NYSUT Vice President
Maria Neira

At A.A. Kingston Middle School in Potsdam, grade-level teams create a community that nurtures students through the transitional middle-level years. Flexible scheduling and project-based learning are key.

All faculty at Glens Falls Middle School maintain online blackboard sites for greater student/parent/teacher communication. Extensive district-wide professional development, with three full days, is required after the end of the school year.

And at Jericho Middle School, interdisciplinary teams work with library/media specialists, and art and technology teachers. Expectations are high, with nearly 60 percent of eighth-grade students enrolled in Regents-level Integrated Algebra and Earth Science.

With these ingredients and much more, all three schools have been named 2009 Schools-to-Watch by a Statewide Middle-Level Education Alliance, including the State Education Department, the New York State Middle School Association and NYSUT.

The Schools-to-Watch program highlights districts that are following the Regents Policy Statement on Middle Level Education and State Ed's seven Essential Elements for what makes an exemplary middle-level program. The Essential Elements, approved in 2003, are a guide for what works, but it's up to local schools to decide on specific implementation.

The elements include:

• Creating a network of academic and personal support for all students; 
• Classroom instruction that is rigorous and developmentally appropriate; and
• Ongoing staff development that is meaningful and collaborative. (For a colorful poster and more information on the essential elements, go to www.nysmsa.org).

At a recent Middle Level Education Summit in Albany, NYSUT Vice President Maria Neira pledged the union's support in getting the word out to members to encourage greater implementation.

"NYSUT is committed to middle-level education based on two things learned in education reform," Neira said. "Partnerships are vital in shaping what we do, and the work for reform must come from the inside out, using the expertise of educators and practitioners."

NYSUT is working with the Middle Schools Association and State PTA on a Parents' Guide to Middle-Level Education.

In an effort to highlight the importance of middle-level education, Gov. David Paterson proclaimed October as the Month of the Young Adolescent.