Middle Level Reform: The Impact on Student Achievement

Abstract

In 1989, the Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development released Turning Points: Preparing American Youth for the 21st Century, a major report on the status of middle school children with recommendations for improvement. This report prompted the Carnegie Corporation and the Council of Chief State School Officers to launch a state grant program entitled the Middle Grade School State Policy Initiative (MGSSPI). Of the 45 applications submitted, 27 states including North Dakota were selected to receive planning grants.Carnegie's goals for the MGSSPI were to promote change in state policies that would allow local schools to initiate and sustain fundamental reform, leading toward systematic, statewide reform and design of strategies to address the needs of educationally disadvantaged youth (Council of Chief State School Officers, 1993).This study examines the impact of implementation of middle school practices on student achievement in North Dakota MGSSPI schools. Findings indicate changes in composite grade equivalent scores from grade 6 to grade 8 were higher in the areas of reading vocabulary, language mechanics, study skills, science, and social studies in participating schools than in non-participating schools.