page 7                                                                                                                              www.nmsa.org

            Five members of the Pennsylvania Middle School Association (PMSA) have been sitting at the table with the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE), and higher education representatives to assist in the development of proposed Pennsylvania Middle Level Teacher Certification.  We have met a total of four days over the last year to discuss options, priorities, standards and needs and we are inching through the political process of developing the components of middle level certification in Pennsylvania.

           In the course of our discussions, there have been highs and lows, celebrations and disappointments, but the process is intact.  It is slower than we would like, but we recognize, that slow in this case, like the tortoise, is the best approach to methodically cover the territory, and visit the myriad of topics along the way.  Should we race through the process, we might overlook a critical element, or miss a structural component that enables universities to meet the challenges of graduating effective and competent middle level teacher candidates.

       The ultimate goal is too important to win this political venture with speed.   So as the tortoise modeled, we will continue the slow pace to insure ultimate victory for the well being and educational future of middle level students.  Look for a PMSA position paper regarding Middle Level Certification to be posted on www.pmsaweb.org soon.  So that you can strap on the hard tortoise shell of strength and determination to plod through this slow- paced and important race with us. We invite each of you to become involved in this political venture by sharing our common voice with your local legislative representatives.