Middle School Journal - A View from the Middle: The Best Things in Life—and Education

September 2009 • Volume 41 • Number 1 • Page 3

A View from the Middle

Editor, David C. Virtue

The Best Things in Life—and Education—Are Free

The current economic malaise will make it difficult for educators to do a lot of the things they normally do to deliver high-quality educational and extracurricular programs to students. This year, many schools will cancel field trips and reschedule sporting events. They will discontinue after-school and enrichment programs. Some will begin the year with fewer faculty and staff members and, as a result, larger class sizes. The struggling economy will have many visible, negative impacts on schools; but the economy need not prevent schools from doing the things that matter most.

Each semester I speak with dozens of adults about the things that mattered most to them during the middle grades, and, most often, they remember their favorite teachers, their best friends, and other people who made their school experiences good, bad, or just plain memorable. Many also recall "cool" projects and "aha moments" when learning was particularly exciting, enjoyable, or meaningful. Rarely do they talk about school facilities, their schedules, or the textbooks they used. As the old song goes, the best things in life–and education–are the free things that awaken our senses, inspire our hearts and minds, and connect us in meaningful ways to other people. When middle grades educators address these aspects of school climate and culture, they lay the foundation for powerful student learning and growth.

Even in an environment of tight budgets and economic uncertainty, middle grades educators can focus on improving school climate and culture. They can start by establishing and maintaining high expectations for students, which is a central tenet of middle school philosophy. As United States Secretary of Education Arne Duncan recently said in an interview with Charlie Rose, "Where you see schools taking off, where you see them beating the odds, every adult in that building is committed to those children's success and is building the culture of the absolute highest of expectations."

School culture and climate are especially important areas of focus for school improvement at a time when high levels of teacher turnover exact high costs on school budgets and disrupt the learning process for students. The cultures in effective middle grades schools are grounded in trusting, respectful relationships, and such relationships make these schools places where teachers want to teach. For example, the level of teacher turnover at Sandy Springs Middle School in Atlanta is the lowest in nearly two decades. Assistant Principal Mike Milak attributes this trend to an ethos of "taking care of each other" among faculty. "It's all about earning trust and working collaboratively," he contends.

Just as far too many middle grades teachers leave the profession prematurely, far too many middle grades students will one day leave school prematurely. Classroom teachers and other adult members of school communities must create a culture of caring for students. They must ensure that every student experiences a sense of connectedness, as Shulkind and Foote describe in this issue.

I would be naïve and irresponsible to suggest in this column that a high-quality education is free or without cost. Faculty and staff salaries, utilities, facilities construction and maintenance, instructional supplies, textbooks, and foodservice are but some of the necessities that cost schools a lot of money. However, schools and communities can establish high expectations for every student without asking taxpayers for an additional cent. School administrators can foster collegial, trusting relationships among faculty and staff without increasing their budgets by a single cent. Teachers can commit to treating each of their students and colleagues with care and respect without spending a cent. All of these changes involve cultural shifts within schools and districts that do not have monetary price tags but do involve other kinds of costs. Taxpayers, school leaders, and other stakeholders will have to forfeit their long-held and sometimes deeply entrenched assumptions, beliefs, and prejudices about middle grades students, teachers, and schools; and these are costs too many have been unwilling to pay for far too long.