middle school movement. Alexander supported the idea of
six years of elementary school, three years of middle school, and three years of high
school. He argued that the key components of a middle school included the following:
1) a comprehensive middle school curriculum plan based on young adolescent
development, 2) advisory programs, 3) continuous progress arrangements, 4) team
planning and teaching, 5) diverse instructional strategies, 6) exploratory courses
and experiences, 7) health and physical education programs, and 8) planning and
evaluation systems. William Alexander Middle School of Park Slope, Brooklyn, was
named in his honor. * More information about Alexander can be found in The Legacy of
Middle School Leaders, In Their Own Words edited by Tracy W. Smith and C. Kenneth
McEwin
Thomas Briggs – In the 1920s, Thomas Briggs published a booked called The Junior
High School. Briggs believed heavily in then-nonexistent middle school. He once stated,
“…the junior high school is not at preset a definite institution, but rather a state of mind,
or a striving to achieve a vision, either limited or extensive.” Briggs was a professor at
Columbia University and criticized the 8-4 school organizational system. The conditions
described by Briggs include: “the tremendous increase in the number of high schools,
changes in social and industrial life, an increase in the number of children continuing
beyond elementary school, the necessity of a more highly differentiated curriculum,
demands for increased budget to support programs, and the indefiniteness of function and
of purpose of schools” (Restructuring the Middle Level School: Implications for School
Leaders by Sally N. Clark and Donald C. Clark).
John Dewey – John Dewey’s philosophy of education included the belief that all children
came to school to gain real, guided experiences that would help them to contribute to
society. He believed that education was a “powerful, workable tool for the improvement
of one’s self and community.” Dewey suggested that learning should be active; through
this philosophy, he helped to start the “progressive movement” in schools. * More
information can be found in The Middle Works of John Dewey, 1899 - 1924:
Reconstruction in Philosophy by John Dewey
Donald Eichhorn – In 1966, Donald Eichhorn was considered one of the founding fathers
of the middle school movement. He asked educators to think about the different
developmental needs of young adolescents when planning curriculum, instruction, and
assessment. He claimed that the environment of the middle school should be different
than that of elementary and high schools. For twenty-six years, he was a pioneer in the
implantation of developmentally responsive middle schools in Upper St. Clair,
Pennsylvania. He worked with the principals of Fort Couch Middle School and Boyce
Middle School to create middle schools that focused on the needs of the developing
young adolescent. These two middle schools served as important models for other
districts. Donald H. Eichhorn Middle School of Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, was named in
his honor. * More information about Alexander can be found in The Legacy of Middle
School Leaders, In Their Own Words edited by Tracy W. Smith and C. Kenneth McEwin
Charles W. Eliot – Charles Eliot was named Harvard University’s president in 1869. He
remarkably served forty years in office. Eliot argued that incoming freshmen were not
adequately prepared for college life and that a more rigorous and varied curriculum be
introduced to students earlier in their schooling. Serving on the Committee of Ten, he
recommends two options: 1) earlier entry of some subjects and 2) teaching of subjects for both college-­‐bound and terminal students. Stanley Hall – Considered the “father of adolescence,” G. Stanley Hall was a
psychologist. His work in psychology was particularly influential on the middle school
movement in that his research noted the developmental stages of the young adolescent.
His work stressed that ten to fourteen year olds had “rapid changes in physical
development, erratic behavior, emotional turbulence, the assertion of independence, and
high levels of anxiety.” Hall argued that young adolescents required a school of their
own to address their developmental needs. A high school setting simply was not
acceptable for the middle level individual. * More information from Quality Middle
School Leadership: Eleven Central Skills Areas By L. David Weller
Leonard Koos – In 1927, Leonard Koos found several driving forces to be behind school
reorganization. He determined these forces to be 1) the economy of time, 2) the concern
for high school mortality – dropout rates, 3) the wide variations of learners, and 4) the
needs of young adolescents. Essentially, Koos wanted students to be prepared for the real
world and he saw the junior high system as a way to prevent dropouts after eighth grade.
Works Cited:
Andrews, P. Gayle. "Junior High School - Encyclopedia of Children and Childhood in
History and Society." Internet FAQ Archives - Online Education - Faqs.org. 12
Feb. 2006. Web. 06 Feb. 2012. <http://www.faqs.org/childhood/In-Ke/JuniorHigh-School.html>.
"A Brief Overview of Progressive Education." The University of Vermont. 30 Jan. 2002.
Web. 06 Feb. 2012. <http://www.uvm.edu/~dewey/articles/proged.html>.
"First Junior High School in the United States." Ohio History Central. 1 Aug. 2006. Web.
6 Feb. 2012. <http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=2690>.
Holcomb, Sabrina. "NEA - The History of the NEA." NEA - NEA Home. Web. 06 Feb.
2012. <http://www.nea.org/home/11608.htm>.
Irvin, Judith L. Transforming Middle Level Education: Perspectives and Possibilities.
Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1992. Print.
Manning, M. Lee., and Katherine Toth Bucher. Teaching in the Middle School. Upper
Saddle River, NJ: Merrill, 2001. Print.
Mehl, Bernard. "The Conant Report and the Committee of Ten: A Historical Appraisal."
JSTOR: Education Research Bulletin. 10 Feb. 1960. Web. 6 Feb. 2012.
<http://www.jstor.org/stable/1474705>.
Smith, Tracy W., and C. Kenneth. McEwin. The Legacy of Middle School Leaders: In
Their Own Words. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Pub., 2011. Print.
"This We Believe: Keys to Educating Young Adolescents - Association for Middle Level
Education (AMLE)." Association for Middle Level Education - AMLE. Web. 06
Feb. 2012. <http://www.amle.org/AboutAMLE/ThisWeBelieve
/tabid/1273/Default.aspx>.
Tryon, R. M. "History in the Junior High School." JSTOR: The Elementary School
Journal. Web. 6 Feb. 2012. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/994422?seq=3>.
Widener, Linda. "THE N.E.A. COMMITTEE OF TEN." University of Notre Dame.
Web. 06 Feb. 2012. <http://www.nd.edu/~rbarger/www7/neacom10.html>.