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AEP Online |
Middle School Presents Special Challenges in Search for Highly Qualified TeachersMiddle school is a critical time for both educational and adolescent growth. Yet, according to the National Forum to Accelerate Middle-Grades Reform, the majority of middle school teachers are not trained to handle either the intellectual or emotional needs of pre-teens. The result, as reported in The New York Times, is a section of the education workforce that quickly burns out and leaves the profession. Statistics from the United Federation of Teachers show that middle school teachers account for 22 percent of those who have left since 1999, yet they represent only 17 percent of the overall workforce. “We’re really in a malpractice kind of environment, where we’re preparing teachers for elementary classrooms and high school classrooms but not middle-grades classrooms,” said Peggy Gaskill, research chairwoman of the Forum. Among the strategies for training and retaining teachers are special certifications, increased pay for working in difficult schools, and having teachers cover more subjects to cultivate closer ties with the students. However, in New York, which offers a middle school certification for those whose training focuses on adolescents, only 82 of the 13,296 middle school teachers are certified.
Questions, ideas, or in need of more information? Please contact Stacey Pusey at 856-241-7772. |
For Teachers, Middle School Is a Test of Wills
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2008 The Association of Educational
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