Expanding Our Work in Middle Schools

Think back to your middle school years. How did you feel on your first day walking onto a new campus after spending seven years at your last school? Did you get lost trying to find each of your different classrooms? Do you remember how awkward it felt when the lunch bell rang and you couldn’t find your friends?

The middle school years are a real crossroads in a young person’s development, when they go through rapid physical, cognitive, social-emotional, and psychological changes. This is also the time when we hope students set a future trajectory for high school success and young adulthood, but many do not get the academic and social support to do so.

By the time public school students in Hawaii reach 8th grade, only 1 out of 3 (33%) students are proficient in math and just half (51%) are proficient in English Language Arts. Often this is the result of years of poor preparation coupled with mounting academic expectations. Social-emotional challenges also escalate as students enter middle school. Low-income students are at an even more distinct disadvantage. This is why the Harold K.L. Castle Foundation plans to expand its work into middle schools over the next four years.

After foundation staff embarked on a learning journey and met with teachers, community organizations, and educational leaders, four common needs emerged:
1) Improving student performance, especially in math
2) increasing student engagement
3) supporting teacher readiness and engagement; and
4) improving the preparation of school leaders for the middle years.

We believe that these four needs should be the intended outcomes of the Foundation’s grantmaking over the next three years, with connected indicators for each that are in line with the Hawaii Department of Education’s strategic plan. We also have a clear template for what evidence-based best practice looks like, as the DOE has embraced the Association for Middle Level Education (AMLE) framework for successful middle schools.

We can’t guarantee that a middle schooler still won’t have awkward moments and face challenges as they toe the line between childhood and young adulthood. What we can do is support school leadership and staff as they create a school environment that equips students to take full advantages of the growing pathways and programs that will be available to them in high school and beyond.

We would welcome your questions, comments, and guidance on this proposed strategy. Please contact Maria Quidez at mquidez@castlefoundation.org for more information or to talk story.

You can read more about our planned strategy here.