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Pennsylvania Middle School Association Position Paper on

Middle Level Teacher Preparation

Promoting Best Practices for Middle Level Education

 

 

Young adolescents need and deserve knowledgeable, skilled and caring teachers who are highly qualified and effective.  The Pennsylvania Middle School Association endorses the standards for middle level teacher preparation adopted by the National Middle School Association in 2001.  These standards call for educators who want to teach young adolescents and have the professional preparation to do so successfully. Highly qualified and highly effective middle level teachers:

 

· know the academic standards that are integral to middle level curriculum and assessment, and they use this knowledge in their practice

· understand and use the central concepts, tools of inquiry, standards, and structures of content in their chosen teaching field

· create meaningful learning experiences that develop all young adolescents’ competence in subject matter and skills

· appreciate the complexity of teaching young adolescents

· engage in practices and behaviors that develop professional competence

 

Additionally, highly qualified and highly effective middle level teachers understand the major concepts, principles, theories, and research:

 

· relating to young adolescent development, and therefore provide opportunities that support student development and learning.

· underlining the philosophical foundations of developmentally responsive middle level programs and schools, and therefore work successfully within these organizational structures.

· supporting effective instruction and assessment, and they employ a variety of strategies for a developmentally appropriate climate to meet the varying abilities and learning styles of all young adolescents.

· fostering collaboration with family and community members, and they use that knowledge to maximize the learning of all young adolescents.

 

Those teachers who are best equipped to provide a meaningful education for young adolescents have been provided with professional learning and preparation that is different from elementary and high school teachers.  We support the National Middle School Association performance-based middle level standards for undergraduate and graduate degree programs as important guidelines to insure middle level teacher candidates develop essential qualities.  These standards are approved by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education and are used in the accreditation process. 

 

We believe if teachers are provided with preparation in one or more content areas and with experience in developmentally appropriate middle level pedagogy, the result will be middle level students who are more likely to experience academic success.  They will be self-directed learners prepared with content knowledge and academic skills who use problem solving and inquiry skills effectively, demonstrate an ability to learn collaboratively and understand their own learning style. Students coming from classrooms with highly skilled middle level teachers, who provide developmentally appropriate instruction, will be well prepared and able to meet the expectations and challenges of a global society.

 

Adopted by Pennsylvania Middle School Association Board of Directors, January 7, 2006

Adapted from the National Middle School Association Middle Level Teacher Preparation Standards, 2001