Qualified and caring teachers
Studies about the effect of transitions on student achievement highlight the importance of caring teachers in the middle grades.
Research on middle school transitions shows that, although grades and engagement tend to decline after students transition to middle school, student perceptions of the school environment can buffer negative changes . . . students whose perceptions of teacher support declined between elementary and middle school valued the school subject less, but those who viewed teacher support as having increased valued the subject more. In sum, student characteristics and school and classroom environments interact in ways that either decrease or increase the risk of academic and adjustment problems during the middle grades. Although it has been shown that community climate and support alone are insufficient to promote achievement gains in the middle grades, a balance between perceived support and academic demands seems to promote both achievement and social-emotional well-being, and this balance is particularly important for certain groups of youth.1
The California Standards for the Teaching Profession (PDF; Outside Source) include two key elements for highly qualified teachers in relation to the developmental needs of students. According to the standards, teachers are responsible for:2
- Promoting social development and group responsibility
- Drawing on and valuing students’ backgrounds, interests, developmental learning needs
The federal No Child Left Behind regulations for highly qualified teachers rest on the premise that “Middle grades teachers must know academic content and how to teach young adolescents.”3 However, middle grades educators face a challenge in certifying qualified teachers. Regulations about highly qualified teachers vary depending on whether the teacher works in an elementary (K-8) school or in a self-contained sixth-grade classroom. In those cases, the teachers are subject to the regulations for elementary teachers. Other middle grades teachers must be qualified to teach single subjects (secondary certification) since students rotate to teachers by subject. In spite of these difficulties, most California middle schools are well on their way to meeting the federal guidelines. For updates on NCLB regulations for highly qualified elementary and secondary teachers and courses, refer to the CDE Web page on Improving Teacher && Principal Quality.
Although federal law does not mention caring as a requirement, highly effective middle grades teachers are those who care about their students and who enjoy being with young adolescents. Students are emotional beings; and for their brains to engage, they must want to learn. How individuals feel about a learning situation plays a large role in determining the amount of attention they will devote to it. In most cases, emotions interact with reason to support or inhibit learning.4
Based on current research, the best practices for improving achievement for all middle grades students include grouping students to help them connect what they are learning across the curriculum and linking them to a caring adult within the school.5
Teachers communicate caring in many ways, including how they structure the learning environment. Although the study of learning styles6 and multiple intelligences7 remains primarily in the theoretical stage somewhat controversial, it is generally known that people learn in a variety of ways and that schools can adapt the learning environment8 to assist in differentiating instruction for students with different learning needs. For more information please refer to differentiated instruction in Recommendation 2— Instruction, Assessment, and Intervention.
In the Spotlight
Olive Peirce Middle School, Ramona City Unified School District
Teachers meet in their vertical professional learning community teams every Wednesday. At the beginning of each meeting, members spend 15 minutes writing postcards to students who have made significant improvement in some area during the past week.
Research indicates that even in schools where many of the students experience challenges, the way teachers interact with students, showing approval and praise for appropriate student behaviors while decreasing their reliance on disapproval, may have a positive effect on students’ on-task behaviors.9
In longitudinal and ethnographic studies, youth of all ages continually state that what they want is a teacher who cares. Stanford University’s Center for Research on the Context of Secondary School Teaching found in a study of adolescents that, ‘The number of student references to wanting caring teachers is so great that we believe it speaks to the quiet desperation and loneliness of many adolescents in today’s society.10
In the Spotlight
Reyburn Intermediate School, Clovis Unified School District
Teachers take students to lunch to make a special time for getting acquainted, applauding successes, and encouraging students in goal setting. To provide more students an opportunity to be honored, teachers have several recognition categories, including academics, behavior, and most improved in either academics or behavior.
The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health found that students who felt cared for by their teachers and connected to their school were far less likely to be involved in all health risk behaviors, including alcohol, tobacco, drug use, and violence. Compelled by these results, the former U.S. Secretary of Education Richard Riley stated that, “The number one priority of schools should be making sure that every student is connected to a caring adult in the school.”11
The effect of teacher caring on student performance is often profound.12 Teacher caring, or connectedness, has impact beyond pure academics.
Adolescents who reported low teacher connectedness were two times more likely to use marijuana and amphetamines, and two times more likely to be sexually active, have sex while high on alcohol or drugs, have a partner who was high on alcohol or other drugs during sex, and have multiple sexual partners.13
When school staff members work in a supportive and caring environment, they are better able to care for students. Recommendation 9—Leadership, includes a section called Create a climate for learning that discusses how school and district leaders can support school personnel who have frequent contact with students so that the school community fosters adult-student relationships.
In the Spotlight
Rio Norte Junior High School, William S. Hart Union High School District
Teacher teams go to great lengths at Rio Norte to show students that they care and want every person to be part of a team that includes teachers and students as partners. For example, during a Rio Norte lunch dance contest, teachers showed they cared enough to be silly for their team.
Related Links
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Adult mentors
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Advisory programs (homeroom)
Footnotes
1Jaana Juvonen, Vi-Nhuan Le, Tessa Kaganoff, Catherine Augustine, and Louay Constant, Focus on the Wonder Years—Challenges Facing the American Middle School (PDF; Outside Source). Arlington, Va.: Prepared by the Rand Corporation for the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation, 2004, 50.
2California Standards for the Teaching Profession (CSTP) (2009) (PDF; Outside Source). Sacramento: California Commission on Teacher Credentialing, October 2009.
3Academic Achievement in the Middle Grades: What Does the Research Tell Us? (PDF; Outside Source), Atlanta, Ga.: Southern Regional Education Board, 2003, 19.
4David A. Sousa, How the Brain Learns. Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin Press/Sage Productions, 2005.
5Foreword, Academic Achievement in the Middle Grades: What Does the Research Tell Us? (PDF; Outside Source), Atlanta, Ga.: Southern Regional Education Board, 2003.
6Sara G. Tarver, Reading Instruction and Learning Styles . . Should They Be Matched? (Outside Source), Milwaukee: University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1995.
7James Collins, "How To Make A Better Student: Seven Kinds of Smart" (Outside Source), Time Magizine, Understanding Psychology, Unit 5: Personality and Individuality, 1998.
8"Learning Styles and the Environment" (DOC; 25.5KB; 2pp.) in Taking Center Stage. Sacramento: California Department of Education, 2001, 139.
9Dan Laitsch, Student Behaviors and Teacher Use of Approval versus Disapproval (Outside Source), Research Brief, Vol. 4, No. 3 (March 27, 2006).
10Resilience & Youth Development Module. Prepared by WestEd and the Safe and Healthy Kids Program Office. Sacramento: California Department of Education, 2002, 14.
11Ibid., 14.
12B. Benard, Fostering Resiliency in Urban Schools. In B. Williams (Ed.), Closing the Achievement Gap: A Vision to Guide Change in Beliefs and Practice. Oak Brook, Ill.: Research for Better Schools and North Central Regional Educational Laboratory. (1995). Summarized in Caring and Support (Outside Source). North Central Regional Educational Laboratory (online).
13Dexter R. Voisin, Laura F. Salazar, Richard Crosby, Ralph J. Diclemente, William L. Yarber and Michelle Staples-Horne, Teacher Connectedness and Health-Related Outcomes among Detained Adolescents,Journal of Adolescent Health, Vol. 37, Issue 4 (October 2005), 337.
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