Press Release

For further information, contact:
Sue Swaim, 1-800-528-NMSA or 1-614-895-4730

February 14, 2006

NMSA Challenges State Licensure Agencies and Universities to Better Prepare Middle Level Teachers

COLUMBUS (OH) — The nation's largest organization committed to middle level education called today for state licensure agencies and educational institutions to raise the bar in preparing and licensing teachers to teach the middle level grades. In a newly released position statement, National Middle School Association (NMSA) stresses the necessity of specialized professional preparation for teachers of young adolescents—preparation that is largely unavailable in much of the country.

"One of the best ways to improve the education of our young adolescents is to improve the professional readiness of those who educate them," said Sue Swaim, executive director of NMSA.

Crucial to this effort is establishing licensure which is specific to the middle grades. Institutional education programs tend to be tailored for the types of certification that exist. Thus the paper traces the lack of specialized programs for training middle level educators to "the failure of many states to design and implement licensure regulations which promote the specialized knowledge, dispositions, and performances needed to successfully teach young adolescents."

"Without the standard requirement of a middle level license, it is virtually impossible to establish and support programs that properly prepare teachers to be effective with this age group," Swaim said.

While some states have taken steps toward addressing this problem, many have not. And some states that do have specialized licensure for middle grades also offer certifications covering wide ranges of age levels, such as K-8 or 7-12. Such overly broad certifications perpetuate the myth that no specialized preparation is required for teaching young adolescents. Thus, each year, tens of thousands of teachers embark on careers as middle level educators without sufficient preparation to succeed.

In fact, regulations in some states allow virtually anyone, with any kind of degree or licensure, to teach young adolescents. This, says Swaim, is equivalent to malpractice: "As these teachers enter the middle level classroom, the majority of them are simply under-prepared—or just plain unprepared—for teaching young adolescents."

NMSA is thus calling for licensure that is distinct to the middle grades, not overlapping with elementary or senior high grade levels. Only when such licenses are universally required, says the paper, will "young adolescents be assured of having teachers who have received the specialized preparation needed to be highly effective."

NMSA strongly supports rigorous and comprehensive professional preparation that includes a strong emphasis on both subject matter knowledge and acquisition of the specialized skills needed to successfully teach young adolescents. In the position statement, NMSA lists six components that are essential for effective middle level teacher preparation programs. These include the following:

• Expertise in the development and needs of young adolescents, which forms the foundation for classroom strategies from curriculum to assessment and beyond.
• A solid grounding in the philosophy and organization of middle level schools and programs.
• Broad and integrative knowledge of subject matter, with an emphasis on understanding the interrelationships among subject areas taught at the middle level.

The paper also highlights the importance of collaboration to middle level education and to the preparation of prospective middle level teachers. In the middle level school, perhaps more than at any other educational level, the ability to collaborate successfully with a variety of stakeholders is critical. Educators who work with this age group, then, "must be competent in successfully collaborating with multiple audiences to further the education of young adolescents—colleagues, families, and communities."

NMSA has identified specific action steps for supporting these initiatives at the national, state, and local levels. These recommendations, as well as the full text of the position statement, can be found at the organization's Web site, www.nmsa.org.

National Middle School Association is the nation's largest professional association focusing specifically on the education and well-being of young adolescents (10- to 15-year-olds). Its 30,000 members include middle level teachers, principals, administrators, professors, parents, and others interested in addressing the needs of this age group.