National Forum Policy Statement
TEACHER PREPARATION, LICENSURE, AND RECRUITMENT

Introduction
The Need for Specialized Preparation of Middle-Grades Teachers
The Mandate for Middle-Level Teacher Licensure
Essential Elements of Middle-Level Teacher Preparation Program
Conclusion
References

ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF MIDDLE-LEVEL TEACHER PREPARATION PROGRAMS
A high-quality middle-grades teacher-preparation program includes many of the components that other top-notch teacher-preparation programs offer (e.g., integrating technology, forming collaborative partnerships, promoting teacher leadership). It also has the following key elements that are especially appropriate to this grade span:

• A focus on academic excellence. Middle-grades teachers must learn how to provide their students with rigorous curriculum and instruction that are both developmentally appropriate and responsive to the needs of diverse learners. They must have a deep understanding of both their subject and how to teach it so that every student learns and demonstrates significant progress in his or her performance. In addition, middle-grades teachers must learn how to assess what students know and are able to do in order to continually improve both their teaching and their students’ learning.

• Middle-level curriculum. High-quality preparation programs focus on the study of middle-level curriculum, with an emphasis on discipline-specific, integrative, and interdisciplinary approaches. Teachers must have the knowledge, dispositions, and skills to set high expectations for all students, provide them with a rigorous and challenging curriculum, engage the students in learning, and make sure that students have the support they need to participate and succeed.

• Concentrated study in two or more broad teaching fields. Effective middle-grades teacher preparation programs prepare content-area teacher candidates in two or more academic disciplines (e.g., mathematics and science). This helps prospective teachers build a thorough academic underpinning of content, pedagogy, and the connections and interrelationships among the academic disciplines and other areas of knowledge.

• A concern for developmental responsiveness. An effective teacher preparation program must provide teachers with the knowledge, skills, and dispositions to work effectively with young adolescents. Thus, the program must encompass three specific areas:

• Early adolescence and the needs of young adolescents (ages 10 to 14). All middle-level teachers should be experts on the intellectual, social, emotional, and physical development of young adolescents. This knowledge can be attained through formal study of early adolescence and direct work with young adolescents.

• The philosophy and organization of middle-level education. The principles of middle-school philosophy and school organization (e.g., teams, advisories, and exploratory classes) can be mastered through formal study and experience in middle-level schools. Teachers need to learn the importance of personalizing middle-level education so that each child has one committed advocate in the school. Teachers must also learn how to involve parents/families as partners in the educational process.

• Middle-grades planning, teaching, and assessment. Middle-level teacher-preparation programs offer numerous opportunities to translate developmental and content knowledge into successful practice. They emphasize a wide range of developmentally appropriate instructional techniques that promote student learning, such as cooperative learning, independent inquiry, use of multi-media, and real-world problem solving. They teach prospective teachers how to employ a wide variety of assessment techniques (e.g., traditional testing, portfolios, and exhibitions) to monitor student learning and improve instruction. They help teachers disaggregate data and look closely at student work so that no young adolescent or group of students is left behind.

• An emphasis on equity and diversity. Middle-grades teacher-preparation programs help teachers understand individual differences and how to differentiate instruction so that every student—regardless of socioeconomic status, race/ethnicity, gender, first language, or ability—has access to a rigorous, developmentally appropriate curriculum.

• Inclusive practices. High quality teacher preparation programs provide teachers with a wide range of instructional strategies designed to meet the needs of students with different learning styles, intelligences, and abilities. These strategies may include, for example, the use of manipulatives and hands-on activities, cooperative learning, the arts, technology, service-learning, and other strategies that help students gather information, make meaning, and apply what they learn in real-world settings.
  
  
• Cultural diversity. Effective middle-grades teacher preparation programs recognize that early adolescence is a time when students are exploring their own identities while also developing a growing interest in the world around them. Middle-grades teacher preparation programs must help teachers learn how to understand and respect their students’ norms and values, as well as those of the students’ families, and the larger community in which they live.

• Early and continuing field experiences. Field experiences provide prospective middle-grades teachers with invaluable learning about young adolescents, middle-level curriculum, and middle-level instruction. A promising approach is an apprentice-based model of teacher preparation, with teachers-in-training placed in high-performing middle-grades schools and participating in seminars built around field experiences. Experiences in the community are another way in which prospective teachers can deepen their understanding of students and their families. Finally, the National Forum encourages teacher preparation programs, in partnership with middle-grades schools, to design induction programs that provide new teachers with initial orientation, mentoring, ongoing professional development, and opportunities to take on leadership roles as they embark on their teaching careers.