The National Middle School Association Essay

Describe a strategy from outside your organization – or even the education sector – that could radically improve the American preK-12 education system

More parents than ever these days are working outside of the home. This means that when the school bell rings, many children are left unsupervised and with no where to go but an empty house with no supervision. Not only that, but some parents are also struggling to provide adequate after-school care. Either they cannot afford the monthly payments of a daycare, or the programs are just simply not available to them. (Ansell, 2004).

Union Hill Elementary School is embedded in an area of rich history in the City of Worcester. Their school building was built following the Civil War and has withstood the changes of time from its early years of a primarily Jewish Immigrant and merchant town to today’s urban neighborhood, rich in diversity but plagued with instability, crime and poverty. In March of 2010, Union Hill was identified as a Level IV School; it was a school that lacked structure with a chaotic environment with many deficits. There was a lack of supervision, schedule, standard-based curriculum, effective instruction and leadership. Most importantly, there was a lack of trust among the parents. They did not have the faith that Union Hill was going to give their children the best education possible. Under the supervision of new Principal Marie Morse, changes were made. There was a new level of commitment and passion among the school staff that drove them toward creating five areas of focus for the year:

According, to Laurie Futterman (“Beyond the Classroom: Electives in School — Essential or Entertaining?”), “Electives can help students find hidden talents or passions.” Electives are extra class you can take a long with your basic class (such as math, language arts, social studies, and science). Having electives can help students in their everyday life and help them to learn more about themselves. There should be electives in middle schools because it gives students a pick of what classes they want to take in school, electives helps students learn what their interest are, and teach them life skills.

Throughout the history of education, several “fads” have made their way in and out of the schools. From whole language to phonics to No Child Left Behind, educators have modified their practices to fit with new curriculum and government mandates. Many teachers describe the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) as “just another fad.” However, I believe that this is not the case.

Located in the heart of North Philadelphia, Khepera Charter School is a public charter school currently serve about four-hundred students. Now, Khepera Charter School has limited technological resources. There are only five projectors in the school. Due to budget cuts, the school had to eliminated computer classes. The special education classes are only equipped with two desktop computers, used for supplementary support for the students. Unfortunately, the computers are out of date and technology is frequently not working. In the general education classes, teachers sign out the projectors to use for the day. Projectors used are only used for literacy and math lessons; Khepera Charter School only has online software for the math and

Monday, January 29, 2018, was my first day at Saraland High School and it was my first day of observations. Saraland High School is located in Saraland, Alabama where it is a part of the Saraland City Schools School System. Saraland High School has a student population of approximately 1,000 students. The teacher that I will be observing for this semester is Mr. Kendric Cook. Mr. Cook teaches Health to 10th graders. Mr. Cook has been teaching and coaching for 6 years and this is his first year teaching at Saraland. On my first day, I got to observe Mr. Cook and his teaching styles. Mr. Cook told me before he started his lesson that he considers himself to be a non-traditional teacher. He likes to sit at his desk or sit on top of the student desk when he teaches because he really wants to make sure that his students are engaged in the lesson. Mr. Cook told me that when he was in school his health teacher would just sit at his desk and he would not really “teach” and he

Bellevue School District (#405) has consistently ranked as one of the top 100 school districts across the nation. Virtues such as diversity and academic excellence has long defined the success of the school’s district in recent years. However, since 2013 the BSD’s national ranking has dropped significantly and although it’s still highly regarded, many have suggested that the increase in student enrollment has a negative effect on student success due to a larger student to teacher ratio. Although high enrollment numbers in Bellevue isn’t necessarily a negative thing, the district need to consider redrawing attendance boundaries as a step towards preparing for the future. By redistributing student enrollment, BSD can better diversify its

Georgetown is located on the coast between the cities of Myrtle Beach and Charleston, South Carolina in the Lowcountry. Georgetown has a total population of 60,235, where 51% of the population is female and 49% is male. The median income of all family households is $54,047, however the nonfamily households only bring in a median of $21,986 per year. Approximately 14% of families live below the poverty level, and 42% of single mother households live below the poverty level. Georgetown High School is a public school and is located at 2500 Anthuan Maybank Drive in Georgetown, South Carolina. Georgetown High School includes grades 9 through 12 and has a total of 1,062 students. The majority of students are African American (47.3%), followed by White (45.5%), Hispanic (6.1%), Asian (0.9%) and American Indian (0.2%).

The Association for Middle Level Education 's list of Middle Level Teacher Preparation Standards focuses directly on the knowledge and skills needed to teach young adolescents successfully. Middle Level Teacher '€™s use their knowledge of major concepts, principles, theories and research to improve their practice. The AMLE Standards provide a guideline to assist in curricular decisions, preparation and planning and providing a safe and effective learning environment for the Middle Level Students. Standard One; Young Adolescent Development is imperative for being an adequate educator for this age level. In order to successfully fulfill these standards, it 's important to understand the transitional years 10-15 year olds are experiencing at

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The Pennsylvania Principals Association, 122 Valley Road, Summerdale, PA, is a non-profit volunteer organization serving all principals, assistant principals and other educational leaders across the commonwealth. Starting in 1936, the association functioned as two separate entities, the Pennsylvania Association of Elementary School Principals and the Pennsylvania Association of Secondary School Principals (Thompson, 2014). In 2000, representatives from both associations met to discuss the possibility of joining the two into one organization to increase efficiency in day-to-day operations. In July of 2003, the merging of both associations took effect as well as operations under their new name, the Pennsylvania Association of Elementary and Secondary School Principals (PAESSP). Most recently, the association changed its name to the Pennsylvania Principals Association in September of 2015 (Thompson, 2014).

Children who are subject to negative or bad environments are more prone to engaging in drugs and alcohol. There are many programs that bring awareness and prevention to alcohol and drugs. The South Carolina Afterschool Alliance program provides groups and organizations with an effective after-school program plan. The after-school programs are essential in promoting awareness and prevention of drugs, alcohol, tobacco, abstinence, and violence to young children or adolescents.

Human development refers to the processes of change and stability throughout human life. The early stages of development in children are important in their life span. Children in middle childhood are those who are in the age between 6 to 11 years old. Most children in middle childhood start their formal education in primary school. In this stage, they have more opportunities to expose themselves to people and environment they had never known. In general, children in middle childhood are characterized by 3 major domains which are physical, cognitive and psychosocial (refer to Figure 1 in Appendix 1).

School improvement is transformation. It is one of the most important actions of a school. It is a process that schools must use with fidelity to ensure that at all students are given the opportunity to perform and achieve at exemplary levels. School improvement is vital to schools and it is a process that cannot be done in isolation. It requires team work, collaboration, and constant analysis of data and setting of goals. School improvement goals focus on how to meet the needs of students. Addressing the educational needs, funding, and achievement gaps between subgroups is collaborative effort involves everyone that has a vested interest in the schools. These basic measures set the foundation for improvement. And so, if it is the